Soapy Holidays and a Soapy Deal!

Holiday Shopping with All Things Herbal

Through Monday Only:  

Get FREE SHIPPING with every order of $30 or more!

It's the time of year for All Things Herbal's annual Cyber Monday Sale.  This year we are offering Free Shipping on orders of $30 or more when you enter a secret code at checkout.  Also, receive a bonus gift when you include a special phrase in the comments section.  These rare codes begin NOW and are good through Cyber Monday, December 2, at midnight.  To be sent the email, including the code and special phrase,

sign up for our newletter at this link:

http://allthingsherbal.com/index.cfm/e-mail-list-sign-up

Check out our ribbon wrapped soaps HERE, dressed up in a variety of ribbons, perfect for holiday gifting or as a treat for yourself! 

Everyone loves to open a present.  And, when I uncover my soap molds and cut the batch into bars, just seeing that sea of wavy soap tops is for me like opening a present!

A holiday classic - a Cinnamon Oatmeal bar.  Swirls of cinnamon and oatmeal with our blend of cinnamon, apples, and berries...makes this soap almost good enough to eat. 

The perfect little gift of cheer.  Mint-a-sota, layers of green & white with a generous sprinkling of peppermint leaves and scented with our minty blend of spearmint and peppermint.

And,we can't forget Cherry Almond Oatmeal, a holiday blend of black cherries and toasted almonds.

Enjoy this beautiful season.  Merry Christmas!

Christine Kennedy

www.AllThingsHerbal.com

African Hope Soap

It's always fun to share a passion with your family!  My youngest daughter, Colleen, has always enjoyed helping me with our family business, whether that's wrapping soap, making labels, bouncing ideas off of each other or helping out at craft shows.  She's also notorious for taking many, perhaps too many pictures with her camera. Just for this post I had almost a hundred pictures to choose from!

In December, Colleen will be graduating from college.  Even more exciting, for her, she will also be leaving for a 3 week trip with six students from SquareOne to Kenya and Uganda.  SquareOne is a student run nonprofit group seeking to empower local economic development by creating lasting business ventures in rural communities in the developing world.  As a fundraising adventure, Colleen and I created a soap specifically for raising funds to help the communities in Kenya and Uganda. 

Colleen in our soap workshop holding a few logs of our African Hope Soap.

Here are a few of the soaps, just cut into bars.  Dubbed "African Hope Soap", the square bars feature a very warm fragrance that we created and blended together. It's a spicy-sweet, musky blend with hints of deep sandalwood, cinnamon and orange and soft notes of vanilla, patchouli and lemongrass.

When we were talking about colors for this new soap, we decided to add in some chunks of vanilla bars that I had made earlier.  We love the deep brown colors.

The vanilla in the soap turns darker brown the more it is exposed to air.

This is a shot of the soap still in the mold.  You can see the brown and orange chunks peeking out from the soft, pale green soap.  A few swirls with our spatula and we left the soap to rest overnight.

Colleen, cutting the soap into logs.

Eight logs ready to cut into bars!

Designing the labels, printing and cutting them out with a paper cutter.

Colleen and her group will be selling these soaps this weekend at the Saint John's and Saint Ben's Homecoming Football Game in Collegeville, Minnesota.  Stop by and see the SquareOne booth if you are in the area.

  The finished soaps!

You may also support their trip by purchasing a bar from our site: http://AllThingsHerbal.com/index.cfm/African-Hope-Soap-Square-One-CSB-SJU.  We've donated all the bars of soap to SquareOne, so 100% of the proceeds goes directly to support their trip.  To learn more about Square One, follow them and cheer them on at: https://www.facebook.com/csbsjuSquareOne. Thanks for your support!

Christine Kennedy

www.AllThingsHerbal.com

Midsummer Faire & Celtic Celebration

Summer is the time of year that we travel to outdoor festivals and exhibit our herbal soaps.  Last Saturday we went to the Midsummer Faire & Celtic Celebration at The Farm on St Mathias in Brainerd, Minnesota.  The weather was a bit challenging, with more like fall temps than July ones and some strong wind gusts all day.  I almost lost the tent a few times to the wind...but no pain no gain.

 

 

I love all things Irish and this is a fun show with lots going on and wonderful customers. The folks who put this show on are very helpful and the setting on the farm couldn't be more beautiful.

 

 

 

Here's a peek at all the happenings.

 

What's a Celtic Festival without sheep shearing?

 

 

Live Irish Music

 

 

Spinners

 

Face Painting for the kids

 

Our Irish Soaps

 

A Blacksmith Demonstration

 

Hens to watch

and eggs to discover!

 

Horses

 

and stacks upon stacks of hay.

 

 

Till next year~ Féach leat níos déanaí!

 

Christine Kennedy

www.AllThingsHerbal.com

Newest Handcrafted Soaps for Summer

Introducing our three newest summer scents:

Jasmine Nights, Lavender Lemon & Lavender Cucumber

Jasmine Nights~

Jasmine flowers are renowned for their beautifully distinctive fragrance, and this soap captures the essence of that captivating scent.  Featuring brightly colored layers in beautiful shades of stunning pink and divine orange, this wonderful herbal soap bar has the look and scent of summer - perhaps a summer night filled with the warm sweet scent of jasmine.

This herbal soap is carefully handcrafted with skin-loving botanicals, oils and butters with swirls of clay and a sprinkle of poppy seeds on the very top.  After a date with this bar, your body will look and feel silky smooth.

Lavender Lemon~

Within the stunning lavender, lemon and cream swirls, Lavender Lemon is fragranced with a garden fresh blend of tangy lemon and classic lavender, brightened with just a touch of orange and eucalyptus oils. Sooo delicious!

 

We used our skin-loving formula including shea and cocoa butters, olive and coconut oils.  And, for an extra touch, a light sprinkle of dried blue cornflowers along the top.

Tangy and uplifting, you will be captivated by this bar after just one use!

Lavender Cucumber~

Our Lavender Cucumber bar is the perfect summer combination wrapped into one feel good bar of soap! The soothing aroma of lavender calms your nerves while the cool, fresh cucumber awakens your mind and senses, making for one delightful summer skincare treat. 

Handcrafted with our signature blend of oils, we've added creamy goats milk and fresh cucumber purée to provide a natural source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that helps cleanse, condition and protect your precious skin.  Finally, for an extra luxurious touch, French green clay and superfine flax seeds are added, both used to help detoxify, cleanse and clarify the most sensitive of skin types, naturally.  You will love the glow this little powerhouse of goodness leaves behind!

May you enjoy a wonderful start to a beautiful summer,

Christine Kennedy

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/



Hello Red Wing!

A few weeks ago, David and I took a little trip to Red Wing, Minnesota with my parents.  For Christmas, we had given them a night at the Candelight Inn Bed and Breakfast.  And, surprise.....we had purchased a night for ourselves too!  It was SO much fun to get away together!  It was amazing to spend a few days relaxing and exploring another city together.

Our first stop was to the Red Wing Pottery Museum.

I love these vintage Red Wing dinner plates!

 

As you may know, during the summer months, David and I run an ice cream shop in our hometown of Pequot Lakes.  But, perhaps you didn't know, that you can place an All Things Herbal order online and select local pick up for our ice cream shop and receive a FREE Ice Cream Cone - in your choice of flavor when you pick your order up.  Ah, summer and ice cream!

So, whenever I travel with David, I know that he is always on the look out for ice cream shops.  He'll never miss an opportunity to visit an Ice Cream Parlor and enjoy MORE ice cream!  This time, he also bought a few candies, a cayenne pepper one for himself and a dark chocolate carmel for me.  I think he had planned that we'd split them but, I'd already eaten mine, so he had the spicy one all to himself.

Next to the Red Wing Pottery Museum are several antique shops. Filled with glassware.

I love all the colors!

For dinner we were told Red Wing Brewery was the place for pizza and handcrafted local beers.

They even took the time to give our party of four a personal tour of their brewery!



This one is mine - a delicious dark chocolate stout.

Time to head back to the Candlelight Inn. 

 

The Innkeepers brought us a glass of wine to enjoy in their sitting room.

 

 

 

A peek into the dining room ~ it was ready for all the breakfast guests in the morning.

 

 

Before leaving, I had put together a giftbox of our handmade bath treats to surprise my parents with.  Everything one might need for a relaxing whirlpool bath: sea salts, lavender jojoba oil, soaps and chocolate.

In the morning, we were awoken by music. Our hosts had placed a music box outside our door to let us know that morning coffee had arrived and soon we should head down for breakfast.

When we opened the door, warm muffins and hot coffee were nestled inside the basket.

My parents, Art & Colleen walking together in the morning.  What a wonderful example of love for us.

Would a visit to Red Wing be complete without a stop at Red Wing Shoe Factory? I think not!

Love the built in scissors holder in front!

Almost time to head back home, but before we did, we decided to head about 1/2 hour further down the river and visit the National Eagle Museum.

And are we glad we did - up close and personal with these majestic Eagles!

On our way out of town, we stopped at Caribou Coffee for Mocha's to go and were handed these - a perfect reminder to enjoy these special times together.

Happy Spring,

Christine Kennedy

http://www.allthingsherbal.com/