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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Hotel soap, guest soap, handmade soap and more!


Soap I got when staying at a hotel in Napoli (Naples, IT)

I've always loved those cute little soaps you get when you stay in a hotel or a bed and breakfast.  I even collect them as my souvenir when I travel.  I've been making my own handmade soap for 12 years now, but still love all other soaps and toiletries.  I have several other blogs featuring my soap and other peoples soap, for instance I have a Handmade Lavender Soap blog that shows off handmade lavender soap from all around the world.  I also have 2 similar ones dedicated to Coconut Milk Soap and Handmade Rose Soap.  If you stop by those blogs you will see some of the soaps I love.  Today I wanted to show you a little of my travel soap collection.

Here are some of the soaps I've collected over the years.

Soap from Hotel Alba in Firenze (Florence,IT)


One from Hotel Saint-Honore in Paris


This one is from Agli Artista Hotel in Venezia (Venice, IT)


and one of my favorite experiences the night train from Venezia (Venice, IT) to Amsterdam.  I love this little logo they have on the soap.

I have a whole collection from many different places throughout the USA, Europe and the Caribbean.  I hope to make it to Asia this year to start a collection from there.  I've always just thought they were so adorable and such a great souvenir since most of them have the Hotel address and phone number on them some where.  It's also a great thing to bring home to kids as the soaps seem so exotic when they are from a foreign land.  I love to use them to show kids about other languages and cultures.  Since they are small, they are an easy thing to bring back and they look like little chocolates to kids which intrigues them.  Just make sure that they aren't so young that they try to eat them ;-) 

I'm curious what things my readers collect when traveling?  Would love to hear some of your stories.

If you are reading this in a reader or on facebook you can see the original blog post at Handcrafted Soap Blog

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  • 8 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    What a cute collection! I love the one from Venice/Amsterdam.
    My favorite things to collect are thimbles from my travels. It started when I was a kid, and I can't seem to stop! I sadly didn't pick one up when I was in Jamaica... that just means I'll have to go back again :D
    I like the fact that they are small, weigh next to nothing, are easy to fit in carry-on luggage, and still showcases the countries (or states) I've visited. I don't actually use them for sewing; they are for display only!

    DeShawn Marie said...

    yea! things that are easy like that are great!! Thanks for sharing. Guess it's time to plan another Jamaica trip ;-)

    Amina said...

    I used to do that too but had to stop.
    I guess I am not a big collector because growing up, we had to move every 5 years so we always made sure not to collect too many things...

    DeShawn Marie said...

    haha I understand that Amina as I've moved almost 40 times in my life. These were always easy to keep which is why it became my souvenir ;-)

    Anonymous said...

    I collect hotel hospitality items as well but not for the sake of collecting. I use them in my guest suite at home for our guests. I even put a small refrigerator microwave and 4 cup coffee maker in there. This way my guests dont have to worry about coming out and trying to find coffee if no one else is up or if they forgot something then more than likely I already have it there in the guest suite. I have never had any complaints and have gotten quite a few thumbs up for the idea and even some of by previous house guests have continued on with my idea. Only thing is they are rarely house guests anymore. They tend to travel more and stay at hotels. LOL

    Mirna said...

    You should start your trip to Asia, especially to my country :)
    You can find many different spices for your soap ingredients.
    Who knows, maybe you will have your Asia soap line? That will be cool.

    Suzanne Lanoue said...

    I just found your blog. I love this post about hotel soaps. I collect tiny little soaps, particularly those from hotels, motels, trains and airplanes. I'm glad to find someone else who appreciates them!

    I collect lots of stuff including business cards, swizzle sticks, bears, lady bugs, pens, etc. You can see a list and pics at http://suzann.com/stuff/collections.htm

    I don't know why there isn't any kind of group or organization of collectors for soaps the way there is for practically every other kind of collectible!

    Anonymous said...

    Hi, I am from South America (Uruguay), I collect hotel soap. I love them, i have around 250 differents hotel soap.
    Let me know if you are interested in change some.
    my mail is carina.gazzaneo@gmail.com