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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Some of Kelly McDowell-DeVries handcrafted soaps look good enough to eat.
Shaped like chocolate donuts, a scoop of ice cream, a pickle, or a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows, the soaps are mini works of art solely meant for hygiene, however, not eating.
The soaps are made from vegan glycerin, scents and coloring.
“I've had many customers with skin allergies tell me that Mollycoddle Soap is one of the few soaps they can use that doesn't irritate their skin,” DeVries said. “I'm trying to add more essential oils to scent the soaps with to begin on the path of all-natural ingredients.”
They're not all food shaped. Soaps also take the form of “black magic skulls” and “Roswell alien glow-in-the-dark” figures.
Like many hobbies turned businesses, Kelly DeVries began making soaps at home to give to friends and family. After other people began requesting her homemade soaps, DeVries began offering her soaps via the online handcrafted market called Etsy at mollycoddlesoap.etsy.com.
The graphic-designer-turned-soap-designer taught herself the craft and joined the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild where she turns to colleagues if she has a question about a new idea.
“I also make my own soap molds from silicone so that I can control the originality of the soaps and I can come up with new designs without constraints,” DeVries said.
During the holiday season, soap-making is more than a full-time business for DeVries. Otherwise it's a part-time job for the mother of two boys.
The soaps' uniqueness makes good gift packaging decoration instead of bows, said Maggie Clauson, who uses the soaps.
“They are so adorable and make great gifts and are excellent soaps,” Clauson said.
“They also make great conversation pieces whether they're in your kitchen or the bathroom.”
DeVries operates her “soap lab” out of the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center which offers low-cost rental space for new, and fledgling businesses. She's worked out of the Incubator for just over a year.
DeVries learned how to run her soap-making as a business with the help of a bookkeeping class at the Incubator.
Mollycoddle soaps have been featured in Food Network magazine as well as in several online blogs. The soaps are sold in boutiques around the world.
In some cases DeVries contacts boutiques she thinks will appreciate the “humorous feel” of her soaps; other boutiques contacted her after finding the product on Etsy, or the Mollycoddle website.
Large online shops such as Perpetual Kid and Uncommon Goods also carry DeVries' soaps.
Locally, Interiors, Etc., 602 Main St., carries her soaps during the holiday season.
The name “mollycoddle” means to coddle, or pamper.
“I remember my mother telling me when I was young, ‘make sure to mollycoddle yourself,'” DeVries said. “I had to look it up and I loved the word ever since.”
For more information visit www.mollycoddlesoap.com.
Shaped like chocolate donuts, a scoop of ice cream, a pickle, or a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows, the soaps are mini works of art solely meant for hygiene, however, not eating.
The soaps are made from vegan glycerin, scents and coloring.
“I've had many customers with skin allergies tell me that Mollycoddle Soap is one of the few soaps they can use that doesn't irritate their skin,” DeVries said. “I'm trying to add more essential oils to scent the soaps with to begin on the path of all-natural ingredients.”
They're not all food shaped. Soaps also take the form of “black magic skulls” and “Roswell alien glow-in-the-dark” figures.
Like many hobbies turned businesses, Kelly DeVries began making soaps at home to give to friends and family. After other people began requesting her homemade soaps, DeVries began offering her soaps via the online handcrafted market called Etsy at mollycoddlesoap.etsy.com.
The graphic-designer-turned-soap-designer taught herself the craft and joined the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild where she turns to colleagues if she has a question about a new idea.
“I also make my own soap molds from silicone so that I can control the originality of the soaps and I can come up with new designs without constraints,” DeVries said.
During the holiday season, soap-making is more than a full-time business for DeVries. Otherwise it's a part-time job for the mother of two boys.
The soaps' uniqueness makes good gift packaging decoration instead of bows, said Maggie Clauson, who uses the soaps.
“They are so adorable and make great gifts and are excellent soaps,” Clauson said.
“They also make great conversation pieces whether they're in your kitchen or the bathroom.”
DeVries operates her “soap lab” out of the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center which offers low-cost rental space for new, and fledgling businesses. She's worked out of the Incubator for just over a year.
DeVries learned how to run her soap-making as a business with the help of a bookkeeping class at the Incubator.
Mollycoddle soaps have been featured in Food Network magazine as well as in several online blogs. The soaps are sold in boutiques around the world.
In some cases DeVries contacts boutiques she thinks will appreciate the “humorous feel” of her soaps; other boutiques contacted her after finding the product on Etsy, or the Mollycoddle website.
Large online shops such as Perpetual Kid and Uncommon Goods also carry DeVries' soaps.
Locally, Interiors, Etc., 602 Main St., carries her soaps during the holiday season.
The name “mollycoddle” means to coddle, or pamper.
“I remember my mother telling me when I was young, ‘make sure to mollycoddle yourself,'” DeVries said. “I had to look it up and I loved the word ever since.”
For more information visit www.mollycoddlesoap.com.
