Soap as Art

Two Trees Soap 

is no longer...

**Thanks for all the years and support, but after struggling to keep up my business following a car accident of 2 years ago,  I have to put this area on my life on more than pause. I need to be honest with the fact that I can no longer making enough soap to fill orders or to keep up on the demand. We had tried to work together on it, my husband Tim and I, but the demands of making ends meet with my business decline means he has to work more outside the home. I still have a long road of healing ahead of me. I have severe pelvic instability, which makes lifting and bending very painful. My focus will be healing for the next few years.

Maybe some day a new form will emerge out of these ashes, but I have to let go completely at this time.

I shall miss seeing you at the shows, your stories and you support

Thanks for understanding.

Pax

Jenny Baklinski

Traditional Soapmaker

(p.s.If you are truly desperate for soap, my sister Anna uses the same family recipe passed down from my mom, and she can be found in Portland OR  @ https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RootsSoapCo )

Two Trees Soap challenges the idea that art and beauty are something that is hung on the walls, something to be experience only by those with an eye for art, the special occasion items that rarely are found in day-to-day life. Two Trees Soap brings beauty and art into daily life. Each of the senses are met with something delightful, and uplifting. The sight is met with form and color, natural found elements and botanicals creating my artists palette. The sense of smell is satiated with the combinations of essential oils formulated to move the spirit. The body is nourished and renewed with the natural moisturizing of traditional soap. Two Trees Soap Co brings one of the most necessary elements of civilizations and human living to you in a form that brings joy and delight.

Soap…Beautiful, Natural and Entirely Useful

Soap Making Process + Ingredients

Process

Soap is the result of a controlled chemical reaction called saponification between a fat combination and a basic called Lye. The process I use is called Cold Process, where the soap can be fully controlled and the chemical action can be complete, leaving neither fat nor lye, but a new chemical by-product called SOAP. I make my batches of 150 bars in my humble farm kitchen. I heat the fats over a wood stove, cool the lye out on the front porch, and combine these ingredients, slowly stirring the soap for 1 hour by hand. After this the soap is poured into 2 stainless steel molds. The chemical reaction heats up to a remarkable temperature and the soap passed through a gel phase, then slowly cools over 24 hours. After cooling to a pleasant temperature, the soap is unmolded, and cut into 4 oz bar with my butcher knife. As I weigh and cut, all of the scraps I mold into round 4 oz bars. The soap is then stacked in fragrant towers to cure.

Ingredients

Fat Base- I use a combination of Tallow, Olive oil, and Coconut oil. Unlike many soap makers who prefer using vegetable based oil only, I used beef tallow, one of the earliest traditional ingredients in soap. I get the tallow from my local butcher, a by-product that he normally would discard as trash. We render (melt) the tallow outside over a propane burner, and strain and use right away. Our tallow is never rancid, unlike what is used in modern soap making corporations. Tallow is used in my recipe for its superior qualities in making the soap hard, fine textured and long lasting. Extra Virgin olive is also used in my recipes for its property of leaving a moisturizing layer on the skin that is no longer oily or heavy. Coconut oil creates the lather that we crave so much in modern soap. It also moisturizes the skin.

Lye (Sodium Hydroxide) Base – Once created by slowly straining water through oak ashes, I use a chemically precise form of this basic, which when mixed with water, react to temperatures near boiling. Lye is always necessary for the creation of all soap as it what reacts with the fat. All soap is made with it, always has been and always will be.

All Natural Essential Oils – All of the scents used in my soap are all natural essential oils, most of which are imported. I formulate my combinations for their aromatherapy proposes, healing properties and balancing elements.

Botanicals and Minerals – I use many different botanicals for color, medicinal proposes, and exfoliation. I also add various clays for absorbing oil in the skin and for the lovely rainbow of colors they impart.

Nothing artificial or synthetic is ever used in any of my soaps

Artists Experience

Jenny K Baklinski was born in a small town in rural Montana, USA. Since babyhood, Jenny’s mother, Christina Hayden, would load baby Jenny into a red wagon, along with baskets of her traditional homemade soap. This smallest of business ventures took off by the time Jenny was 8, and at this point she too joined in the making of soap in the families farmhouse kitchen. By the age of 12, she was making soap on her own for the family business, and they began doing art shows together as a family. Many years later, after finishing a degree in Philosophy at Ave Maria College in Michigan, Jenny met and married her Canadian man, and moved to the small town of Rockingham ON. Here Jenny and her little family (five kids have been added to the ranks), are once again reviving the family tradition of soapmaking. Her soapmaking experience spans over 20 years to date.

Two Trees Soap - Ordering Info

TO PLACE AN ORDER

Contact Jenny Baklinski at

twotreessoap@gmail.com

with soap varieties and quantities included in email.

SOAP PRICES

Each 3.5 oz bar

$4.50

Each 5 bars of soap

$20.00

Shipping and Handling

$10 for each order (5 bars or more)


(The funny thing with Canada Post is that it is the same price to ship 5 bars as it is to ship 10 or 15 bars.... it is due to the weight being more than the small package size)

Invoice inclosed with soap order and due upon receipt

Thank you for supporting Two Trees Soap and enjoy!

SOAP VARIETIES

Bergamot Lavender

Together Bergamot and Lavender sooth the skin and calm the spirit. This soap is swirled with pink French Clay to absorb oil on the skin without drying it out. An excellent substitute for synthetic shaving creams, clay reduces friction. Color – Pink and Cream Swirls

 Tea Tree Lime

A wonderful kitchen soap due to the germicidal and antiseptic properties of Tea Tree and Lime, yet gentle enough for an enlivening shower. Helps resolve Acne. Swirled with Green French Clay and natural Chlorophyll.

Color – Green Swirls

Lavender Lemongrass

Lemongrass is a rejuvenating scent with mild bug repellant properties. Lavender essential oil sooths and Whole Lavender Flowers serve as a mild exfoliante.

Color – Yellow and Purple with Lavender specks

Orange Patchouli

Ground Orange Peel and Turmeric create the delightful color of this Sweet Orange and Patchouli scented soap. Especially good for deodorizing and soothing irritated skin.

Color – Soft Orange

Lavender Oatmeal

Oatmeal sooths irritated, dry skin while Wheat Germ Oil nourishes. Lavender essential oil is added to this combination to calm the spirit and ease the mind. Helps heal and resolve eczema, psoriasis, and chronic dry skin. Color – Cream and Oat Flour

Sweet Anise

Whole Anise Seeds and sweet scented Anise and Star Anise essential oils make for an excellent scent neutralizer. Also said to attract fish to bait, and is know to be a mild aphrodisiac. Color – White with Anise Seeds

Clary Shea

Clary Sage essential oil is a low, calming, and reassuring scent as is mellow Rosewood. Ylang Ylang oil is distilled from fragrant blossoms is a sweet and mild aphrodisiac. Colored with Red Clay and ground Rose Petals, this soap adds a nice finish to your end-of-the-day bath. Wonderful for relieving cramps and hormone stress.

Color – Dark Red and Rose Petal Bits

Bay Clove

The rich low tones of Bay Leaf and Clove Bud essential oil are matched with the soothing properties of Cocoa Butter. Yellow French Clay gives color, is full of minerals and aids in smoothing the skin. An excellent choice for shaving. – Yellow Swirls

Rosemary Lemon Mint

Rosemary essential oil added to this soap tones and purifies the skin. Lemongrass oil is a bright scent that has antimicrobial properties, combined with a touch of Peppermint oil as an astringent to close pores. Ground Rosemary added for a good scrub. Color – Light green with Rosemary bits

Blackfly Soap

Those horrid little critters won’t like the smell of this soap scented with Citronella, Eucalyptus, Camphor, Lemongrass and Cedar Essential oils. Colored with a touch of Annatto Seed, this soap also helps repel Mosquitoes, Deer Flies, fleas and ticks. Can be used on Pets. Color – Bright Yellow

Working  Hands

This soap is for the hard working hands in your life. With Luffa specks, Australian Blue clay and Almond Oil, this soap cuts dirt and grease and nourishes at the same time. Scented with sweet Lemongrass, Fennel and Benzoin to enliven and heal. Color – Butter with Luffa Scrub

Woodsman  Soap

Made with the lightest hints of Cedar Tree, Camphor, and Spruce Essential oils, this soap blends in with the forest around you. Anise covers and deodorizes, while remaining tantalizingly sweet. Colored with Yellow and Green Clay to absorb oil on the skin, helping to eliminate odor. Color – Green and Yellow Clay Swirls

Cassia Mandarin

Warming and soothing for aching muscles, Cassia (cinnamon leaf) helps to loosen knots. Wintergreen essential oil opens tight muscles and dulls pain. Mandarin and Sweet Orange balance the mind and ease tension. Swirled with warming ground Cinnamon Bark. Color – Rich Brown Swirls

Comfrey Spearmint

The “wake me up” property of spearmint essential oil is excellent for a morning shower. Comfrey Root powder is added to this soap for mild healing. Color – Solid Deep Gray

Process Photos

Unmolding one of 2 stainless steel soap forms.

The soap is still warm to the touch and quite soft

Cutting down the big block to a manageable size for making bars

Cutting the blocks into 4 oz. bars

Various stages of cutting, blocking, moulding on the dinning room table with my soap knife lovingly made by my brother

Fragrant towers of soap, ready for curing

So there you have it . . . I am Jen, and I make soap

Presentation

Description of Presentation

I present at the shows 12 to 15 different kinds of all natural, handcrafted, herbal soap. Each kind of soap is displayed in a barn wood box on a shelving unit constructed also of barn board with copper sign holders. Two shelving units are joined together by a copper piping arch with my company sign hanging in the middle between the shelves. I use a wooden stool to sit upon and all of my extra stock is hidden behind the display.

Show History

Show and Exhibit History

USA Shows

Our Exhibit at these shows was under the name Wilderland Herbs and Soaps

• Madison Chautauqua Festival of Art –1993 to 1996
•  Appalachan Festival at Coney Island for 10 years http://www.appalachianfestival.org/02festival/index.html
• Cincinnati Celtic Festival http://www.cincinnaticelticfestival.com/modules/home/
• Cincinnati Summer Fair http://www.summerfair.org/
• Greater Cincinnati WinterFair http://www.ohiocraft.org/fairs_wf.html
• Columbus Winterfair http://www.ohiocraft.org/fairs_wf.html

Canadian Shows

• Haliburton Art  and Craft Festival, Haliburton ON
• Cloyne Showcase, Cloyne ON.
• Lakefield Jazz Festival, Lakefield, ON
• The Beaches Art and Craft Show
• Art In the City, Ottawa ON
• Fanfayr, Kingston ON
• Perth Garlic Festival, Perth ON
• Christkindl Market, Pembroke ON
• Autumn Treasures, Peterborough ON
• Glebe Fall Craft Artisan Fair, Ottawa ON
• Combermere ON Farmers Market