The gift of knowledge

My first love is baking. I have been baking all of my life and in 2020, I went into business with Aunt Melvie Brownies & More. I joined the Pope County Farmers Market and met many other local crafters, farmers, and bakers! It was there that I met my soap mentor, a fellow market vendor from Dardanelle. I loved his passion for old fashioned lye soap, and he proudly sold his soap at the market, describing it as the BEST soap you could buy! Already a lover of old fashioned lye soap, I loved to stop by my pal’s booth and stock up on lye soap while I was there! Before I found his soap, I had only ever bought old fashioned soap at Silver Dollar City at the gift shop! 

As the years went on, life got in the way of me going to the farmers market very often. I started doing a lot of custom cake orders, which often needed to be delivered on Saturdays. So I eventually lost my spot at the market. But I still kept in touch with my dear farmers market friends, and would regularly contact my soap pal from the market for a fresh loaf of my favorite lye soap. I remember jokingly suggesting to him that I’d love to take a class from him to learn how to make soap. Although I purchased a few different E-courses online and had collected a few supplies, I had never been brave enough to try making soap on my own. 

To my complete and utter surprise, my friend put together a class and invited myself along with a few other of his friends into his home to teach us how to make old fashioned lye soap! It was the most incredible gift of knowledge! He even included each of his recipes and taught us about the science of soap along with all of the safety precautions in handling lye. I could never have imagined someone would be so generous with me, and I definitely considered it a huge blessing! At the end of the class, hand-in-hand with my fellow learners, the wise instructor led a prayer that we would take the knowledge that he had shared with us and continue to make soap for the community for many years to come. After all, he had seen first hand the results from using old fashioned lye soaps, in place of store-bought detergent-based soaps, in his loyal customers. It can make such a world of difference, you just have to see for yourself! The squeaky clean is like no other clean. 

Following my lesson in cold-process soap making, I dived right into the world of soaping, and have enjoyed learning all of the techniques and trying all kinds of recipes. I was able to share my soaps with all of my loved ones this past Christmas and I can’t wait to make more soap this year for the public. I have more to learn regarding rules and regulations and things like labeling requirements and I plan to start a website to sell my creations online soon! You’ll also be able to check out my selections in person when I attend vendor events and do occasional soap pop ups alongside my bakery cart. 

Thank you, Poppy, for the incredible gift of knowledge you blessed me with. I won’t let it go to waste.