Coffee Soap

My coffee supplier brought his new and improved version of coffee soap to the farmers market last December.  This soap is huge, it's about 4x2x1 3/4 inches!  It contains coffee grinds and brewed coffee from his popular Cowboy Joe's blend and was manufactured by local soapmaker Back 2 Botanicals. 

 

This soap is much darker than the soap I bought from him last summer (pictured below on top of rocks) and it almost looks like a huge chocolate bar!  It foams nicely and has irresistible smell for a coffee addict like me.  The coffee guy said it was designed to be a bath soap but I love using my coffee soap in the kitchen sink.

Just in case anyone wonder why my soap rests on a bed of rocks, the river rocks are not just decorative.  The rocks keep the soap from getting slimy.  It works great on a flat soap dish like this one in the picture. 
I hate slimy soaps!

Glass Plates

A week before moving to Arizona last year, I took a plate making class at Wired Designs Studios in San Antonio, TX.  I needed a way to relieve stress associated with moving and selling a house.  Making things and exercising are definitely my favorite stress relievers.  When I was looking for a large plate to serve tart bites, I saw the plates I made last year and realized that I haven't blogged about them. 

The small plate is 5x5 inches and the large plate is about 9x9 inches.  I nicknamed them red avocado or devil's avocado plates.  I'm still not so sure what kind of food will look appetizing on funky plates like these.