It’s our One Year Anniversary…

June 14 2014Happy Anniversary to us!  It’s been a whole year since M. GRACE asked to be part of our local Farmer’s Market and we developed Pure GRACE Soap.  Our first show was exactly one year ago today and it was the Herb Faire, a fantastic show we had shopped for years before ever thinking we would be vendors at it.  That year we had wonderful weather and a happy M. GRACE standing at the front of our tent asking people if they would like to smell her soap.  She was a natural, speaking with new customers and telling them about the products we had been working so hard on.  She won them over that day with her sweet smile and young entrepreneurial skills but whats been more exciting is that they continue to come back week after week and month after month seeking us out at different shows and online for our all natural products.  Who knew a simple request from a then 7 year old girl and a mom who would want to encourage her daughter to live out her dreams and learn some life lessons along the way would turn into a real company that is (if we do say so ourselves…) doing some pretty cool things!

So a HUGE thanks to all of our customers and clients who have supported us every step of the way.  We could not do it without you.  You HAVE made a difference in our lives.  And we LOVE you all!  Keep a close eye on us to see what this year brings.

Resident Business of the Month Article…

Southern Deming LivingWe were honored to be including in the local magazine, Southern Deming Living, as the resident business of the month this month.  The article in its entirely can be found below:

Pure GRACE Soap
Written by Julie Manson

Over a year ago my daughter Madeleine asked if we could participate in the Terre Haute Farmers Market. Madeleine had spent a lot of Saturday mornings at the Market getting fruits and vegetables (and cupcakes) with her dad while I was home with our infant son. My husband Tom always made the trip to the Market fun, including a yummy father daughter breakfast from Clabber Girl or Square Donuts after getting supplies. While considering Madeleine’s request, she told me how she thought the vendors seemed to have such a good time and genuinely enjoyed being at the Market. She liked having conversations with them, learning about how they grow their produce and why they made the decisions they did about selling their wares. I knew then that opening a booth at the Market would not only provide Madeleine and me with a great opportunity for some one on one time (she was feeling the stresses of a new baby brother), but it would allow me to teach her life lessons that she couldn’t get from a book and fulfil her wish to sell “something” at the Market. So I agreed, we’d open a shop, and with that, Pure GRACE Soap was born.

It didn’t take us long to figure out what we wanted to make and sell at the Market. Like a lot of other kids, Madeleine had dry, chapped lips in the winter months. It had gotten so bad that winter that I had taken her to our dermatologist in Indy and she had prescribed three different prescriptions to get the issue under control. Once I saw the list of ingredients, mostly chemical words I could not pronounce nor understand, I said no way, there has to be a better solution. Luckily there was. Coincidently a friend had made our family some all-natural lip balm for a Christmas present and after trying it and seeing it heal Madeleine’s lips seemingly overnight we knew our direction.

We have always been a rather “green” family. We compost, we try to eat as organically as possible. We have gardened on and off. I tossed the plastic years ago in exchange for glass. I made my own baby food when it wasn’t on many others radar and have been crafty on and off for years. I began researching soap and other body products and quickly put together a rough idea of what our Farmers Market booth would be – soaps, scrubs, salts, lotions, lip chaps, detergents and wool dryer balls. At the core it would be products we believed in – products Tom and I would feel comfortable using on our kids and products which were all natural, homemade and made in small batch. Many recipes and test batches later Madeleine, who goes by M. GRACE for business purposes for Pure GRACE Soap, and I were ready to setup at our first show.

Our first show was the Herb Faire at Fairbanks Park last May 2014. It was a wonderful experience! We met so many amazing customers who were interested in all natural skin care and bath and body options just like us. Madeleine would stand at the entrance of our booth and invite them to smell her soap as they walked by. It was pretty hard to resist a sweet girl asking you to smell soap and eventually they would come in to the booth to see what else we had for sale. The Farmers Market season began in June and it was great to see Madeleine enjoying her request to be part of it. She was even featured in a newspaper article during the opening weekend which was a highlight for her.

Since the Herb Faire and Farmers Market we have released dozens of new soaps. Our product line and customer base has grown larger than either of us ever could have imagined. We have added moisturizing bath bombs, facial sugar scrubs in addition to body sugar scrubs, a complete line of men’s soaps and spa soaps made exclusively with essential oils and skin benefiting clays. We have a new activated charcoal facial soap bar coming out soon along with two types of shampoo bars which are great for travel. Our dryer balls have somewhat of a cult following – they are an no static all-natural alternative for removing chemically laden dryer sheets and fabric softener from your laundry routine.

Through this experience Madeleine has learned more than I ever anticipated she would. She has learned to step outside of her comfort zone and approach (friendly) strangers, she can speak extensively about our products. She has helped to develop many of the recipes and scents. She provides her insight as to what pictures to place on the website and social media. She has real thoughts about what makes a product worth a certain price and what quality really means. I am glad she came up with the request to be part of the Farmers Market, we have both enjoyed seeing Pure GRACE Soap grow and develop.

You can find us at area craft and art shows throughout the year along with the indoor and outdoor Downtown Terre Haute Farmers Market. Our online store and a listing of our retail locations can be found on our website at www.pureGRACEsoap.com. We ship worldwide and routinely take custom orders.

This May is not only our one year anniversary of being in business but also our first Hobnob Marketplace show of the season. We will be launching our Spring/Summer line of soaps at this show and the Herb Faire (Mother’s Day weekend). We will be featuring special promotions and have lots of Mother’s Day gifts ready for gift giving. The outdoor Farmers Market begins again the first Saturday in June and you can expect to see some great Father’s Day gift ideas from us including Bacon Soap, Beer Soap and the launch of our Beard Line including beard oils and waxes and our new Men’s Shaving Line of soaps.

We’d love to have you keep up to date with what we are doing on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pureGRACEsoap and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PureGRACESoap. You can contact us anytime at info@pureGRACEsoap.com.

New Branding with Labels…

New labels frontIt seems like we have been working on our new branding and product labels forever, but its really been only a couple of months.  When we first launched Pure GRACE Soap we quickly developed a brand and look we liked, it worked well for us for a year until we were ready to add a more professional appearance.  We are lucky to live and work in a college town where there is  no shortage of talented artists.  We quickly found a wonderful local graphic artist who is about to graduate college with her degree and was more than happy to help us with our project.  We like to support local and small business just as you support us!!Orange Almond 1

Initially we knew what type of function we needed for the product labels and had some ideas of what we liked and what we wanted to keep from the old label but did not have a true design in mind.  Our graphic artist was able to present a few different ideas which we have massaged and worked over until we arrived at where we are now.

New labels backIt has been great seeing the design evolve.  M. GRACE and I both really like the new, clean, simple look and we hope our clients will too.  We have been releasing “sneak peek” looks at the labels as they are being finished on our Facebook page.

The new labels include stickers for the lip chaps, lotions, bath bombs, sugar scrubs, laundry detergents and deodorants.  All of the soaps will have a new round double sided paper label attached with pretty colored butchers twine.  The bags which are now available in two sizes have had a makeover and we have new little “enjoy” stickers which will be included on our shipped orders.  Even our wool dryer balls have a new look with special business cards which explain how to use them.  Perhaps our most exciting design element, however, is going to be part of the men’s line.  Watch for a new more masculine bird to roost on all of the men’s line products.  Look for the entire line of products to get their new labels in May.  Until then let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below.

Tablescapes fundraising event…

DSCN1809We worked for several months designing this table in conjunction with a fundraising event for Arts Illiana which is a local organization which helps to fund art programs in the Wabash Valley.  The title of our table was “Pure NATURE by Pure GRACE Soap”.  We incorporated moss, greens, dried flowers, vines, pine cones and flowers in our table design.  We also built from scratch the centerpiece which symbolizes our Pure GRACE Soap birds in a metal birdcage up high and on display.  If you look closely you can see their purple tail feather peeking out of the cage.  DSCN1844

We accessorized the table with three tablecloths.  The bottom was a full length white cloth, which we added a sheer tan cloth with beautiful embellishment to and topped the table off with a cream color tablecloth that had a silver sheen to it.  We layered them in a manner so you could see them all and they looked rustic and natural.

programThe dinner plates were cream with a raised design and emphasized with burlap chargers.  We found wonderful steak knives with bone handles.  The napkins were handmade and featured through wire napkin rings.  The wine glasses were some from our personal collection and we included a bar of spa soap on each place setting.  We finished the look with dark brown wood chiavari chairs which we draped and tied in tan colored scarves.DSCN1824

We had so much fun working on this design and concept.  We did a dry run the week before and finalized the design the day before the event opened to the public.  We also added two set of tiny battery powered lights to the ensemble, one in the birdcage and one for the rest of the table.

The event was a fundraising opportunity for the organization.  They offered tickets to a Tea on Thursday, Cocktail Party on Friday and Full Dinner on Saturday.  We had such a nice time creating our table and presence at this event and look forward to doing it again next year.

Business Update – Online Shopping Via the Website…

Online OrderingSo if you have been following us very long you know we have been working hard to get our products online.  We are happy to announce most of them are finally available for purchase online via our website, PureGRACESoap.com.  In addition to getting the products online we have also done a major update of the website.  We hope you will take a few minutes to look around.  Maybe even leave us a comment if you feel so inclined.  We have tried to add features you will enjoy like the blog.  We now have an updated list of art and craft shows you can find us at for the year as well as our current retail locations.  We are taking on more custom work and will be expanding into wedding favors and the like later this year.

We love to talk to our clients and customers and ALWAYS appreciate all the love and support you have shown us.  We want to continue to grow and make you proud.  Let us know how we are doing and we hope you like the look of the new website and shopping experience!

We take custom orders…

Lavender Lemongrass soap and salts for baby shower tagRecently we have started getting requests for custom orders.  We think that’s pretty cool!  We love it when a customer wants us to work with them to create something special for their clients, friends or family.Lavender Lemongrass soap and salts for baby shower

This week we finished and delivered an order for baby shower favors.  This client chose a full size Lavender Lemongrass soap bar and a half size Lavender Lemongrass bath salt.  We packaged them in a clear bag with kraft paper shreds and a custom label on the inside and outside, not to mention a pretty tie to match the theme of the shower.

We are currently also working on a couple of custom soap orders.  If you would like something custom made for yourself, your office, your staff, your family, your friends or your event please feel free to contact us.  We would love to talk to you about possibilities.Lavender Lemongrass soap and salts for baby shower packaged