Samples and the Slow Season

This mold is just so darn adorable, it
fits into the palm of my hand!

The spring and summer months bring farmers market season, and shortly thereafter the holiday markets start filling up my calendar. After the holidays however, there are a few months that are very quiet for me in terms of craft fairs and other markets. That's why January through April are great months for building up my soapy inventory and trying some new scents and designs!


I found this year that offering low-cost soap samples on my Etsy site this year was a really popular way for customers to be able to experience my soaps at minimal cost. When I'm at my local farmers market or at other craft fairs, I love it when customers come to my booth and want to smell each soap. I always encourage it, and suggest smelling them again so that they can pick out a favorite scent! Unfortunately, scent does not translate well into the world of online sales, thus the samples.

Here's my sample bar mold inside of my 
usual 20-bar mold. It's so tiny!

Recently I received a huge order from my favorite supplier (which to a soap maker, feels like Christmas!), and part of it was a teeny tiny mold specifically for making sample bars. Until now I've been offering samples when I have extras (usually cut from the ends of the soap that I trim off as I'm cutting the individual bars). Now I'll be able to increase my recipe size slightly and generate more samples of each batch! I'm so excited to soon be able to offer samples of all of my soaps instead of just a few varieties at a time. The mold is full of Honeysuckle soap, which will be hitting my Etsy site in about 6 weeks. Aside from keeping up my regular line of soaps, I also plan on offering several floral scents during the spring months.

What's your favorite springtime scent? Answer in the comments below!