Friday, August 22, 2008

Thai Spirit House at Thai Craft Store(Ebay Store)

Ebay Member since: Dec-22-04 , Location: Thailand

Maintained by: kasamsuk
"We specialize in Thai Products from the North of Thailand Sandstone Garden Sculpture, Silk, Buddhist Artwork, Oriental Asian Arts and Crafts, Handcrafted Abstract Sculpture. Quality Teak Wood Spirit Houses, Sterling Silver Jewelry, Handmade Umbrellas, Games, and many other specialist items."

This Store have lot of Thai Spirit House and handmade items by Thai :)

EX...

GRAND BUDDHIST~CHAPEL Thai Spirits House ASIAN ART

This Vihan (Buddhist Chapel) is a replicas of a Buddhist Temple, known as a Spirit House or (San phra phum) inspired by Buddhist faith. Handcrafted in Chiang Mai Province in the North of Thailand, from solid Teak wood.

Thai people believe that, every home or business will have a spirit that inhabits it, and the best way to keep the spirits happy is to provide them with their own beautiful home. This will keep the spirits from any wrong doing.

The beliefs of Thai people that spirits exist are so strong, that every Thai home or business will have a Spirit House (San phra phum) for the guardian spirits to live. Daily offerings of food and drink, incense, flowers or candles are made to the spirits. These offerings are made to the spirits for their blessing, and to bring good luck, happiness and security for all who live in the home, or work within the business.

The Spirit Houses are given a predominant position outside of the property, but far enough away from the home or business to keep the spirits away.

(Never place the Spirit House on the Floor or Ground this is considered bad luck)


Product description:

Size: 25 inches High x 20 inches Long x 10.5 inches Wide

Weight: 8 kilograms

Materials: Solid High Quality Teak Wood

Please note: colour and wood grain may differ due to the nature of the wood (Suitable for outdoor or indoor display)


Can see any Thai Spirit House at Thai Craft Store(Ebay Store)
THX YOU :)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Selling Your Crafts

By Michael Russell

Crafting can be an enjoyable hobby for many people. Sometimes, you can even earn some extra money by crafting, or even turn it into a small business. If you are thinking about selling your crafts, you need to explore the different avenues of where you can actually sell them.

Craft Shows: This is the first place that comes to mind for most people when they want to get started selling their handmade items. Craft shows can vary in their size, entry fee, jury process and how successful they are. Before you actually participate in a show, visit many in your area first. Talk to the other vendors there and ask them how this particular show is. They will tell you if the show is worth doing or not. Look for established shows that have been in the same location for years. That means that the show is successful enough to be around for that length of time and a healthy customer base that comes to the same location year after year. Notice the types of crafts sold at a particular show. Are they all handmade? Some promoters will allow in anyone selling anything, so you could have a unique pottery booth next to one selling cheap imports. Customers notice these things and will avoid shows that clearly aren't displaying quality handmade crafts. Once you find a show you would like to participate in, contact the promoter. Depending on the show, the vendors can be booked as far as one year in advance. There will usually be an application to fill out, be prepared to send photographs of your work to be juried. Make a list of the shows you want to apply to, placing them in order of preference. Then get out your applications as soon as you can, that way if one is full or you are rejected, then you can quickly apply to the next one on the list.

Home Parties: If you have a craft that demonstrates well, you can consider a home party. This would involve either hosting one in your own home, or have a host/hostess do one for you - and he/she would invite the guests. You would bring your items, set them up and do a demonstration or talk on the process of making the items. Then you would either take orders or have stock there to sell. You can work out a hostess gift or incentive for sales and certainly book another party through any of the attending guests.

Wholesale: If the idea of going to craft shows or home parties does not appeal to you, then consider wholesaling your crafts to small boutiques or other types of stores that specialize in the items that you make. You need to make sure that you price your items high enough for you to make a profit on them, yet at a price that the store owner can mark up and make a profit for themselves. Also, a well priced craft will move quickly, making more sales for you and the store owner. To wholesale well, you need to have a supply of your craft items ready to go. Store owners do not want to wait for an order, as they have short seasonal times to sell items and need to maximize that time. For wholesaling, you will need a very good accounting system for invoices.

Internet Sales: Don't neglect the internet. There are many people who shop for crafts online. Hosting a website can be quite inexpensive. The most important thing is to have excellent photographs. Invest in a good digital camera, or have someone qualified take pictures of your items for you. Remember that the photo is all the shopper will see; they cannot pick up, touch or smell the items. There are some people who sell exclusively online and having a website can capture extra sales for you, even if you do other means of selling.

Trying one or all of the above ways to sell your crafts will help you find the niche to succeed. You may find that a combination of several of these will give you the best results. Keep good records and you will learn which avenues are the most profitable for you.

Your Independent guide to HandiCraft.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The ABC's of Soap Making - Selecting Your Ingredients

Now that youve gathered together all of the basic equipment you will need, lets move on to choosing the ingredients necessary for that successful batch of soap. The best way to determine what type of soap you wish to make is to think long and hard about how you intend to use it. Are you just looking to make some nice sized bath bars? Or perhaps youre thinking of something more creative for a gift or Christmas present. What you desire your end product to be will tell you where you have to start. Here are a few tips to get you started.

The ingredients you select will determine the type of soap you end up with. Each type of oil carries with it its own specific properties.

Oils

Olive Oil: This oil is available in several grades, all of which are suitable for soap making. This oil makes a very hard, brittle soap, which dries quickly and is very long lasting. Soaps made from olive oil have a creamy, luxurious lather and are excellent for all skin types. Olive Oil soap originated in Spain and is also known as Castile Soap and is of very high quality.

Palm Oil: This oil varies in color from white, golden, orange to almost red. The color of the oil will affect the final color of your soap, though this will lessen as your bars dry. Palm oil can be found through many on-line suppliers, or in stores that feature Middle Eastern, Asian, or African foods.

Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is derived from the meat of the coconut. This oil melts readily when heated and can be found on-line or through many Asian grocers and large grocery stores. Coconut oil creates profuse suds, excellent for making hair shampoos, but because it has a tendency to dry the skin, it is often used in conjunction with other oils and/or fats.

Castor Oil: Expressed from the seed of the castor bean plant, castor oil is thick and medicinal in nature and is generally used as a supplement to other oils to add richness and mildness to your soap. It can be found in your local pharmacy.

Vegetable Oils: These oils are generally a combination of olive oil and other oils such as peanut, corn or soy. They are very inexpensive and generally give good results in soap making. Blended vegetable oils yield a softer soap than olive oil alone; they do not dry as quickly but do lather well.

Fats and Lard

Suet: Suet is the fat that surrounds the kidney of the cow. Good quality suet varies in color but should be white or slightly off-white with traces of pink, rather than gray. Suet, when rendered, produces hard tallow that is easy to work with and results in a relatively mild soap. Suet can be purchased from your local butcher or grocer and may be frozen until ready to use.

Beef Fat: Because beef fat is softer than suet, its tallow is not as high quality. Soaps from beef fat tend to be softer than soap made from suet and can be difficult to work with.

Tallow: Is the product that results from rendering fats and suet to remove the impurities. Soaps made from tallow are quite mild and produce small creamy bubbles.

Lard: Is fat rendered from pigs. You will commonly find lard in one pound packages at your local grocery store. This should be refrigerated or frozen until ready to use. The disadvantage of lard is that it does not lather well, so it generally combined with other fats or oils. Lard soaps are fairly hard to the touch and quite mild on the skin.

Kitchen Fats: For many there is something highly appealing about creating soaps with the left over fats from your kitchen; bacon grease drippings youve been collecting in a can or the leftovers from frying meats. These fats must be rendered just as you would suet. These types of soaps are truly for the heart of the adventurer, as you will never know quite what the final product will be. But if this does not concern you, then by all means experiment. One note of caution however, an excessive amount of chicken fat will make your soaps too soft!

Lye

The next ingredient you will need for making soap is Lye, also known as Sodium hydroxide. This is a caustic alkaline, which makes soap when it is combined with fats and/or oils. Traditionally, dripping water through wood ashes produced lye, but today it is manufactured commercially and provides us with a much more consistent product. While there are many on-line sites that sell lye specifically for soap making, I have always used the good old Red Devil Lye. This can be easily found in most hardware stores next to the drain cleaners.

The Final Ingredient

Lastly, you will need cold water for your soap making. Many recommend using distilled water, however since we happen to have well water rather than city water, I have always used water straight from the tap. If you feel your city water is overly processed with a strong smell of chlorine, you may wish to seriously consider buying distilled water for your soap making.

A Final Note

As you search through various soap making recipes, you will note that the vast majority combine two or more different types of fats or oils, in order to achieve the specific qualities of each ingredient. This guide should help you to evaluate those recipes in order to determine if it will be suitable for your needs.

In our next article we will be discussing potential additives to your soap such as colorants, scents, herbs and more. Until then, happy soap making.

household soap in french is mean savon de marseille