Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Shower Favors and First Ever GIVEAWAY!

As I said yesterday, my Bridal shower was a complete success on Saturday! As far as favors went for the shower, my mom and sister threw around a ton of ideas. My mom came across some handmade soaps on etsy and other sites, but didn't like that she couldn't feel, smell, or see the soaps in person. It made her nervous to place the order with blind faith. I'll let my mom take the story from here:

"Life got in the way and the idea of the soap was pushed to the back of my mind. Then it finally hit me: I have a friend, Jackie, who makes beautiful hand crafted bars of soap which I use every single day. Why not call her?

I hadn't spoken to Jackie in quite some time. When I called her business to inquire about the soaps, I was told that they do not have any pear scented soap. I explained to him what I wanted and again was told there was no pear soap. I said what about another scent? I could have “Laura and Chris - Makes perfect 'sense'” put on the label. The guy on the phone seemed impressed with my creativity and suggested that I call Jackie personally with my inquiry. He gave me her personal phone number and referred me to her website Dragonfly soaps at www.dfsoaps.com.
http://www.dfsoaps.com./

I called Jackie the next day and told her what I wanted. She said she didn’t make pear scented soap, but she would research it and see if she could find someone who made a pear scent that was up to her standards. I got excited about this. I trust Jackie’s work implicitly and knew she would do a superb job. When I told her that the shower was about three weeks away, she replied “Oh.” in a tone that made my heart sink, “The soap needs three weeks to cure and I need time to research this and…here’s the thing, my daughter is expecting her baby any day now! I’m going to be a grandmother!” As disappointed as I was about the soap I was so thrilled for Jackie as her jubilance could not be contained and was dangerously contagious!

I accepted that pear soap from Jackie was not going to happen for this occasion and we hung up. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? I use Jackie’s soap every single day and could have kicked myself for not asking her sooner. But there was still some hope. I talked to Jackie a few days later when she said “Well…I could ask my niece to research this. It’s a long shot but I’ve taught her everything I know about soap making and she actually makes the soap now.”

A few days later, I got another email saying that Jackie’s niece had found a scent-maker close by and was satisfied with the quality of the product. She asked if I wanted her to go ahead and make some test soap? Absolutely!

The next day or so, I found an unwrapped box of something in my mailbox. I opened the box and there was a sample of delicately scented pear soap! With a sample of the band that goes around the wrapper and gift boxes. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to tell Laura and Melissa!


All in all, Jackie made me 80 bars of soap (we have extra for Out-of-Town Bags), gave me gift boxes, ribbons, and custom made wrappers that said “A perfect pair, Laura and Chris, May 21, 2011” all for $150. Pretty sweet deal. The gift boxes came from Michael’s which she bought with a coupon and passed the savings on to me. They gave the bars such a classy look. Jackie loved the scent of the pear so much she is considering adding it to her line and she may market it as a soap for bridal showers!


The most exciting thing of all? Jackie's daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Gemma, in the middle of all of this!! Everything worked out so well. Don’t you just love when all the stars line up and the universe comes together so perfectly?!  Be sure to check out Jackie’s soaps here, she has an incredible selection of handcrafted soaps!"
The favors all together
In addition to the soaps, each place at the tables had Hershey kisses wrapped in green tulle tied with a brown and green ribbon.

In addition to THAT, my mom also made makeup bags for each of my bridesmaids. Being quite the blogging savvy lady that she is, she followed this tutorial on the blog Noodlehead, to make them.


Now I have somethiing very exciting to share...my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!
I have a hand-made makeup bag that my mom made complete with one hand-crafted pear soap to giveaway to one lucky reader!

To enter: 
  • Visit Jackie's site at Dragonfly Soaps and leave me a comment below which soap scent you would most like to have. Be sure to check out her extensive selection of scents including: Ginger, Orange and Honey, Peppermint Ice, Triple Chocolate Mint, etc. etc.
To get an extra entry:
1. Tweet the following: "Check out @Lwoodsny first ever Giveaway - makeup bag and handcrafted soap at Saying "I do" http://ow.ly/4DjE"
2. Leave a second comment that you tweeted it.

Enter by 8:00pm on Thursday April 21st. Winner will be announced on the blog Friday!

36 comments:

Mom said...

I hve no idea how to tweet but I know a tweet deal when I see one (corny, I know). I am so excited to be giving away one of my bags to a lucky winner.

Jessica said...

Yay giveaway!! Glad the soaps worked out for you! :)

I would choose the 60's vanilla soap. Love the smell of classic vanilla!

Laura said...

I love giveaways!

I would also choose the 60's vanilla soap. I'm a sucker for vanilla scented items... :)

The Vintage Modern Bride said...

aww yay for your mom getting the pear soap! i'm glad it all worked out in the end.

as for me...i'd love the lemon chiffon soap. it just sounds so yummy and luxurious!

The Vintage Modern Bride said...

i tweeted about the giveaway too hun :) thanks for hosting such a cute giveaway!

Dragonfly Soaps said...

We are so glad that the soap favors were well received. Dragonfly Soaps was honored to be able to play a small part in your festivities. We wish you much joy and happiness in your upcoming marriage. Clever idea with the giveaway.

Kate V said...

Stop the presses. Now we know who the brains behind this operation, its MAMA O!!!! "Makes perfect sense" - I died! What an amazing story and a great idea for the pear soap! I love the creativity and the personal touches. And the makeup bags looked too cute. Very nice :)

Heather said...

What an awesome story and awesome giveaway, Laura! I love vanilla, so I might go with the 60's Vanilla Soap.

Heather said...

I just tweeted, too!

Kamie said...

So fun! How exciting your first giveaway!! I really like the sound of the mango soap!!

The Sweet Life Blog said...

Yay for givaways! I would be crazy not to enter this one. I LOVE soaps. If I had to choose I think I would like to try the Tangerine soap or the Lemon Chiffon soap, though even if it is Spring, that Winterspice soap sure is pretty!

The Sweet Life Blog said...

I also just tweeted!

ARK said...

absolutely this one...: http://www.dfsoaps.com./herbal-soap-patchouli-lavender.shtml

ARK said...

Tweeted! allenaim2

Michelle said...

Wow this is very very cool. Great blog and amazing posts! Really like your way to write.

Kisses xoxo
http://dailycatwalk.blogspot.com

Jasmine said...

this is such an adorable story and what a great idea your mom had about giving these as favors! it's so perfect... and those cute tags! i love them!

the website is so cute and the vanilla soap sounds wonderful!!

such a nice giveaway!

Shana said...

Very cute idea! Your mom is wonderful to make those makeup bags too :)

Jacquie said...

wow what a great story!! the Forest Floor Soap sounds really good!

Rae said...

You have a SUPER MOM!!!!
Remember You are BLESSED with a wonderful and supportive family and friends.

sandytoesbride said...

Yay Mom! I would love the orange and honey soap - yummmmmy summery goodness in soap.

Heather said...

So many good ones to choose from! The Orange and Honey sounds great, but so do a few of the earthy ones! :)

Heather said...

I tweeted! @hbtaylor10

Unknown said...

Your favors are beautiful! I'm sure they'll be very popular:) I have to say, I'm impressed with your friend Jack's website. The soaps look amazing! I was instantly drawn to the "almost edibles soap" tab (weird, huh?), and have to say that the 60's vanilla sounds amazing, as does the oatmeal almond soap. For the sake of making a decision, I'd have to say the vanilla sounds better--maybe because I'm up late studying and craving cookies? I dont know;)

HiLLjO said...

Totes-ally want some ginga' soap!!!

A_Wards said...

I'm glad the Bridal Shower went so well!

Yay for giveaways! I like floral scents, so I think I would go with the lavender.

jennybusybee said...

The orange and honey scent sounds amazing! And your bridal shower looks great!

jennybusybee said...

I tweeted too :)

Karen said...

What a great favor idea! Love it!

Unknown said...

I would love to try the Triple Chocolate Mint or the mango rose soap

Liz said...

I would choose the Orange and Honey soap. Mmm, I can almost smell it now! :)

Liz said...

I tweeted too!

http://twitter.com/#!/425Lizzy/status/61199991670181888

Courtney said...

I absolutely love how there is a category called "almost edibles." The lemon chiffon and 60s vanilla must smell amazing!

Courtney said...

I retweeted! @CoCoBride

jessica said...

I would go with the mango soap. Love the smell of mango. I tweeted this, it is such an awesome giveaway!!

Amy hamp said...

I would definately have to go with the Triple Chocolate Mint Soap! I'm a chocoholic, and what would be better than smelling like the one thing I love most!! :D

Andrea said...

Are you familiar with Nag Champa oil? Its used to make incense & I would love to have soap scented with it, esp natural soap that doesnt dry out my already dry skin! Your soaps look beautiful!