Bella Luna (More than just pretty soap)

A few new soaps

2010-02-22T14:28:00.007-06:00

I've been hard at work in recent weeks making lots and lots of soap. Some are restocks, but the ones below are all new. I'm getting them added to my Etsy, Bella Luna Soap and 1000 Markets shops as time allows.

Lychee Pomegranate Soap
Have you heard of lychee? It's a sweet fruit that is enjoyed widely across Southeast Asia, and gaining popularity here in the States. It's the basis for this deliciously scented soap that is sweetly scented, with just a hint of tart. The lychee scent is rounded out with notes of pomegranate and black currant.

Pumpkin Lavender Soap
Not your typical late Winter/early Spring soap, but my husband loves this one so much I figure others would, too. Notes of cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg combined with lavender essential oil. Pureed pumpkin added for a touch of color. Unusual, I know, but so spicy and seductive.

Cherry Almond Soap
Heavy on the cherry, light on the almond. Delicious and perfect for Spring.

Enjoy!

Shop Bella Luna in person!

2009-11-27T21:19:00.006-06:00

This is for those of you who live in or near St. Louis. I've got 2 events coming up in the next week!

Wednesday, December 2, 5p to 9p
The Melting Pot, 294 Lamp & Lantern Village, Town & Country

The Melting Pot has teamed up with artists from Show Me ETSY to offer this one-of-a-kind eating and shopping opportunity. Enjoy a 4-course fondue meal for only $27 per person (regularly $54 per person) and shop locally made, handcrafted arts and crafts. If you wish to take advantage of the great price on the fondue meal, reservations are required and can be made by calling (636) 207-6358.

Only want to shop, not eat? No reservations required, just stop in and say HI!

Saturday, December 5, 10a to 4 p
Artropy at Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118

A holiday shopping extravaganza hosted by the artists of Show Me Etsy. Start and finish your holiday shopping in one place!

I hope to see you at one (or both) of these great events!

Holiday Shopping

2009-11-27T14:16:00.003-06:00

It's "Black Friday". Are you really going to fight the insanity at the malls? Why not support local, small business instead? Buy local or buy handmade.

Visit my Etsy shop for awesome handmade bath and body products and deliciously scented candles. (click HERE to visit)

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Liquid Soap!

2009-11-21T08:57:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile since I tried a totally new soaping technique, and I've been getting so many requests for shower gel, hand soap and the like, so I decided to go ahead and try my hand at making liquid soap.

It would be nice if I had pictures to post of my project. You know, ingredients being added to the pot, things getting stirred together, the progress as the soap cooked. Yeah, that would have been nice. I think I was a little too excited to get the project started and a little uncertain of myself once it was underway to think about taking photos.

Anyway, it was a great experience! I'm so happy to share my wonderful results:

Look at how translucent it is!! It turned out even better than I expected. I left it its natural amber color and scented it with rosemary, peppermint and spearmint essential oils. It's super bubbly and so much gentler on your skin than the commercial products you buy in the stores.

Check out my Etsy shop, http://www.BellaLunaCrafts.etsy.com , for more info!

Sock monkeys

2009-11-10T20:48:00.014-06:00

The boys were completely enthralled when I brought home these slippers:

And they couldn't get their little brains around the idea of monkeys made from socks. They call them my monkey socks every time I wear them (which is a lot now that it's Fall).

So, I started shopping around Etsy to see what Sock Monkey goodies I could find.

I found this adorable hat from Sock Monkey Kook on Etsy:

And this awesome crochet rug from PeanutButterDynamite on Etsy

Even a DIY Socktopus kit (how cute!) from Blackbirdfashion on Etsy:

After spending a crazy amount of time looking at all the Sock Monkey cuteness, the search was on for the perfect "traditional" Rockford Red sock monkey for my 2 little monkeys.

Not a "traditional" sock monkey, but super cute from SunsetGirl on Etsy:I kept looking and looking for just the right sock monkey. I wanted that brownish grey color that had bits of white mixed in. The legs couldn't be short. Or too long. Or too fat. It had to be just like the sock monkey that I pictured from long ago.

I FOUND IT!
At long last I found the perfect sock monkey from BrightsIdea's Etsy shop. I think there are two little boys who just may find sock monkeys under the Christmas Tree.

Check Out this Treasury!

2009-09-09T10:56:00.004-05:00

Okay, so Blogger is having a hiccup at the moment and won't let me upload a shot of the really yummy Etsy treasury that includes my Chai soap. Click on the link HERE to see it. Doesn't it look delish? Thanks to anycards for including me!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make a cup of chai.

Are you kidding me?

2009-09-04T15:22:00.010-05:00

Seriously? It's been 2 months since my last post? Oh, this poor neglected blog. The only reason (excuse?) I have is that I've been super busy creating new products. Oh and taking care of the boys. And did I mention the boys? And the housework? And it was Summer? Oh, I digress... New products. Right!

One of the new products I'm most excited about is the one I just finished today! In the past few months I've begun playing around with glycerin soap. It's a soap-making technique I hadn't tried before and boy is it fun! The only soap I've made in the past has been cold process and hot process and the fun thing about glycerin soap is the vibrant colors, shapes and textures that aren't always possible with cold/hot process soaps.

Here are a few of my recent creations:

Pumpkin Crunch: The scent is a blend of Pumpkin, Carrot, Cinnamon, Clove, Rum and is softened with just a touch of sweetness.

Sandalwood: That familiar fragrance that is lush, rich, calming and sensual. It smells so nice and would be great for men and women.

And my favorite so far, Mission Fig soap made with a wood grain texture. This is a beautiful soap that was a lot of fun to make. Very time consuming, but fun.

So, these are the latest and greatest. I'll be adding them to my website and Etsy shop soon. Enjoy!

Live in St. Louis?

2009-07-01T21:02:00.002-05:00

You'll find me here....

2009-06-10T18:55:00.004-05:00

Do you YART? Do you even know what a "YART" is? Art + Yard Sale = YART! In honor of Etsy's YART sale, June 10 thru June 14, we're offering a free lip balm with every order PLUS 15% off everything in the shop PLUS free shipping on orders over $75! So, try a new product or stock up on products you love! Either way, you win! Click HERE for my Etsy shop.

New Candles

2009-05-20T17:03:00.004-05:00

I'm in the process of adding these candles to my Etsy shop and will be adding them to 1000 Markets and my website, as well. Let me just say that of all my candle fragrances, these two are hands down my favorite.

Tranquil Waters is a soothing marine scent, fresh and clean with notes of citrus, woods and ozone.

And Sunflower is just so darn happy. It's a bright and sunny floral, so fitting of the name, Sunflower.
And in case you were wondering, why, yes, I did take those photos in my backyard. How did you guess?

Both are made of pure soy wax, and, as always, phthalate-free fragrance.

Why should you use only soy wax candles? Soy wax is:

Made from soybeans, while paraffin wax is made from petroleum
Biodegradable
Easy to clean up using soap and water - no more disasterous spills
Cleaner burning
Longer burning
Better scent retention and throw.

Is that reason enough? My biggest reasons for choosing to use only soy wax are environmental in nature. It's completely biodegradable, but most importantly, I'm trying to minimize my use of petroleum-derived products. It's small changes, but if all of us used just a little less petroleum, not just gasoline, but ALL products made from petroleum, just think of the impact. It's all the little things that add up.

Enjoy!

We have a winner!

2009-05-11T20:16:00.005-05:00

Our first ever contest wrapped up and we have a winner:

Research Randomizer Results

1 Set of 1 Unique Numbers Per Set
Range: From 1 to 10 -- Unsorted

Job Status:

Set #1: 2

And our winner is: SumpinElse who voted for Bergamot & Mandarin soap!

Thanks to all of those who entered! This was a lot of fun reading your favorite soaps and also the comments sent through the website, www.BellaLunaSoap.com. I appreciate all of you who took a moment to pop over and let me know you liked the soap. As a really new blog, I had no idea what to expect and actually had a moment there when I actually feared that I wouldn't have anyone enter the contest. I know! Silly! Anyway, thanks and congrats to SumpinElse!

A Giveaway - My First!

2009-04-30T13:21:00.007-05:00

Hooray - my very first giveaway! Get a free bar of soap, any soap from my website, by following this blog and leaving a comment! That's all you have to do! See how easy that is? Here it is, step by step:

1. Follow this blog (see that little "Followers" block at the top right?);
2. Visit BellaLunaSoap and pick your favorite soap;
2. Come back here and tell me your favorite soap in the comments section below along with your e-mail address (feel free to type it so that only a human can read it, i.e. bella luna soap at gmail dot com)

You have to both follow and comment in order to be entered. Isn't that easy?

Wait, it gets better! Want an extra entry? Twitter about the contest and leave your twitter address in the comments section.

Contest will close on Sunday, May 10.

Artropy

2009-04-22T20:00:00.001-05:00

Join me and other local Etsy artists on Saturday, April 25 , from 9am to 3:30 pm for some wonderful shopping and refreshments at Sqwires Annex, 1415 South 18th Street, St.Louis, 63104.

Yummy Veggies!

2009-04-21T20:56:00.006-05:00

Like many parents, it's a struggle to provide not only a healthy and nutritious meal to my family every night, but also one they will eat. The "they" I'm referring to are my 2- and 4-year old boys. I feel very strongly that vegetables should be a part of, if not lunch and dinner, at the very least dinner.

I'm not sure how, but one day last fall I stumbled upon a local St. Louis blog all about delicious recipes featuring, ta-da, veggies! It's called A Veggie Venture, and is written by a nice lady named Alanna Kellogg. She also has a sister blog called Kitchen Parade, but today's post is going to talk about vegetables. I've tried more than just a couple of the recipes, and let me tell you, this is my go-to site for vegetable recipes. One of my favorites is for, of all things (!), brussels sprouts! Who would have thought? The only time I've ever eaten brussels sprouts is with this recipe, and let me tell you, it's deeeeeee-licious! Alanna is right, something about the combination of heat, cream and bread crumbs turn these humble little green mini-cabbages into something to behold. The 2-year old can't shove them into his mouth fast enough. The 4-year old, well, we keep hoping. I know that this recipe is more of a fall-type recipe, and with the warmer weather, fewer people are using their oven, let alone cooking with cream. But if you are looking for something new, this is definitely worth a try!

CREAMY BRUSSELS SPROUTS GRATIN
Hands-on time: 30 minutes

Time to table: 60 minutes

Serves 8

2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, stem ends sliced off, outer layer of leaves removed, sprouts halved lengthwise through the core

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted in the microwave in 10-second increments

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream

TOPPING

1/2 cup panko

1/4 ounce fresh Parmesan, grated

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Toss the Brussels sprouts with the butter, salt and pepper. Arrange in a shallow baking dish just large enough for a generous single layer. (The sprouts do shrink while roasting so some overlap is good.) Roast for about 35 minutes (stirring well after 15, 25 and 35 minutes) until the sprouts are very nearly cooked through and brown in spots. Pour the cream over top and return to the oven for 5 - 10 minutes (stirring after 5 and 10 minutes) until cream thickens, coats the Brussels sprouts and darkens slightly. Remove from oven, switch oven to the broiler.

Mix topping ingredients and spread evenly over top. Place under broiler for 5 - 10 minutes until topping turns crisp and golden.

Why not head over to A Veggie Venture and check it out for yourself. You just might find a new favorite veggie recipe!

By the way, between now and April 27, Alanna is giving away a wireless HP printer. Check her blog to find out how!

Win an HP Wireless Printer!

2009-04-20T21:20:00.005-05:00

My favorite St. Louis food/recipe blogger, Alanna Kellogg, is giving away an HP Photosmart C6300 All-in-One printer on her blog. Check it out!

Click HERE for details!

It's Hee-ere!

2009-04-18T13:52:00.007-05:00

Drum-roll, please! Here is my latest project....... my very own website!

Ta-da! This has been a work-in-progress for a loooooong time, but it finally went live late last night. Or was it early this morning. Well, anyway, it's functional. I still have to add my candles, and some more products I'm working on (natural laundry detergent and general household cleaners), but the lion's share of my products are live and ready for your shopping pleasure! Including my just-finished-curing-unbelieveably-divine Coconut Milk Soap.

This beauty will definitely be a regular part of my line. It's just too wonderful to believe, so you'll just have to try some to see for yourself.

In case you were wondering, yes, I'll still be keeping shops at Etsy and 1000Markets - I need all the exposure I can get!

But for now, I'm pleased as punch and over the moon to finally have my website live. Feel free to pop on over (HERE) and check it out. I'd love to hear any comments you have about it!

Coming Soon - Coconut Milk soap

2009-04-01T16:19:00.005-05:00

Currently curing is my newest soap made with coconut milk. All I can say is OH.MY.GOODNESS! The lather is, simply too decadent to describe. But I'll try. Bubbly, fluffy, soft, full of creamy goodness. I didn't even feel the need to apply lotion afterwards. I left the soap unscented so you can experience the delicately sweet fragrance, not coconutty at all.

The bars will vary in size from 4 to 5 ounces each and will retail for $5.50.

New Soap - White Tea & Ginger

2009-03-24T19:36:00.003-05:00

At once delicate and refreshing, a clean scent to be sure. Faintly citrus, softly spicy. Delicious.Made using the cold process method, which retains all the naturally-occuring glycerin, using olive oil for its skin-soothing qualities, coconut and palm oils for a hard bar and loads of bubbles, and castor oil for its humectant qualities and ability to create lots of fluffy bubbles!

Visit my Etsy shop (HERE) to check out this great new soap!

New! Grapefruit soap

2009-03-13T20:38:00.003-05:00

New Soap! Just listed! Wonderfully refreshing, you would swear you were smelling the real thing! This is one of my favorite scents. Made using the cold process method, which retains all the naturally-occuring glycerin, using olive oil for its skin-soothing qualities, coconut and palm oils for a hard bar and loads of bubbles, and castor oil for its humectant qualities and ability to create lots of fluffy bubbles!

Receive a 10% discount (refunded through PayPal) if you mention this blog in Notes To Seller at checkout!

New Product - Luxury Body Lotion

2009-03-11T21:12:00.005-05:00

As promised, I'm continuing the roll-out of new products. This time a very luxurious body lotion that is loaded with oils that are fabulous for your skin like grape seed oil, avocado oil, jojoba seed oil, and shea buter and also contains vitamins A, C, D, and E. Available unscented (perfect for babies and the most sensitive skins) or in 9 wonderful scents including White Tea & Ginger, Blueberry Muffin, Sweet Vanilla (warm vanilla sugar-type), Grapefruit, Lullaby Lavender, Cool Cucumber, Coconut Lime Verbena, Oatmeal Milk & Honey, and Rosemary Mint.

This lotion provides serious moisture, and like all Bella Luna products, does not contain parabens or phthalates.

Available at my Etsy shop (HERE).

New Product - Lip Balms

2009-02-27T21:17:00.006-06:00

Lip! Lip! Hooray! More new products in the shop! I'm now carrying a line of lip balms in 8 different and fabulous flavors: WinterMint, Cherry Vanilla, Pina Colada, Ginger Peach, Orange Chocolate Truffle, Watermelon, Dreamcicle, and Razzy Raspberry. These lip balms were a long time in development, as I wanted just the right formulation. Not too waxy, not too oily, just soft enough to keep that kisser soft and moist. Visit my Etsy shop (HERE) and check them out!

New Product - Lullaby Lavender Bath Salts

2009-02-26T21:56:00.006-06:00

I'm so excited to be rolling out new products! The latest is my Bath Salts, made with epsom salts, sea salts, sodium bicarbonate and essential oils, they will soothe tired and achey muscles, and get you ready to relax.

Over the coming months I'll be expanding my product line to include lip balms, body lotions and creams and other bath and body products that are good for your body and the environment. Phthalate-free. Sulfate-free. Paraben-free. And as always, tested on family, not animals!

Check out my Etsy shop for this and other great products!

Peanut Noodles with Chicken

2009-02-22T17:59:00.014-06:00

If you are like me, feeding the family is hit or miss. I have a typical repertoire that I rotate through, but I also like to try new recipes. Sometimes the new recipes are a hit, and sometimes not so much. Well, this one is such a hit that I can't wait to make it again!

This recipe from the March 2009 issue of Parenting magazine and is super easy. You can vary it based on what you have on hand, what your kiddos like, etc.

Peanut Noodles with Chicken

Salt
8 oz. linguine (preferably whole grain)
1 carrot, shredded
1 red bell pepper, cut in very thin strips
2 cups snow peas
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 cup natural-style creamy peanut butter, unsweetened
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups diced, cooked chicken breast
Asian chili paste, to taste (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook according to package directions. Just before draining, scoop out and reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water and add the carrot, bell pepper, and snow peas to the pot. Drain.

2. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce. Combine the hoisin, rice vinegar, peanut butter and broth in a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil; immediately reduce the heat and simmer about 4 minutes, or until it's smooth and thick.

3. Toss together the pasta and vegetables, sauce and chicken. If the sauce is too thick, stir in the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve warm or at room temperature. For a little heat in your serving, stir in some chili paste.

That's it. It's super easy and unbelievably yummy. I added more snow peas, and some sliced celery, and probably a little more chicken than the recipe called for. I very rarely measure ingredients for cooking recipes like this, just guesstimate the quantity. Oh, I also sprinkled some sliced green onions on top. Like I said before, this is one of those recipes that would be super easy to tailor-make to your family's tastes.

Let me apologize up front for the photo. A food stylist or photographer I am not! As you can tell by the sauce remnants on the side of the bowl from where I tossed all the ingredients together in the serving bowl. Surely I'm not the only one who does that!

Happy Eating!

Featured Etsy Shop - HannahsTutus

2009-02-19T14:09:00.010-06:00

From time to time, I'll feature Etsy shops that I love. My first feature shop is Hannah's Tutus, www.hannahstutus.etsy.com . As the mother of two boys, I can only look at all of these beautiful confections and sigh. Lisa originally started making tutus for her daughter, Hannah, the shop's namesake, after Hannah had some photographs taken while wearing a tutu. She saw the business opportunity, and here we are! Just take a look at some of the cuteness:

And this:

And my personal favorite:

Yes, even the partial name of my shop on some baby's behind is cute when it's done up in embroidery, bows and brightly colored tulle!

Be sure and check out Lisa's Etsy shop, HannahsTutus, and see some of the other beautiful designs she could create for you! Especially all you ladies who have little girls!

Valentine's Giveaway

2009-02-09T09:03:00.007-06:00

Etsy's CYA/SAFE team is sponsoring a wonderful giveaway of two gift baskets filled with the best bath and body products on Etsy. Pop on over to the blog (http://www.etsysafeteam.blogspot.com/) for details on how to win one! Just leave a comment on why you love Valentine's Day for a chance to be entered. There will be one basket for the funniest story and one basket for the sweetest story.

Good luck and Happy Valentine's Day!