Edgewater Cottage: Fine Soaps, Exotic Soaps, Lotions and Toiletries

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Welcome to Edgewater Cottage, home of fine handcrafted soaps and lotions. Over the past ten years, we blended the best ingredients to create soap that is mild and bubbly. This is basically the same recipe that my Grandma used to make soap in the 1880s; except she used animal fats instead of vegetable oils.

Animal fats make wonderfully hard bars of soap. Grandma used this handmade soap for everything--bathing, shampoo, laundry, stain removal, washing the cows--even to wash a stinky dog who encountered a skunk! Her soap was not bubbly and when combined with the hard North Dakota well water, it was not kind to her skin. What made her soap hard and with little lather was the absence of oils such as coconut, which is my choice for bubbles.

I make a few exotic animal fat soaps--buffalo and deer. I add coconut and olive oils to the tallow, so this soap lathers beautifully. It is a wonderful soap and makes a great gift for the hunter and/or outdoorsperson in your life. I scent it with sagebrush and pinion leaf.

I also make wonderful lotions for your skin. Love Your Skin is based on a recipe for nurses cream--great for hands that are in and out of water. This cream is so thick it is packaged in a beautiful blue jar. It contains avocado and macadamia oils; shea and cocoa butters; honey and beeswax. Pure heaven for your skin!

Some of my customers purchase Lip Balm by the dozen! It contains soybean oil, beeswax, sunflower oil, cocoa butter, shea butter and vitamin E. I add Tea Tree and Lavender oils. One customer swears by this for cold sore treatment.

This year we added aprons, based on my Grandma Dora's pattern from the 1880s and clothespin bags from which I made a pattern from my Grandma Margaret's bag that finally wore out. So cute!

While you are here, check out my blog. I'd love to hear your comments.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me. Click the "contact" button. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Christine