Bittersweet and the little soap company

before, but not quite after...

Our lilac bushes are blooming. We managed to cut a few blooms before the spring snow and freeze. It's always a lovely thing when you can bring fresh flowers into your home that you grew. Our bushes were dug up from an old farm many years ago. They're an old fashioned variety. We have both white and lilac bushes. The white ones carry a stronger lilac scent then they're lilac cousins. Isn't that interesting? One thing is certain, they are stunning and the perfume that fills the air from their blooms is a bonus. 

Down time is spent grazing some new decorating books. Are you like me, and love to explore all different kinds of home styling? Honestly, as far as style goes, as long as you love it, that's all that matters. There is no wrong or right way to style you home. At least that's what I think. It's kind of fun styling a shop and then switching to a home. I've always found that our home is more minimalist than the shop will ever be. In fact, if I don't love it, it's not going to take up space. I'm also in awe over how my taste changes. I guess it makes sense that one's taste evolves over time. Mine certainly has. 

If you read my last post then you know how I'm up to my ears in a home makeover. I'm finding that it's a slow process since I'm doing so many things. In fact, my after picture is not really a complete after picture. 

It's more like an in between transformation, and it is progressing, but slowly since I'm doing all the work along side soap making, shop events, and all the above.  I love these chairs! The search for the perfect pendant seemed daunting and then I found this one. I love blending old with modern. That dining room table has been in my family for generations! I remember sitting at it when I was a young girl doing homework. For that reason, I'd never part with it. I embrace it and even though the style is not necessarily mine, the table is wrapped with sweet memories.  We have a grass rug that will go under the table, but I'm in the process of refinishing the top of the table so I'm waiting until that's finished because it's a super messy job. We have a large sideboard coming that will house our guest dishes, napkins, etc. I thought it would be kind of cool to play records in the dining room. A portable record player sill sit on the new long sideboard and we can listen to our old records and reminisce. Who knew, vinyl would make a comeback? I like it!

Pendant, Record Player, Chair, Rug. 

This has been a busy week! Our May Day celebration starts on Friday and runs through Saturday. 

I love it when May Day falls on Saturday! 

Our Farmers Market launches on Saturday too!

It's beginning to feel like Spring in my town!

I've also decided on a date for the sale at the shop. 

We'll have some postcards at our shop and I'll be posting on our social media platforms next week with the details. 

It's a busy time at The Soap House on the Hill and at the Bittersweet Apothecary Shop!

Last weeks new soap... Perfect Peach

This weeks new soap is White Lace. The new soap has a soft amber with musk and touch of sweet earthy notes at the base. It smells amazing! We anticipate that it will be here for a short time!

We look forward to seeing you at our May Day Celebration. The first fifty guests will receive a swag bag commemorating the day.

Keep the faith.

Jill xo

 

soap lady, I mean plant lady...

My last post touched on how much I love live plants in the home. We're lucky to have lots of windows in our 1921 home so the plants that I've had for years have thrived and felt right at home. I can't ever remember not loving plants. In fact, my first apartment housed eighty-seven plants! It's funny, I don't remember how long it took to water all of them, but the memories of them puts a smile on my face. I ordered this book last week and have had my nose it ever since it arrived! The horse picture above the vintage cupboard looks as though it was made for that spot! As I slowly add new pieces and refinish old ones I'll share where I got them. I'm being fastidious about what I choose. This will more than likely be the last time I remodel our home and so the pieces that are chosen have to be just right. I've had that old cupboard for years! I put a fresh coat of paint on it and with a small paint brush I touched up the hardware with some of the milk paint that I had left over. 

Sofa, Blinds, Horse Picture, Pillow Covers...

After painting the living room, re-hanging curtains, and cleaning, I'm now in the dining room. I've moved most everything out of the way except for a couple of pieces that I'm going to refinish. It's a lot of work to refinish these old family pieces, but I believe it's worth that extra effort to make them new again! That old trunk was my moms. My mom always had trunks in our home, and I really love them too! They are a fantastic stash piece.  I'm on the hunt for a new light to hang above the oak table. I love the idea of a wicker pendant light, but honestly the amount of light that you get from one is not enough lighting. So I'm on the hunt for the perfect black pendant. The shutters were here when we moved in thirty years ago. I love them! They're functional and offer privacy. I can't really think of any other type of window covering that would compare to their quality so they are staying! I painted them a few years back and oh my gosh, was that a chore! They will get a detailed cleaning and I'll be a happy camper. The wood flooring could use some touching up too. We refinished them ourselves a few years ago.  I'm not wanting to to that again! It was an incredible amount of work and dusty to boot! I have a few flooring touch up ideas that are both cost effective and will kill two birds with one stone. I'll share those wood floor ideas with you later. I also have some ideas for color blocking a wall in this room with a dark blue grey hue. I'll carry the neutral coloring everywhere else. 

We host dinner parties and holiday get togethers in our dining room so I'm pondering an idea of a long shelf to help increase serving space.  The ideas that I come up with are always centered around practicality since we use the space for entertaining. By the time I'm finished with this space it will be functional and visually appealing. I'm excited to start the makeover!

All this stuff!

It's a challenge to be a shop owner and not have a lot of stuff everywhere! Not to mention, a personal space used for manufacturing. I've  managed to make it work for twenty-four years, but it has been tricky. I have learned to not hang on to things. It makes me feel good to clear out things on a regular basis. Now more than ever I'm yearning to clear the clutter and I've come to realize the best way to do that is to have a huge sale. I'm planning to have two sales this summer. One at the shop, and one at home. It freaks me out just thinking about the work involved in hosting a large sale, but it's kind of like the furniture refinishing in the fact that it's rewarding and feels good to share some of my past cherished pieces with strangers that will love them as much as I have! 

In between remodels and spring cleaning I've been ushering in new spring soaps. I am wrapping the honeysuckles and lavenders in a series of William Morris prints. I have always had a fascination for this once upon a lifetime artist. His work still shines and I'm in awe over his classic designs that continue to delight me in their beauty. 

I shot a lengthy video on Saturday about the variations of skincare that Bittersweet makes. The difference between this crème and that one, so on. When I played it back, the sound was scratchy and muffled! I'll refresh that video in a few days. I really did point out some significant findings!

Here's an update on the Fiddle Leaf Fig Starters...

I have given away the ones that were ready, so if you're interested in getting a starter plant it will be a several weeks before they're ready. It takes four to six weeks for the roots to form. If you would like to have please grab them as soon as they're available. I have limited space to house the starters so I only have a few ready at a time. 

Keep the faith. 

Jill 

Blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

I ordered fresh jasmine and eucalyptus for the shop. Both plants are two of my favorites! The jasmine sits across from our checkout table so that I can really take in its beauty as I wait on customers. Spring!

A little nook of goodness at our shop. Those black woven pillows go outside in the rocking chairs on the porch. I have to tell you that I'm thrilled with pillow covers! I ordered the covers here. The concept of using old Turkish rugs to make pillow covers is nothing short of amazing! I must warn you, if you love pillows you may get lost with all the choices. I'll also ease your mind about shipping because I received my orders in about a week even though they're shipping from Turkey. 

The purple thistles and the woven basket were a recent find that I found here. 

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted this healthy jade plant at a recent trip to our local home improvement store. I have had hundreds of house plants over the years, but I don't recall ever having a jade plant. They are in the succulent family. After researching I found that they prefer southern exposure. I might add that the price on this vibrant jade plant was incredible! Bonus!

Our new sofa arrived early which means it's sitting in the middle of our living room for the time being until I get the trim cut out with fresh paint. I'm quite pleased with the craftsmanship and to know it arrived in a box! I love the smoky grey! I can't wait to share our new remodeled space with you. It's coming along nice, but it's slow going and work is in between soap making and packing orders. I'm one of those people that thrives on many projects going at once. After searching high and low I found the sofa here.  

I can't wait to get the trim painted and start merchandising our living room! Oh yeah, I'll be sharing and I'm also going to share sourcing. I feel like sourcing is the most time consuming and hardest part of designing a room. I'm happy to ease the hassle by sharing. 

We've been gifting customers with fiddle leaf fig starters at our shop! My Jack in the Beanstalk Figs are needing a trim so I'm dipping the stalks in root hormone and propagating starts. Fiddle Leaf Figs are one of the easiest houseplants. Seriously, they are super easy and low maintenance. I give my shop figs and home figs a tiny drink of water each week, and they get filtered sun at home. If you're local and you would like to grow this plant in your home I'm happy to share starters after they are rooted and ready to be stuck in dirt and a pot. 

This weeks new soap has arrived a week early! I've been offering early releases so that I can get a jump on wrapping. Speaking of wrapping, isn't this paper stunning? I'm also working on putting together goodie bags for the upcoming May Day Celebration. 

If you placed an order recently or visited our shop you received an invitation!

This luscious soap is back!

Oh, these two go together, don't they?

Keep the faith.

Jill 

 

spring turns...

We've put off home projects and I'm really wanting to jump in and get some of them completed. We're remodeling our living room with fresh paint, floor tiles, and clean windows! Our home was built in 1921 and has a lot of the original workmanship. We've always wanted to maintain as much original as we could so our upgrades are merely cosmetic. I'm slowly going around the room with a paint brush dipped in this color.  

That's my go-to neutral color along with this one for trim. I have both in my home and at the shop. It's a white, but has undertones of taupe. I've always felt that when you find your perfect color you should stick with it. 

As you can see by the picture I've started some prep work on the window trim. I often wonder how many coats of paint are on the trim? The yellowish splotches underneath are probably primer from the nineteen twenties or somewhere around this time. It's a heavy duty tough as nails primer! I'm sure that it is probably oil based and there is a good chance it's lead base as well since it's so old. Whatever it is, it's aged well. 

My dad dropped this box of lily of the valley over awhile ago. MJ had it growing on the north side of the house and I mentioned that I'd like to plant some and she was kind enough to share her stock. We have a rock walkway on the south side of our home that my husband built a few years ago and I think it would love the shady rocky habitat. 

Lily of the valley typically prefers the north sun. 

My shop neighbors to the north, The Jesse James Bank Museum has this quaint courtyard on the north side of the building. I believe the story is that Jesse James's mom planted lily of the valley in this courtyard. I've always admired the tucked away spot and when the lily of the valley starts to bloom around the first of June and the wind is blowing from the south, I get a burst of their fresh perfume on my shop porch or while I'm getting out of my car in the parking lot. Little things...

The home projects are blooming. During our remodel I pulled a library table to the porch so that I can give it a makeover too. The antique table was my moms so it has sweet memories with it. It's oak and I very much want to strip it down to its bare oak wood. They make a wood bleach that when applied gives wood a raw effect. The surface must be free of stain and varnish to be effective. I have never used it, but I'm eager to try it and see what happens. 

You know how you see some wood that has that natural raw look to it? That has been wood bleached. Here's a picture of the library table and I will definitely share after pictures with you.

On the store front...

Keep the faith.

Jill