Creating bouquets from soap
Black Forest resident Anna Georgieva has a knack for making things beautiful. So much so that both of her small businesses revolve around that concept: the first, a home-based esthetician business; the second, a niche boutique that sells elaborate floral arrangements handmade from soap.
“I like to work with my hands,” Georgieva said. “I like to stay busy.”
Georgieva was raised in Bulgaria by parents who were business owners, and she said it was only natural that she would someday follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps. At the age of 21, Georgieva received a green card via a lottery program and immigrated to the United States in 2000, where she has lived for more than half her life. She said she spent about 12 years in Florida, then a few years in California, and landed in Colorado in 2019, right before the pandemic. She, along with her husband and two children, have called Black Forest home ever since.
More than a decade ago, Georgieva became an esthetician; and, three years ago, she fulfilled her vision of building her own home studio where she does facials for clients. “I pretty much offer any facial that you can think of: microdermabrasion, chemical peel, microneedling, light therapy,” Georgieva said.
The separate soap bouquet business came next. Annie’s Soap Flower Boutique opened more than two years ago.
“It seemed like nobody else did something like that in this area. I had never seen it before,” Georgieva said, as she described her thought process leading up to the launch of her soap flower business.
She sold her first soap bouquets for Valentine’s Day in 2022 and thought it could be a good business, so she decided to delve into it. By Mother’s Day, she said business was booming; the momentum has continued.
As a self-taught artisan, Georgieva creates each soap bouquet by hand from her home. She starts the process by customizing the colors and scents of the shea butter soap base, then pours the soap into realistic flower molds, and finishes her creation by arranging the soap flowers into a bouquet and enhancing the design with artificial floral fillers.
The process can take between two to five hours, depending on the size and design of the bouquet, she said. Her prices reflect those same variables; the bouquets range from $35 to $179.
“Since I make everything from scratch, I can customize pretty much any color, any size, all the flowers that I make,” Georgieva said. “I have pretty much any flower that you can think of. It can be really, really personal.”
The opportunity for customization is an aspect of the bouquets that customers find particularly impressive. Georgieva said, “I have people sending me the color of their curtains, or what the living room looks like, or the bathroom or wherever they want to place (the bouquet). And when I make something personal for that, they’re so blown away. They just love it.” Beyond the personal visual design, Georgieva can customize the scent of the arrangements with nearly 30 different fragrance oils that smell like real flower varieties.
While the soap flowers can theoretically be plucked out of the arrangements and used as regular soap, Georgieva said she thinks the creations are best used as displays. “It’s like a house decoration and air freshener,” she said. “I love the fact that you don’t have to water them, and they stay nice for quite a bit. You don’t have to throw them in the garbage. They make the house smell good. It’s very unique.”
The majority of Annie’s Soap Flower Boutique customers are around 40 years old and older. Georgieva said most purchases are intended as gifts for loved ones.
Her flower creations can also be purchased in person at local farmers markets. She plans to close out her market sales for the year at the holiday markets at Edith Wolford Elementary School on Nov. 16 and Dec. 14.
Customers can also shop online anytime via Annie’s Soap Flower Boutique’s Facebook page and Etsy shop.
Word of mouth is her main source of sales. From the get-go, Georgieva said she has been awestruck by support from the local community. She said oftentimes locals who support one of her businesses end up becoming customers of her other business. The steady community support is what encouraged her to participate in farmers markets, she said.
Just as she is overjoyed by her supporters, bringing joy to them is the driving force of her role as a small business owner in the community.
“What makes me happy is to make other people happy,” Georgieva said.
In hopes of spreading even more happiness, she will be adding creative candles to Annie’s Soap Flower Boutique offerings. “I started making candles lately. So, I have a lot of ideas in my head,” Georgieva said. “Since the holiday markets are coming up, I’m going to be making quite a few different ones in the next month.” Long term, she dreams of maybe one day opening a small storefront for her businesses. For now, she is content with the flexibility and family time that having home-based businesses allows — she has no plans to slow down on either front.
“I love doing both of them, so I cannot choose one or the other. Sometimes I get busier with the flowers, and sometimes I get busier with the facials,” Georgieva said. “I have a steady clientele, so I wouldn’t leave either one of those.”
