How to find Peaceacre products!

Had a wonderful time at the Cecil Floyd handmade show in Joplin. Met a lot of very cool people, This show draws a HUGE crowd! From 9:00, when the doors opened, until around 1:00 PM or so, there were never less than 30 people in the room we were in, shopping, talking, and generally having a great time together. This was my first year at Cecil Floyd. The lesson I learned this year is that I DEFINITELY need more stock in future years. The Spa Salt Bars sold out early. And I sell them as fast as I can make them in my shop, as well. I played around with this spa salt bar recipe, and finally think I got it right. The feedback has all been positive.

The question everyone was asking at Cecil Foyd was. "Where can we find you? Where do we go to buy your products? We can't find them in the stores or on-line..."

As I have said before, after the holidays I will be shutting down the Artfire store and switching to Etsy. And I will list all of the favorites - handmade spa salt bars, lotion bars, and of course all the soaps you have come to know and love. And yes, French Green Clay soap will be available! Back by popular demand!

But for now, if you really need something, email me at peaceacre@ymail.com. Or visit me at the studio! Hours are Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 6PM, and Saturdays from 9AM to 2PM, through December 18th. In January, the studio/shop will be open one day a week for customers to buy directly from me.Address: 208 W 10th St., Upstairs, Lamar, MO.

Upcoming Shows

First, I want to thank everybody for a great farmers market season. I want to acknowledge that Peaceacre kind of fell off the farmers market map there toward the end, but our loyal customers kept telling us we needed to take our show on the road and so we did. The success we had at some of the out of town shows has enabled me to invest in  bigger and better soap making equipment. I had trouble keeping up with demand in the past, making small batches, but with the new equipment, that should change. This is my second year in business, and I am learning as I go. Thanks for your patience! I could not have done any of this without my local loyal customers - Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Enough traveling for now. I am back in the area and will be at three major shows right here at home between now and Christmas.

The first is the annual craft show at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Stockton on Saturday, November 13th.

The second show is Amanda Kenter's fantastic Lamar Handmade Boutique, Saturday, November 20th at Memorial Hall in Lamar.

The third event is very exciting. Beginning during Lamar's "Home for the Holidays" celebration on the Square, December 4th, lots of very cool stuff is going to be going on in the Arts Council building at 206 West 10th Street, on the northwest corner of the Square.  Downstairs in the Gallery, Lamar jewelry artist Joanna Turnbull is hosting an "Artist's Market" featuring the work of a variety of artists from far and wide throughout the four state area. Upstairs, the Arts Council will host a handmade store along the lines of what I did last year when I opened Peaceacre to the public for the holidays, only MUCH expanded and full of surprises. It's going to be really cool, featuring awesome handmade items, demonstrations, even a rummage sale! So, to all you crafty ladies out there, if you are interested in taking part, email me at peaceacre@ymail.com ASAP! It's going to be fun! Visit this website frequently for updates!

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

Today at the market, we had several requests for our homemade laundry soap recipe. We sell a bar that is labeled as laundry soap, but the Peaceacre Farmhouse Soap works just as well. Both are basic, unscented, no nonsense lye soaps. They will do the job! Here's the recipe:

Homemade Laundry Soap

Hot water

1/2 cup Washing Soda


1/2 cup Borax


1/2 bar Soap (grated)



■In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.


■In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.


■Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use.
 
NOTE: We sell both the Peaceacre laundry soap and Farmhouse Soap in large and small bars. A small bar is the equivalent of the 1/2 bar in the recipe above.
 
We hear that you can find washing soda at Price Cutters in Carthage. I will arrange to have some in recipe-sized small packages next week at the market, as well. Borax you can find in the laundry section of most stores.
 
When I started making laundry soap for the Farmers Market, I didn't really have a lot of confidence that it would be a big seller. But it has been, which both surprises and pleases me. I am so happy to discover that so many people are getting back to basics, and look to be having a good time doing it, too. I've been collecting "do it yourself" recipes and formulas for a long time now, so if you're looking for anything in particular along these lines, email me! I'll be happy to share any info that I have.

Farmer's Market Season Begins - ETC...

The 10th Street Farmer's Market opened today, with lots of bedding plants, along with fresh breads, spring onions, spinach, lettuce - and, of course, Peaceacre! We met a lot of cool out-of-towners today, and we had a lot of people ask how they can find Peacecare products when they go home. I am working on getting more of my market items into the Peaceacre-Artfire online store. One that IS currently listed is the herbal healing balm, which I sold out of at the market this morning (I have more for on line sales). This is one of the most popular products that I make. I'll be making more for local sale soon. We've had really good feedback on this balm. Other new items this year include Spa Salt Bars with French clay, Orange Cream Whipped Lotion in a tin, Pure & Natural Laundry Soap bars, and tea rose scented and "healing hands" herbal lotion bars. Last year's favorites are back, too, of course, inlcuding all the varieties of soap you've come to expect from Peaceacre. I have plenty of surprises planned for this year's Farmer's Market season, so expect good things to come.

Since Peaceacre is really NOT all about commerce, please note that we WILL NOT be at the market every weekend. In May, we will be there the 1st, 8th and 22nd. If we add more dates, we'll let you know.

In other news... I'm working on a number of projects for the Arts Council, including, this month, a FREE kids class for Earth Day on making art from recycled materials. You can find more info on that class in the "peacecare art" section of this website, and also at acobc.org. I am also planning adult classes soon at Peaceacre studio on making herbal balms, herbal teas, and maybe needle felting, too, so watch this space for announcements.

Thanks everybody for a great first day at the Market, and a lot of positive commentary. We look forward to a great season!

Peaceacre and Friends - More pictures of the Store!

As promised, more pictures of the Peaceacre store! New stuff includes hand-knitted scarves, hand-painted floor cloths, homemade candy, vintage jewelry and other unique items. Some bulk herbs are also available. Muslin bags, wooden soap dishes, all kinds of cool stuff!

I have extended my hours to Tuesdays, Thursday and now Fridays, Noon to 6:00 PM. Thanks again for supporting handmade, and the Arts Council of Barton County, too.  I don't want to sound like a used car salesman, but the soaps are selling quicker than I thought, so if you are interested, you'd better find your way to the store soon!

I also want to let everybody know that I will be teaching a FREE clas for kids, ages 6 to 12, called "Making Christmas Ornaments form Natural Materials" on Saturday, December 12th. For a preview of the kinds of cool ornaments kids can make in this class, click here.

Peaceacre Holiday Hours!

The Peaceacre studio above the Arts Council building at 206 West 10th St (on the NW corner of the Square) will be open to the public December 1st through the 17th, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from Noon to 6:00. The studio is primarily a work space and classroom, but with the Holidays looming, I'm going to use it as a store, as well! I'll have lots of interesting things on hand, not only from the Peaceacre line of all-natural bath & body creations, but I'm also working on some felted bracelets and other items. I will also be inviting a few friends to bring their cool handmade stuff. So come check it out. If you can't make it on Tuesday or Thursday, just email me at Peaceacre@Ymail.com. I'll make sure we connect in time for Christmas!
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We now have the beginnings of a Peaceacre on-line store, as well, through Artfire.com. Click here to see what's there as of today... We are adding items as quickly as we can, but you know how everything on the Internet is... It just takes forever! Come back often to see what's new!
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There's a lot more going on in Peaceacre world than mere commerce, though -- be sure to visit the Peaceacre Art page in the righthand menu bar. We are working with the Arts Council of Barton County to get some fun and free arts events going, for kids and adults, over the course of the long, cold winter ahead. Check it out!

Wrapping Up the Farmers Market Season

Saturday, November 21st will be the final Saturday for this Farmers market season. We said in an earlier post that we were moving indoors a few weeks ago, but the weather improved, it's the last day to see our market buddies, so we'll be there on Saturday. Think Christmas! We'll have Peaceacre gift bags and baskets, cool stocking stuffers, etc. We'll also have some wonderful handcrafted datebooks and calendars and a really cool recipe box created by Gayla Miller from Liberal. Come see us!