Celebrate with a Little Bubbly!

Bring in the New Year with our favorite bubbly fragrance; Champagne! Perfect for that special occasion, this scent smells just like champagne or the fizzy bubbles in ginger ale. Plus, it is incredibly strong and long lasting in CP soap and behaves like a dream when soaping. Because it is so unique and versatile, it can easily be blended to make all manner of Italian iced soda scents or general pop scents that the kids will love (mix it with a berry for a yummy soda pop scent).

Last year, Soap Queen Anne-Marie came up with these adorable champagne scented New Year's Eve party favor soaps for celebrating 2010. Click here for the full tutorial.



Here's another project from Soap Queen that you can make for New Year's gifts
or get a head start on Valentine's Day: Champagne Bubble Bath!



Have a safe and fun New Year's from all of us at Otion. Cheers!

Fight the Flu with Essential Oils

It's official, the flu is going around and we are especially prone to catching a bug after spending time with so many of our friends and family over the holidays. Here are some essential oils that will help you feel better:

Eucalyptus loosens mucus and helps heals the throat, nasal passages and bronchial tubes. It acts as a great decongestant with germicidal and anti-bacterial properties. Many people associate the scent of this oil with Vicks VapoRub. Try adding 4 drops of Eucalyptus to a carrier oil such as olive oil and use as a chest rub. Keep in mind, this essential oil is too strong for children under six years of age.

Lavender is not just a lovely scent, it stimulates the immune system and relaxes and soothes aches and chills. Lavender is a wonderful calming agent, particularly when blended with chamomile.

Tea Tree acts as an antiseptic and fungicide and also boosts the immune system. It works great when inhaled.

Rosemary is invigorating and aids as a pick-me-up oil when the flu has got you down.

Ten drops of any of these essential oils can be added to your bath water or to a bowl of hot water as a vaporizer. If you are sensitive to essential oils, make sure to use sparingly. Get well soon!

Sparkling Sunset Soap

Another fun and easy project at the Soap Bar! Simply fill half of your scalloped mold with clear melt-and-pour soap. I used shredded glitter in this layer for a bit of sparkle. Let it set up while you melt down more soap and split it into three mugs for the sunset colors. I used yellow mica, red/blue mica, and blue mica. Now, spray that clear layer with rubbing alcohol so that your next layer will stick and start pouring your color on top, alternating between each one until the mold is full. Having a clear layer first softens and distances the background color for a gorgeous sky appearance.

Put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and DONE! So easy and so beautiful. Merry Christmas everyone.

Look What's New at Otion

Cedarwood Essential Oil



New Toys!
Row 1: Firefly, Front Loader, Excavator,
Row 2: Chick, Circus Seal, Turtle,
Row 3: Little Car, Humpty Dumpty, Hedgehog,
Row 4: Butterfly, Bunny, Police Car



Heart Grid Mold & Beads on String Mold



Baby Onesie Mold



We also just posted some new classes here. The Valentine's Day class is going to be so much fun-- we're making heart-shaped soaps, bath fizzies and body scrubs!

Warm Vanilla Sugar Star Soap

Christmas is quickly approaching and time has run out to start cold process soap gifts this year. No worries! Melt-and-pour is fun, easy and you can create some amazing customized bars like these cute embedded star soaps in no time.


Simply make some unscented stars using the flexible star mold with an opaque melt-and-pour soap base, grab that trusty loaf mold and your spritzer bottle of rubbing alcohol and get ready to make the bulk of the soap. Melt a clear base (honey melt-and-pour works great for this project), color with honeyed beige mica, and scent with Warm Vanilla Sugar fragrance oil. The loaf mold holds about 4.5 pounds of soap, so you will need to melt 4 pounds of clear soap and scent it with 4ml of fragrance per pound. Pour a layer about an inch thick in the loaf mold and let it set up. Line up your stars down the middle of the loaf and spray all over with rubbing alcohol. Now, fill up the loaf with the rest of that yummy scented background color and place it in the freezer. It will take about 40 minutes to harden. When slicing, be sure to use a sharp knife and aim for the center of each star so that each bar has a full star shape in the center. One loaf makes about 10 beautiful bars!

Happy Holidays Just Got Happier

Free Holiday Parking Downtown!


To encourage shoppers to visit downtown during the holidays, the City of Bellingham is launching the Holiday Parking Program, December 13-25. Downtown shoppers can enjoy free parking in metered spaces all day every day.

“We offered free two-hour lunch parking between Thanksgiving and Christmas in past years,” said Clark Williams, Transportation Superintendent with Public Works. “It was confusing for shoppers,” he added. The Downtown Bellingham Partnership proposed longer hours on fewer days this season.

Although parking is free all day, drivers are asked to park responsibly by observing the time limits posted on the meters. Shoppers wishing to stay longer are encouraged to park on the ground floor of the Parkade.

For more information, contact the Transportation Superintendent at 778-7700. Or visit the website http://www.cob.org/services/transportation/parking/holiday-parking.aspx

Holiday Etsy Spotlight: Persnickety Pelican

Whimsical Woolies Felted Soap by Persnickety Pelican, made entirely by hand! Felted soap acts as a washcloth while providing natural soapy suds and lasts longer than a normal bar.


These works of art are really felted soap and are made when ordered! Check out more from this talented mother-daughter team at their online Etsy shop, and their interview with the Soap Queen.