This is the slow season for me.  Sales were good in December, but have really fallen in January and February; so it's a good time to plan for this summer.  I'm looking at markets I'll be attending and new products to add to my soaps.
In the SCA, my medieval reenactment club, I'll be cutting back a bit this year.  For the first time since Covid I won't be attending Gulf Wars.  While the sales there are excellent, it's a long trip and physically taxing to do so much setup and selling on my own.  I'm working on partnerships for next year that will reduce some of the costs and labor.  However, I will be at Lilies War in June and I'm very excited about that!

I also plan to do some local farmers markets and will have more information on that around April.  This year I will have some extra help as my 9 year old grand daughter will be staying with us!

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I want to expand on my products to go along with my soap and here are some of the things I'm working on: 
Hand woven cotton towels for hand and body.  These are so nice and soft and comfortable!  They can be used on the beach, after a shower, as a head wrap or a skirt.  Be creative!
Toiletries bags:  I have a few different styles.  Modern zipper pouches for little things like makeup and larger drawstring bags to carry your soaps, comb, deodorant, etc.  I'll also be making medieval type shoulder bags to carry to the shower at events.
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I can't believe I haven't posted in a year; guess I need to get busy!  This post is going to be a summary of many of the things I've made in the past year.  I hope you enjoy it!

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I did some weaving.

I made some shopping bags to sell at farmer's market.

​                And a cute mushroom zipper bag for my daughter.

And lately I've been working on my Viking dolls.  They will be traveling to camps and demonstrations with me to show people what Viking life was like.  You'll see a lot more of them soon.

Did you start any new projects this year?  I did!  At my last vendor event in December I purchased a triangle loom and I was finally able to try it out and learn how to do continuous strand weaving.  The looms range from 1 foot to 8 feet wide so you can make a full size shawl in 1 go.  I opted for the 2 foot size as it was affordable and I can sew or crochet triangles together to make a larger shawl.  The project on the loom pictured ended up being a scarf for my daughter.  Here are a few projects I've made so far.  The scarf on the right is 4 triangles sewn together.
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Another project has been making my own laundry detergent.  I use scraps from cutting soap and ugly or old bars and run them through the grater attachment on my mixer.  Then I mix Borax and washing soda and add the grated soap.  I only need 1/3 cup per load in my washer!

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Here is the recipe if you want to make some:

1 box Borax powder
1 box Arm & Hammer washing s0da
3 bars handmade or Fels Naptha soap, grated
​Mix well.  Keep in an airtight container and use 1/3 cup per average size laundry load.

I will be sharing a lot more projects and pictures with you this year, so I hope you keep coming back!  Remember, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. 

​ https://linktr.ee/thistlewoodmanor

Everyone has noticed how prices on everything have risen; and it has affected myself and my small business as well.  Costs keep rising; but I haven't changed my prices in several years.  I've added other products too, but soap continues to be my best seller.  I've decided I need to make a few changes.

The first change is that I am discontinuing beard products.  The cost of the specialty oils I use has sky rocketed and sales this past year have been poor.  Not sure why that is; but I just can't afford to make and sell them any more.

I added lotion bars this year and I do plan to continue selling them.  Currently I make oatmeal & honey, lavender, unscented, and Bug Off in summer.  I'll be getting them on the website.

Will I be raising prices?  Unfortunately, yes.  Regular hand soap will stay at $6 a bar and shampoo soaps will be $7 a bar.  I may be able to run specials when I find discounts on my supplies; but I can't promise it.

I plan to focus on primarily making good, quality, old fashioned lye soaps in as many fragrances and scents as I can.  I hope to see  you all soon and thank you for your support!

​-Deb

What is Pennsic?  It's a 2 week long medieval re-enactment event held in Slippery Rock, PA every year.  I'll be going for the full 2 weeks to help out some merchant friends and run the soup kitchen for our local SCA kingdom.  Unfortunately, that means no orders will be filled while I am gone.

​See you in a month!

I had a great time Sunday at the Maxwell Farmer's Market and then over in Bondurant at the Chamber of Commerce Expo.  The Market was quite windy, but otherwise cool and dry and there were so many great customers!  It was good to see familiar faces again.  I was glad when I heard that the Expo in Bondurant had been moved inside the Brickhouse Fitness Gym; by then I was pretty tired of the wind.  Again we had great customers.  The highlight for me was seeing all the little kids riding around on motorized zoo animals; wish I had some pictures.  What a hoot!
Next up is Bondurant Farmers market from 6-8 pm in the city park on Wednesdays.  I am excited about all the new customers I'm going to meet.  Then, on May 13 and 14 I will be at the Geneva Market in Geneva, IA for the 3rd year.  It's such a fantastic show and this year I will be in the gym, so no worries about rain.
I've been playing around on Canva and came up with some future ads to post, what do you think?  Learning to create social media posts and take pictures has certainly been a challenge for me.  Watch for these on instagram and facebook!
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It seems like spring is coming so sloooow this year.  April 25 and it's been so cold and windy I have hardly got any yard work done.  The garden is still too wet to till.  I hope this isn't a trend!  And the wind.... I wonder if we will have any branches left on our trees.  It's pretty sad.  Last summer we focused on planting fruit trees and we have a nice little orchard going.  One old pear tree and 2 young ones, 3 apples and a cherry.  We just got a couple of paw paw trees that we are starting in pots.  I've never had a paw paw, but Greg is intrigued by them.  It will be a few years before we have any.  This year we are focusing on starting hardwood trees as so many of our trees are old and were really damaged in the derecho a few years ago.

​Along with spring storms comes preparation for spring sales and farmers markets!  I've been busy making soap since I got back from Mississippi and I am excited to have a new product; lotion bars!  A lotion bar is lotion in solid form.  Less messy and greasy and easy to carry in a purse or pocket because it comes in a 2 oz tin with a screw top lid.  These have been selling like crazy to everyone who tries them!  They are so moisturizing.  I like to use them on the heels of my feet as they get so dry and it's amazing how well they work.  The lotion bars come in 4 scents:  lavender, oatmeal honey, Bug off (citronella) and unscented.  Try one, I think you'll really like them.

This summer I will be very busy with markets.  Here's a list of where to find me:

Maxwell Market in the park, Maxwell, IA:  Sundays from 12-2:30 pm
Bondurant Farmers Market, Bondurant, IA Wednesdays from 6-8 pm
Geneva Market, Geneva, IA   May 13-14 10am-4 pm
​Lilies War, Smithville Lake, MO June 17-26

​Hope to see you there!

Greg and I had a great time in southern Mississippi at a medieval re-enactment event called Gulf Wars.  It was a busy time - we had the shop open 7 hours each day and 12 on Wednesday for Moonlight Madness.

​  Greg watched the shop and I helped when I could as I was in charge of the Calontir soup kitchen.  Calontir is the name of our "kingdom", which covers most of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas.  The soup kitchen provides soup and sandwiches after battles to our fighters and friends.  It takes about 4 hours each day from start to finish.  

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​We brought over 600 bars of soap with us; as well as beard products, nalbound hats, woven scarves and shawls and other items.  We came home with less than 200 bars!  It was a great event for shopping!

The trip was fun too.  We enjoyed Lambert's Cafe twice and Greg got to try his first Chicken on a Stick!
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We have a new logo!  I've always envisioned Thistle Wood Manor as a cozy house in the woods and finally we have a logo that reflects that.  I ordered new business cards and they look fantastic!

I am excited that this year we will be able to travel to Gulf Wars; a medieval re-enactment event held in Lumberton, Mississippi.  It has been canceled the last 2 years due to Covid, but is on for this year.  

​Here we are in our little soap shop at war.  It's great to go south and enjoy warmer temperatures in March!  We love meeting all the people and getting to see old friends.  This is a 10 event, so also a great vacation.  We usually take a day to go sight seeing and even venture into New Orleans for beignets and coffee.

This summer we will be attending the Maxwell Farmers market again.  Last year we were there every other weekend; but this year we hope to make every weekend.  We start the first Sunday in May.  We love our soap customers!  We have a few new products in the works that I am very excited about.  Among them are laundry soap and lotion bars.  Come and see us to try them out!​