Soapourri Natural Bath and Body, LLC

Farmer's Market Schedule 2009

Here are the dates that we will be at the downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market in 2009:

1. May 2
2. June 13
3. July 11
4. August 8
5. September 12

Hope to see you there!

No-Show Today at Market!

I will unfortunately be a no-show today at the Des Moines Farmer's Market winter market.  The weather was threatening last night and all the schools are closed today.  I just couldn't get down there to set up.  But I will be there tomorrow with bells on!

Vote for me! I want to win!

Startup Nation is hosting its' second annual Home-based 100 Competition - will you pretty please vote for Soapourri? (you can vote once a day!) Check out the other categories and entries, and vote! It is fabulous to read about all the entrepeneurs out there! (And by the way, any comments there would be very much appreciated!)

Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market

As you may know, I've been doing the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market since I started this business - 9 years.  It is a very large, successful market and many thousands of people go every Saturday - here is the link.  I love meeting customers and getting feedback, since selling on the web means that you don't get to meet your customers!   Selling outside is always such a crap shoot though - the first Saturday that I had in May was extremely traumatic.  We had heavy rain the whole time (although the forecast said clear as a bell).  It would pool at the top of my tent and then periodically gush down over the sides.  We also had horrific winds, the likes of which I haven't seen in 9 years down there (and I've seen some pretty bad ones).  My table got knocked over and a twenty pound weight dropped on my foot.  I went to the emergency room because I was sure that it was broken, but it wasn't - although it took 3 weeks to recover.  Two weeks ago I had my second Saturday (I have 6 total for the season). It was a great day - good weather, good crowds. However, we had some of those KILLER winds again. Even though my tent is weighted down well, I still grab it and hold on for dear life.  I hope that this Saturday is better - looks like the forecast is awesome!

What a Weekend

What a weekend!  A trip to Chicago to a Ladies Who Launch event, (more on that later), staying with a friend, having lots of fun, going to Second City,  but the piece de resistance?  Coming home to a clean house, flowers, presents, dinner out with Mom - let me repeat that - coming home to a clean house.  Whew.  There is really nothing like that.  I'd like to thank my wonderful family for working so hard on the house so that it would make me happy when I came home.  A very Happy Mother's Day.

Farmer's Market Schedule

We just got our Downtown Farmer's Market schedules today!  Please stop by and see me if you are there.  See below for the days that we'll be there.

May 24 June 28 July 12 September 6 September 20 October 4

The Winnah!

And the winnah is:  Krista!  Thanks to all of you who entered the Bunny Basket Contest by commenting on the blog.  I took all the entries' email addresses, pasted them into a Word document, printed it out, cut them up, put them in a bowl - and then had a family member close his eyes and pull one out.  Krista will be receiving one of these cute baskets -  Congratulations, Krista!

Oscar Gift Bags

I got an email on Sunday from a guy in L.A. who works for a company specializing in gifting events for celebrities.  He wanted to know if I could participate in gift bags for their gifting lounge for the Oscars.  I thought about it for awhile, then decided to go for it.  The problem was, he needed it in a week, and I needed 100!  I brainstormed for awhile, then decided to showcase Add-A-Tubes.  Below is a picture of the bag that we did.  We put in a soap sack, and a shrinkwrapped bundle of 5 'tubes, along with business cards, coupons, and a hook.  So I decided this on Monday and stuffed the bags with the soap sacks that day.  The next morning I woke up and thought "OMG, Fedex takes forever to get to California!"  I looked it up - he needed it by Monday the 18th.  I realized that I had to ship it that day (Tuesday) for it to get there on time.  I didn't think I could do it but I did.  I was absolutely exhausted and couldn't have done it without my kids, who helped after school.  I made it to Fedex Kinko's with a 42 pound box with 20 minutes to spare!

Here is what 100 of them look like!

I think I will use these as a way to package Add-A-Tubes for gifts on the site.  Look for it!

Adios to Farmer's Market

Today was my last day of the Downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market for the season.  It was a pretty miserable day; last week I was in shorts and a t-shirt, today I was in a winter coat and three shirts, and still froze.  When it rains and you are under a tent, eventually the rain overruns the little pockets in the top, and goes whooshing down the sides.  It hits your customers and any product that is unlucky enough to be within a foot of the sides.  But I can't complain too much - today was the only day of my 8 Saturdays that I had bad weather.  I'm always amazed at all the people that come out no matter what the weather.  Here is a picture of my booth at the market, on a nicer day.  I also have a table on the side, with lots of other products and my big ol' cutter.

The farmer's market goes through the end of October.  Today I bought 1/2 peck of Honey Crisp apples (awesome!),some darling little gourds to display, and some tuberose.  Tuberose are like flowers from heaven, they just give off that wonderful sweet smell when you least expect it.  I heart tuberose - do you?

We have a Winnah!

The winner of our July contest is the lovely Megan!  I copied and pasted all the "commenters" into a Notepad file, printed them out, cut them up, folded them in half, and had my husband pick the winner out of a bowl.  Congratulations, Megan, you are the proud owner of a $20 Soapourri gift certificate!