SWAPPING!!

I just have to tell you about these
wonderful products!

Over the last few years I have been trying to buy more handmade products, and supporting fellow crafters. Finding etsy, and through etsy finding crafting bloggers, has made that much easier to do. During my travels through the many craft sites trying to find a Christmas Gift for my 92 year old Grandmother - I found Bovine Bubbles & Hogwash and Cara.

The name alone made me check to see what they could possible be selling? Soaps and lotions of course!! But how did they come up with the name?

Cara collects cows, roosters and pigs and so came up with the name Bovine Bubbles & Hogwash. Besides – who's going to forget that name?

Well - after a few emails back and forth we decided to do a swap. WOOHOO!! Of course now I had a price limit (not a bad thing), but what should I get? I really had to narrow it down - one of everything would have been nice for me, but not nice for the pocket book. There are so many "flavors" of hand lotion and soap to pick from!! So this is what I decided on:

1) Udderly Soft Hand & Body Lotion:
Vanilla Dreams (for me)
and Strawberry Jam (for Grandma)

2) Squeeeeky Clean Hand, Bath & Shower Gel:
Vanilla Dreams

3) 3 Udderly Smooth Lip Smoocher

(lip balm)
Marachino Cherry
Raspberry Cream
Caramel Cream Chai Tea

4) 15 different Soap flavors:
Backwood Blue (2), (for men)Greek Adonis (for men)
Orange Chocolate Truffle
Satsuma, Spa Mint, Rum n' Nog
Strawberry Rhubarb Compote
Iced Keenum Tea
Green Tea & Ginger
Cafe Brulee, Frosted Berries
Frankincense & Myrrh
Pumpkin Custard
Ambra de Nepal
Just Plain Old Soap
Sleigh Ride with Santa

I hadn't planned on all the soap. But my friends (old and new ones) and I have a "Christmas Craft Store" in the local mall and we are having a "Christmas Banquet" on Dec. 22nd and I thought it would be nice to get each of them something as a thank-you for helping out and selling their products in the store.

If you have been counting you will notice that Cara sent one extra lip balm and 3 extra soap!! What a sweety!!!

You would not believe how awesome these items smell!! After using them I smell great!! My hands get so dry in the winter and from the wood working I do, that I go through a lot of hand lotion and have tried MANY different kinds. I love this hand lotion!!! It smells wonderful and works like a dream!! No more rough hands!! You need very little and it last a long time! I did smell the Strawberry Jam lotion (didn't try it as it is Grandma's gift) and it smells just like strawberry jam!

I had managed to order enough soap so that here was one for me (now there are 4 for me, well 2 male scents for sons). I kept Just Plain Old Soap (for hubby - doesn't like strong smells) and Strawberry Rhubarb Compote for me. What a wonderful soap!! This is actually the first homemade soap that I have used. Don't think I'll ever go back to "regular" soap. You feel really clean after using it, not slimmy like the soap left stuff on your skin. It's really nice soap! The lip balms smell good enough to eat!! My husband doesn't like to kiss me when I have lip balm on, but with these he just might! (just asked - apparently not)

If you go to Cara's site and order something - let her know you found her through my blog!! Bovine Bubbles and Hogwash She is having an "End of Season Sale" on some of her wonderful products! She also carries Perfume Oil, Body Spray, Hand & Body Mousse, Shampoo & Conditioners, Sea Salt & Sugar Scrubs, Bubble Bath Powder, and Votives & Smelly Wax Things.

So - after getting all these wonderful products from Cara I decided to check out the blogs that sell similar items. Not as easy to find as the quilting blogs - but I managed to find a few. There is an amazing amount of sites out there selling soaps etc., but not alot of blogs that I could find. Some soap I found looks good enough to eat (cupcakes, cinnamon buns, bundt cakes) It's really to bad that they don't have "Scratch & Sniff" on the internet! Please go check out these blogs and see what they have to offer in handmade soaps and lotions!! (There are more links on the side bar under "Soaps, Lotions, Candles", can't mention them all here.)

Heritage Bath Essentials:

Was there last week and picked up a gift basket for a friend, bath bombs, shower gel, 2 body lotions and an awesome smelling candle. I'm keeping the shower gel (vanilla), one body lotion (vanilla) and the candle (not vanilla). Bev has amazing gift baskets, candles, soaps etc. It all smells so wonderful!! The hand lotion is amazing, and the soap smells and looks good enough to eat! Now I know what "Sex on the Beach" smells like, and also "Monkey Farts". My friend Suzanne tried one of the bath bombs and said "it smelled real good" and really like it!

Soap Revolution: wonderful Christmas soaps, and Chocolate soap!

Soap Store : is it cake or soap? Amazing!!

Soapalaya Soap Suds: wonderful gift boxes and bags for her soap. Cinnamon soap - I love cinnamon!!

Soapy Chica: how does she do that? Very pretty decorative soap - to nice to use!!

Sara's Soaps n' Such: coffee soap, coffee cake soap and more

Simply Tempted Bath & Body Co.: having a sale!! Is that soap or whipped cream?

The Prim Pantry : cookie dough soap, the pirate duck - really cute kids soap.

Bubble Tub: all that lip balm! Wonderful looking soaps, shower gels and bath bombs.

If anyone else is ever interested in a swap - let me know!!