Beer Shampoo Gone Wrong

Sometimes you do everything right. Measure exactly, melt to the right temperature, cool the lye, and still things can go wrong. I'm down to my last single bar of Beer Shampoo and I really needed another batch.

Two days ago I started working on re-stocking the store. Beer shampoo was the top of my priority list. I melted the oils, followed the same recipe and then tried to decide on the scent. Vanilla seemed like a good choice to compliment the residual beer smell. For some reason the vanilla had gone missing. I had a bottle of Arabian Spice that smells wonderful and settled on that as a back up. Not thinking, I mixed it with the oils before I added it to the lye/water. I mixed with a spoon a couple turns. Whirred my stick blender once and by then it had begun hardening. Panicked, I stirred with the spoon a few more times and it had started to go lumpy. Not sure what else to do and hoping for the best, I plopped and scooped it into the mold and popped it in the oven.

The next day I pulled it out and looked at it. Something was just not right. It didn't look right and there were these funny spots in it. I didn't have the nerve to tongue test it so I let it set thinking it might improve in appearance and I wouldn't be so apprehensive about this batch. On top of that, the Arabian spice, which was the cause of all the chaos, had pretty much vanished.

So now 2 days later and the appearance has gotten somewhat worse. In the end I decided to chunk it all up and toss it in the crock pot to rebatch. I guess it happens to the best of us. I had never experienced the dreaded "seize" until now. I'd heard about it on message boards and read the tales of trying to chisel the hardened soap out of the pot. Now I can say I've seen it in person and have my own tale to tell.

On the positive side, it smells wonderful. On the negative, it's just not as pretty as regular cold process. But having had so much success with hot process before, hopefully the end result will be great.

New Products, New Year

I'm slowly adding some new products to my store! At left is my newest creation...Body Butter. It's a wonderful blend of shea butter, mango butter, and coconut oil that leaves skin feeling soft and smooth. It also helps with my case of the winter itchies. A little goes a long way so these small looking tubs should last a while. It will be going out to my testers for review very soon.

I will also be adding some room spray. I love essential oils and non-synthetic fragrances. I'm currently working on a signature scent for Rena Soap. It should be up after the new year. A hint...think citrus and spice.

And finally, my other new product is bath fizzies. These are great fun and have been a big hit with my girls. They add some almond oil and goat milk powder to your bath to create a luxurious spa type experience. They will be showing up on the website any day now in glorious new colors and scents.

I have also decided to use this blog just for my soaps and not my religious ramblings! God has put it on my heart to "pray out loud" this year. I will be jotting down my daily prayer times. I am hoping it will inspire someone. We are all fallen and I'm sure my weaknesses will show themselves in all their glory. You can follow me at http://renaprays.blogspot.com/ starting January 1st.

Happy New Year!

My God is so Big...

Do you remember being a child and singing those songs in Vacation Bible School? My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty. There's nothing my God cannot do. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Or maybe you never went to church as a child and did not know the songs. If you didn't get to sing those songs as a child, children believe them. They sing those songs with the faith of an innocent child. They must be true because my Sunday School teacher says they're true. Children are unencumbered by the evils of the world. They have no doubts, only faith.

As we grow to adults, those songs become a distant memory like Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. Maybe those songs fall into the same category. Maybe joy, peace, love and truth are just for the innocent children to believe. We become so tainted as adults with everyday life and our trials and tribulations we forget that innocence and that faith. We cannot return to that innocence but we can reclaim that faith.

I was such an outsider at church. My family didn't go with me as a young teen. My parents mocked my warnings of hell and their need to be saved. Everyone had learned those VBS songs and I didn't know them. Everyone had been through Sunday School classes and learned the books of the Bible. Everyone understood God's grace and mercy, and I was still in the dark. I wanted what everyone else had already gotten. I wanted to be on the inside like them. Yet, I wondered why God would want me. I didn't know all the right words to pray. I wasn't raised in the church. It's taken me 36 years to realize, He does want me. He wants all of us. We just have to be willing to hold out our hand and accept the call. We have to be willing to step forward in faith and believe that our God IS so big and SO mighty, there is nothing He cannot do. He made us all with a purpose. God is still the same God we sang about as a child and believed in with the faith of a child. We can and should have that same faith today.

Our dear Molly dog died in June. I have always wanted a pug and this seemed like the right time. What we didn't know is that God had been working on it for a year before we knew we wanted one. We are being blessed with not one, but two pugs in a way that only God could have orchestrated. We are going today to pick them up.

Hurray!

The website is now up and functional! Please check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.renasoap.com/

Mad Monkey Soaping

Having heard lots of good feedback from friends and family, I am getting ready for the holiday season. That means making up enough soap to get me through December. The problem with soapmaking is the cure time. If I run out, it will be another month before I can have more. The prospect of running out is both exciting and frightening. I would truly be blessed if I sold it all but probably stressed about making new bars.

For all my super sensitive friends and youngest daughter, I have whipped up a batch of good old olive oil soap. It is unscented and un-colored. I added a very small percentage of coconut oil for lather and hardness but the remaining is pure extra virgin olive oil. It turned out such a pretty lime green color.

Also shown is a felted bar of salt soap. I saw it in a magazine and remembered that I wanted to try it with one of my soaps. My first sample didn't go quite as planned but I think this one looks great. I may eventually put some up for sale on my website. They feel so neat. It's like soap and wash cloth all in one. The wool provides a gentle exfoliant. The trick is to make the soap strongly scented to overpower the "wet sheep" smell.

Back to my mad monkey soaping...

Pretty New Batches

I'm taking a new look at an old process...hot process. I originally attempted crock pot soap and was disappointed with the results. They looked clunky and homemade and I hid them in the corner. While not pretty, they turned out to be wonderful bars after they had aged a bit. They had a nice lather and felt so nice on my skin. Feeling inspired by a soap blog, I decided to try it again and use the teacup mold I had hidden away.

Sometimes as new soapers we get blinded by all the oils available and try to put every one of them in every recipe. I am definitely guilty. I have calmed down a bit and call this recipe Simplicity because it contains only 3 oils: coconut, olive, and avocado. I made a 2 lb. batch and soon realized that I had a lot more than I needed to fill these 4 teacup molds so I began searching the kitchen. I found some silicon ice cube trays shaped like hearts so I filled those. Still more so I pulled out a silicon mini muffin tray and filled that. Still more and getting desperate for a place to put this, I pulled out some plastic cookie cutters from my closet. I laid them on a sheet of parchment on a cookie sheet and filled them up. I was so excited when they turned out just fine. I had to shave off the one side because it was a bit gloppy. I am hatching some new Christmas soaps that I cannot wait to try out.

Yesterday was also the day to make yet another batch of spa salt bars. Everyone loves them and I am having a hard time keeping up my supply. I decided to use up some leftover bits of oil so I hope they are as good as the last batch. They sure are pretty and smell fabulous. I was using up bits of fragrance oil too. I half hazzardly dumped Sweet Grass and Cucumber green grass into the oils.

My Aunt has asked me to make a "manly" gift basket. I have some new scents on the way and cannot wait to get started making some new masculine soaps. My website is just about done and I cannot wait to let everyone see it. My goal is to cover the cost of my oils and fragrances and maybe a new mold here and there. Hopefully that's attainable.

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Anyone See Elephants?

My latest soap now presented in living color. So what did I change? I followed the directions for the soap colorants I'm using. These are a bit bold but I'm so excited to see some bright colored soap that I can look past the gaudiness of it all and admire the elephants.

Is it just me or do you all see elephants too? The green looks like an elephant with it's trunk spraying water in the air. Do you think they could use my latest creation as one of those ink blot tests? They would think I have some hidden issue with elephants because every bar says elephant to me. Maybe I will just call this bar Ink Blot.

Have you ever tried to do something your way over and over and failed every time? Yet like some insane person, you continue to expect different results. That would describe me and my colorants. I refused to dilute the colors because I was too busy. Surely, I could just add a couple drops and that would be the same thing. My bars ended up either completely void of color or had clumps of color speckled throughout. Why did I make this so hard on myself?

I find myself asking that question often lately. God's way is always the easiest way even though it doesn't seem that way at the time. I insist that my way is easier and will work just fine. Again and again I am reminded that I need to give it all up to Him. When I ignore His plan, I live in my own gray world. Doubt and fear creep into the shadows. When those Israelites wandered around in the wilderness, God showed them over and over why His way was better. He provided for them miraculously, even though they grumbled. It was the journey through the wilderness that brought them closer to Him. It was the miraculous provision that led them to trust Him. God has given us the instruction book, we just have to trust enough to follow the directions and not make up our own.

Grrr... Colorant

I whipped up 2 batches yesterday. First is a beer shampoo bar that will hopefully be better than the last shampoo bar. I personally do not like it, but others say it's great. The second soap sounds fabulous, smells fabulous, looks less than stellar. It is a basic bath soap with some apricot seeds for exfoliation, honey powder for moisture, and scented with cucumber melon.

The problem with the 2nd soap is the colorant. I seem to be colorant challenged. I know a lady that turns every soap the color of cheddar cheese. I think at this point, I would be happy with that outcome over the diluted, practically non-existent colors I'm getting. I pulled some water out of the water for the recipe and added colorant to 2 bowls. It looked very dark and scary. When I added it to the soap, it didn't even show up. The swirls look beautiful if you look very closely. I'm so annoyed that they didn't quite turn out the way I'd planned.

Things don't turn out the way I'd planned a lot lately. I'm participating in a Women's Bible Study written by Priscilla Shirer. It's called One in a Million. It focuses on the Israelites and their meandering through the wilderness after they fled from Egypt. This really speaks to me. I have all these great plans but I need to let God do the planning. God tells us to "be still and know that I am God". It's the "be still" part where I struggle. I want to do something. The Israelites saw God's glory over and over when they waited and watched. Sure enough, when I am silent and still, I see God's awesome power as well. It is when I try to make things my way or plan things my way that things fall apart and I become frustrated.

Take some time today to "be still".

A Time for Soap

If only I had more time to do all the things I love doing. I love to sew, write, read, make soap, bake, garden, paint, and still have time to hang out with my family. There just are not enough hours in a day. There is always something on the list, like the overalls I just finished that my daughter is wearing while playing the piano. She is growing so fast that I cannot keep up with her wardrobe needs anymore. I am facing the reality that she might have to wear what "all the other kids" are wearing. Maybe that will have to be ok.

I took the girls to dance today and stopped to talk to a friend. I had given her a bar of soap to test out for me. She loves it and said she wants to buy a bunch for the holidays as gifts. I've given it to other friends and they too want to buy more. The realization that I do not have enough to survive the holidays sent me into a bit of a panic this evening. What can I bump to make soap? If it takes a few weeks to cure, I better get busy. For the longest time it seemed like I had so much laying around but now thinking about the holiday season and the potential for people to purchase several bars at a time, I definitely do not have enough.

I've decided soapmaking and sewing have a lot in common. The ingredients are like fabrics and the process is soothing like sewing. The finished garment and finished product beg to be shown off even if they are not perfect. We are definitely harder on ourselves when it comes to perfection. I see the wavy topstitching lines on my daughter's overalls. I see the flecks of color in my soaps that should have been mixed better. I see the uneven bars of freshly cut soap. I see that one leg is an 1/8 inch longer than the other. These are not things that anyone else would ever notice. To me they look like big neon signs. I suppose it's these errors though that keep us going, keep us creating. We want to be better than we were. We want a goal to work towards. So it is the same with our walk with God. He wants us to be better than we were too. He wants us to keep our goal in focus. Moving further in a craft is like moving further along the spiritual path. We will make mistakes but it is ok.

A Little R & R

We left for our favorite little island last week hopeful for good weather. The weather in Atlanta was not looking good and the weather forecast for Tybee Island did not look that great either. We packed some good books, dinners, and games and resigned ourselves to just enjoying some time together even if the weather was uncooperative.

Hubby was planning on working on my RenaSoap website while we were there but as we could only get spotty internet service and only on the balcony, we decided it was a sign to just rest. I could say that you cannot deny God when you see the beautiful shells that litter the beach. You cannot deny God when you hear the squeals of my daughter at the tiniest of hermit crabs scooting across her hand. When the sun shines down on the beach and the dolphins play in the surf, I am definitely reminded of our divine creator. I think it's easy to see His glory in the glory of the world. It is harder to see it in the everyday.

As we headed to the beach, on brand new tires, we got to see God's providence in the "everyday". We blew out a front tire going 70 mph. At first we weren't convinced it was a tire because hubby said the the truck didn't pull at all. We pulled off at the conveniently located exit. I say conveniently located because this stretch of I-16 is notoriously void of exits. Sure enough the tire was completely flat. Hubby changed it to the spare which looked ridiculous on our SUV. Again, conveniently across the street was a Ford dealership. We ventured over thinking worst case, they could at least put the spare on the back. The owner was a wonderful, God fearing man and found us a used tire that would be better than the spare. He told us if we found a replacement tire in Savannah, we could bring the used one back and he would refund the cost of the tire. The Lord provides in miraculous ways sometimes.

The weather at the beach was beautiful. The weather channel had predicted rain and storms but we had sunny skies and warm breezes. As we watched the weather unfolding back home we began to wonder if we should rent a boat for our return. We didn't know what we would be returning to and we could not get in touch with our neighbors. As we made our way home, the sun sparkled through the clear blue skies. The rivers seemed a bit high but we couldn't find any damage. It wasn't until we got home and saw the small mud slide in our back yard and talked to our friends and neighbors that we realized what we had missed. Our area got 12 to 18 inches of rain in 24 hours. People's houses are ruined and some have lost everything. Insurance does not cover ground water unless you have flood insurance. I found this out when our basement flooded. Praise God, our basement was dry. In these bad economic times, I can only imagine what this will do to our area. I cannot imagine paying a mortgage on a house that's uninhabitable and so people will walk away pushing the foreclosure crisis further in Atlanta.

I know this post has little to do with soap, but I feel it's important to ask for prayer. Praise God for your dry house and sunny skies. Pray that God will provide miraculously for those that have lost everything.

Soap Kitchen Taking Shape

I am so excited that this is coming to an end. By "this", I am referring to my flooded basement and subsequent gutting and remodeling. The kitchen is the last big part. God really does have better ideas and better timing than I do.

I wanted to remodel our main kitchen but when the basement flooded and we realized we were going to have to really fix it, the main kitchen got to take a back seat, again. Fixing it involved completely gutting it down to the studs, jack hammering the floor to install french drains, re-framing, drywall, and new floors. At the beginning of this mess, I was so depressed. I did not want to spend all this money in the basement where nobody would really see it. It was right up there with the new HVAC equipment we had to purchase the prior year.

I honestly did get angry. I did not see how this could be a good thing. I cried out to God and He showed me how silly I was being. This was not life threatening. This was not sickness or disaster. This was a minor inconvenience. This was merely a small bump in the road. But God uses even the small bumps to teach us. He uses these inconveniences so that we leave ALL things to Him, not just the big stuff. Before the demolition had finished and the dust had cleared, we had realized this was a blessing.

The kitchen in the basement would make the remodel upstairs much more bareable. I have some annoying food intolerances so eating out frequently makes me really sick. It became obvious how crazy I had been to think I could go without food for the 4-6 months it would take to remodel the kitchen. God knows me better than I know myself and He amazingly and sometimes miraculously meets our needs.

When all is finished, this kitchen will make a wonderful soap kitchen. I will have storage for all my finished soaps and all my soapmaking supplies. It will also be a wonderful space for my guild to have sit-n-sews without burdening my husband and girls. My girls have finally decided they like sewing and this space is so wonderful for all of us. We all have room to sew and not get in each others way.

Isn't That Smurfy?

The blue jar is my latest Sugar Scrub. The bars to the right are my "Pretty Pretty Princess" soaps that are going to be fabulous because it is a previously tested recipe. Up front all wrapped and ready is one of my SWAP bars.

I'm feeling a little blue today. Not in a bad way but rather in a funny story kind of way. I had a friend some years ago that used to make M&P soaps and bath products. She used to make this sugar scrub that everyone raved about but I thought was a gloopy gloppy mess. It was a jar filled with sugar and assorted oils that never looked appealing to me. I never could quite figure out how to get oil AND sugar at the same time. Either I was scooping to the bottom only to be coated with oil, or I was skimming the top only to be completely void of any sugar. Who wants that mess in their shower?

My cousin told me that she was using this new body scrub and rattled off the ingredients. She was scrubbing herself with $14/bottle borax scented with lime. We were both horrified by this revelation and she vowed never to buy it again. The worst part is she was totally scammed. The lady in the store said proudly that they had switched to volcanic ash in their scrubs. What she meant was that they had switched to 20 Mule Team Borax.

I made some lotion the other day that smells great and works great. It has very few ingredients and only a few scary sounding chemicals. It just would not be acceptable to have mold growing in my lotion so I had to use a preservative. Sugar scrubs have a lot in common with lotion. Basically the same ingredients minus the large amount of water. There are recipes out there for emulsified sugar scrubs that would solve my goopy mess dilemma so I decided to give it a try. The recipe said that if I colored the sugar, I would have colored sugar scrub. This seemed like a neat idea.

I added a few drops to my cup of sugar. It didn't look like nearly enough buried amongst all the bright white crystals so I added a few more. I shook it all up and ta-da, turquoise sugar. So this morning I proceeded to add all the ingredients together and make my fabulous new sugar scrub. I just knew it was going to be great, despite the rather extreme color.

Sugar scrub finished and I was off to the shower for testing. I scooped up a small amount and scrubbed my face. It felt wonderful and turned to a sort of lotion by the end. Oh my skin was going to be so soft and indeed, even in the shower it felt soft. I rinsed and looked at my now blue hand. If my hand is blue, what must my face look like? In a panic, I leapt out of the shower flinging water all over the bathroom. Thankfully, my face was not blue or at least not really noticeably blue. I jumped back in the shower and decided I might as well be the same shade all over and scrubbed the rest of my body. I must admit, despite the blue tint, this sugar scrub is fabulous. I will have to make some more but leave out the food coloring. My hubbie suggested tinting it brown to give everyone the just been to the beach look. I wonder if that would work?

Eeeek! New Labels

I just had to share my new labels with everyone! They are perfect. This is a wedding gift for a friend. Fortunately, she had white towels on her registry. I really just wanted to give her soap but thought a basket might be better.

Shhh, little secret...Rena Soap the website is coming soon!!! Here's a preview...

Ramblings

This is the most insanely pretty cake I've ever seen. The image is from flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameadowlark/3178127811/ and the directions for the cake are here http://www.omnomicon.com/rainbowcake

I read an email from a friend the other day. One of those passed from person to person, annoyingly un-edited emails that sometimes catch my attention. It was titled The Cake and perhaps you've already seen it. In summary, it talks about a mother and daughter and the daughter has had a very bad day. She goes on to complain about all the things that had gone wrong in her day. The mother replies well would you like some cake and proceeds to offer her the ingredients separately. Of course the daughter says yuck to each one. The mother then says well, all these things are awful by themselves but put together make a great cake just like God can take the seemingly awful events in our life and produce something great.

I got to thinking about God's providence. Who would think to take rain water, wood ash, and animal fat to make something as useful as soap? The rain water by itself is great but lye is extremely caustic and well, animal fat is just disgusting. God knew we needed to be clean to stay healthy and reduce the spread of illness. He provided us a cleaning product from a very unlikely source. Might I add a natural skin cleaning product that is still superior to anything man has tried to chemically engineer.

It is often in hindsight that we see God's glory and His perfect plan. It may be a delayed plane that puts a stranger in our path. It might be a sick day that kept us from work and certain death as in the case of 9/11.

I was really struggling one Saturday morning. The weight of all that was wrong in my life was resting uncomfortably on my shoulders. I got a call from a lady that wanted to donate some things to the Sewing Guild. I agreed to meet her that morning even though I really did not want to go. I wanted to crawl back in bed and hide from the world. As I drove to meet her, alone in my car, I yelled to God "Are you REALLY listening to me? Can you hear me?". I grumbled as I drove around the building several times trying to find her. Finally, I parked and just got out and walked yet another lap around the buildings until I finally saw a gently smiling older woman looking at me inquisitively. Immediately I knew that was the lady.

I apologized for being late and she said it was all right. We walked back to the gazebo where she had left the few bags. As we walked she asked "Are you a praying woman?". What an odd question from a total stranger but maybe not. My strong facade came crashing down around me and I told her all that was wrong at that moment. She pulled out a book The Power of a Praying Woman and said "God told me this morning to bring this to you." Then we stood in the middle of town and prayed. I went home in peace. God was listening and He heard me but I needed to wait on His timing. In the end, the result was nothing short of a miracle and all my worry was unnecessary.

If all the pieces in your life seem like a mess, maybe God is just making you a cake.

Black Eyed Susan Soap

I had read way back in the spring before I started this soaping adventure that black eyed susan's could be used to color soap. If you know me, you'll know I love daisies, black-eyed susans, and sunflowers so it's no surprise that I have an abundance of black eyed susans growing in the yard. I had forgotten this tidbit of information until I stumbled across it again flipping through Susan Miller Cavitch's book a Soapmaker's Companion . Tucked away in a drawer was a sample pack of dried calendula from Brambleberry and I instantly knew I needed to make some BE Susan Soap.

I used a basic recipe that called for quite a bit of cocoa butter which I love for it's richness and hardness that it gives to the final bar. I picked a handful of black eyed susans from the garden and commenced playing He loves me, He loves me not. Once I had all my petals I measured up some lye and water and tossed in the petals. Hmmm, nothing. Then suddenly it went from clear water to dark orange with wilted blooms scattered throughout. Yeah it was working.

I mixed up my oils while the petals marinated. My next hurdle was how to get the petals out of the lye. I rigged up a system only a man would be proud of that consisted of a funnel holding a coffee filter perched on a jar. I poured the lye into the funnel slowly and it worked like a charm...for about 15 seconds. Then the coffee filter became so congested with petals that everything just sat and the lye barely dripped out the bottom. Not to be out done by a coffee filter, I wiggled and jiggled the filter (while wearing gloves of course) until at last, the coffee filter gave way thus dumping all my petals back into the mixture. Rewind, take 2. Same set up, same process, same result. Isn't the definition of stupidity repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome?

At this point I threw caution to the wind and grabbed a colander from amongst my kitchen utensils. Hoping it was stainless and not some highly corrosive metal, I poured the lye through into my container. Thankfully, this attempt was successful. I stirred in my oils and poured it into my mold. I sprinkled my calendula blossoms on top to give a nod to the flowery origins of this bar and set it aside to cure.

I finally un-molded these this morning and am fairly happy with the results. As promised the calendula retained it's beautiful yellow color and the black eyed susan petals did dye my soap a warm yellow. I can't wait to try this one out as it smells wonderful. I chose Arabian Spice from Brambleberry for it's warm, spicy scent. It should be a good fall soap.

Pretty Packaging!

As I give my soaps to people, I am aware how overwhelming it is to remember which soap is for what purpose. Which ones work great for oily skin and which ones work great for dry skin. My mom is constantly calling now and describing the bar and trying to decide which bar is which. Which soap should be left as a kitchen soap and which can be used on delicate facial skin.

Truly they are all fabulous for all body parts but you might want not want to scrub your face with coffee grounds or use colorants and fragrance on a baby. So to solve this dilemma I have been working on packaging and labeling today. Being the girly girl that I am, I am all about pretty and pink.

I got a new tool today, actually two. I got a crimper which is way too much fun and I believe every sheet of paper in my house has been crimped today by either me or my girls. I also got a paper cutter to make nice straight strips to run through my crimper. I learned how to make these adorable little bags at Teach Soap . They are very simple and look like old fashioned candy bags. Since some of my soaps look like candy, they should work out quite well.

So I need some opinions...which wrapping do you like best? The neat little crimped strip or the candy bags?

Wrestling a Greased Pig

If anyone ever says "I'll sell you some coconut oil at a good price BUT it comes in a plastic bag", run. No matter the price, it's not a good deal. Silly me in my quest for coconut oil in increasingly larger quantities succumbed to the lure of a good price. I bought a 40 lbs box of organic coconut oil thinking it's no big deal if it comes in a plastic bag. So the box came a couple weeks ago and I dragged it into my dining room and there it sat until my small 7 lbs. bucket ran dry. Today was the day that the box must be dealt with as I was out of coconut oil.

I opened the box to find a pour spout on this giant bag of hardened coconut oil. Seriously, a pour spout? My helpful husband suggested I let it sit out in the sun and just pour it into the rubbermaid tote I'd purchased just for this purpose. I outlined my plan saying I'd just line the plastic tub with a garbage bag and scoop it in with my giant soaping spoon. I sliced open the plastic wrap coating my scissors in oil. I peeled back the top and realized our air conditioner works really well. The coconut oil was definitely in it's solid form. I scooped and chiseled until the rectangle was the right size to fit in the tub. Now came the tricky part, I had to pick up this now 35 lbs hunk of oil and deposit it in the tote. At this point my hands and arms up to my elbows were dripping with coconut oil. After all my body temperature is slightly above 76 degrees...the melting point. Exactly how I managed to get the hunk of oil into the tub, I'm not sure but it definitely involved some grunting and sliding on the oil I'd plopped on the floor. Mission accomplished.

My second mission after the coconut oil was to make a shampoo bar. I poked around the internet looking for a recipe and suggestions. The commonality amongst the recipes was a large percentage of castor oil; about 25%. I read somewhere else to skip the palm oil because it left residue. I added some jojoba to help with conditioning and also a wee bit of sunflower and apricot kernel oil just because I had it. I contemplated my scents and decided on some cucumber green grass from Snowdrift farms. I added some cucumber extract and papaya extract because it seemed like a good idea. Now to wait a couple weeks and see if my recipe was successful. At the moment, it's cooking in the oven. If anyone's willing to try one of these bars when it's ready, just let me know.

It Not Gocket

Have you ever been deceived by appearances? When I was a little girl I used to sneak into the kitchen while mom was baking and had her back turned I would sniff and poke at whatever dessert she was cooking up. One day she was working on a cake and had whipped up some good old fashioned Crisco in a bowl and was preparing to add the powdered sugar. I peered curiously into the bowl, my eyes widening at the thought of a finger full of that delicious looking frosting. She casually warned that it was NOT frosting but when she turned her back, I quickly took a finger full and stuffed it in my mouth. When she turned back around and saw the look on my contorted face, she laughed and said, "I told you it wasn't frosting". It definitely was not frosting.

You would think I would learn from my mistakes but, yet again, I took a mouth full of unsweetened Bakers chocolate while mom's back was turned. It certainly did not taste as good as it smelled or looked. A friend of mine had a toddler that was notorious for taking off his diaper and playing "Poopcasso" as we called it. The first time she found him covered in poo she screamed and said "What is that???" to which he simply replied "It not gocket." To borrow from Lemony Snickets, here the word "gocket" refers to a toddlers pronounciation of the word chocolate.

As I shaved the chocolate soap for the topping on this latest masterpiece, I had to keep reminding myself, it not gocket. My girls even came into the kitchen wide eyed and wondering. Thankfully, they listened to my warning and didn't take up a mouth full of soap shavings. I have to pat myself on the back on this one. It is decadently indulgent both in appearance and ingredients. I added quite a bit of cocoa butter and real cocoa powder. The cocoa powder actually makes a nice exfoliant. I cannot wait to try this one out. Hopefully, nobody will be tempted to take a taste.

Funnel Soap

What do you get when you mix a funnel, cold process soap, and colorant? A cool swirly pattern of course. This was my first foray into funnel soap. I read about it at The Soap Bar . I think I needed to make my pours from each color longer. Next version will be pink and purple for sure.

I had a time getting the hole drilled in the scrap 2x4 to hold up the funnel. The tutorial says to use chopsticks and rubber bands or some such nonsense. I figured I could just get out hubby's drill and make my own version of a funnel holder. It wasn't that I could not use a drill. After all, I am not a wimpy housewife. It was that the neighbors dog has adopted us and wanted to play fetch. So I would drill a bit, throw the ball, drill a bit more, you get the picture. Finally, I enlisted my girls to throw the ball while I drilled.

I also learned that I should drill the bigger hole first. I drilled the 5/8" hole all the way through and was so proud of myself until I put the funnel in the hole and realized that the funnel didn't exactly fit all the way down through the 2x4. The top part needed to be a little wider so I got the 3/4" drill bit and soon learned that that did not work and I was surely going to injure myself. In the end I just left it as is and it worked beautifully. My funnel stayed very securely on top of my mold. I also have to mention my new favorite soaping tools...2 $1 pitchers from Wal-Mart. They have the oz. measurements inside so I can see exactly when I have half the batch in the pitcher.

I also have to mention my latest kitchen mishap. We'll call it Mission Jalapeno Hands. I made the foolish mistake of cutting jalapeno's without gloves. It wasn't too bad until I scratched my eye, picked my nose, and tried to put in contacts. I googled it in search of a cure and realized there really wasn't a cure. The poison ivy soap maybe helped a little. A scrub brush and some of my face soap with bentonite seemed to help the most and I was finally able to put my contacts in this morning. My thumb was still burning a bit last night (24 hours post chop) but at least it was bareable.

My tip of the day....Whether soaping or chopping jalapenos, wear gloves.

Soap-rise!

Get it? Surprise, soaprise. Ok, maybe that wasn't funny but it got your attention did it not? I was showing my mom my boxes of soap squirreled away in the corners of my dining room. She was excited and wanted to try them all. I opened a shoe box hidden in the corner of the cabinet in the dining room. The cabinet once held my extra dishes and bowls. They have been relegated to a cardboard box destined for the basement. My soap supplies now overflow onto the floor and lurk in the corners of the room. There are big bottles of olive oil, tubs of palm oil, and now a rather large and unwieldy box of coconut oil. Now back to that shoe box. Mom swooned over the contents, as any good mother should do for her only daughter. I shrugged and said well, it was a batch of crock pot soap that was rather soft and the color is kind of odd. She excitedly grabbed it and gave it the sniff test which it passed with flying colors.

As I picked up a bar I remembered my first beginning steps into cold process soap making. The first bars were nothing special and some even landed in the trash. I put these odd colored, rather mushy bars aside because they seemed better than any previous batches even though I was not altogether satisfied with the outcome. As I felt them and sniffed them I realized that they had hardened up rather nicely and the colors that once seemed so hideous weren't so offensive after all. It was these bars that left me disappointed with crock pot soap. The results just weren't as pretty as true cold process.

Having used up my recent new test bars in the shower, I stopped off in the dining room for a new bar. I decided to try out these forgotten bars. Much to my surprise, they are actually quite nice. They produced a great lather and were harder than I ever expected them to be. They left my skin feeling soft and clean. Perhaps I had dismissed crock pot soap too soon. Maybe I will try again.

If nothing else, I now have a box of soap that is worthy of distribution. Maybe I need to dig through the cabinet more often.

The Sweet Smell of Success

I am delighted with the latest 2 batches I made. All right, I will be honest, I cannot tell whether they are really great or not because I just made them yesterday, but they are cut and beautiful looking. The round bar on the left is a kelp/spirulina swirl. I think it will make some great face soap. The lighter blue bar is another round of salt soap.

I ordered some new fragrances from Brambleberry . My hubby loves my soaps so much and actually takes a bar to the gym. I have to tell you a few things about my hubby to understand why this is funny. First, I make my husband boxers. They are not your run of the mill solid colored or even plaid boxers. They have strange things on them like peanuts, flames, big lips, nails, and the best, Dick & Jane sayings. So here's a man in the gym shower carrying around his fruity, flowery smelling soap wearing boxers that say Look Jane Look and on the front and Run Dick Run on the back. Top that off with the fact that he is executive level at a major worldwide company and you can see why I just had to order him some manly smelling fragrance. He's tried a bunch of my soaps and he likes the salt bar the best. In fact every man I have given it to, likes the salt bar the best. I changed up the recipe of the last salt bars I made and hubby just didn't like it as much. I turned to my ever ready soaping notebook and realized it must have been the bentonite. The first bars had bentonite in them and less salt. The second round was more salt and no bentonite. They were a crumbly mess. I actually like the second round better but maybe because I have dry skin. They are so ugly I cannot possibly give them to anyone anyway.

My soaping has gotten so much more successful. I am producing beautiful bars that have my friends ooohing and aaahing. The process is finally familiar and relaxing rather than a stressful race to the finish line. I absolutely love taking a new bar into the shower to assess it's lather, feel, and finish. I've converted many friends and family members lately too. My mom teased me about making soap. "Why would you want to make soap? Can't you just buy a bar?". She said that until I sent her some and she tried it. She called me the next day and told me she had used it and just went on and on about how different it is than "regular" soap. A week later, half way through her moisture bar (I sent her about 6 different bars of soap), she complained that it was almost gone and didn't know what she would do if she ran out!

There really is nothing like homemade soap. I encourage everyone to try it.

To Sell or Not to Sell

This is my latest masterpiece. It's made in a 3" PVC pipe with a whole loofah. Cutting it was a challenge because of the loofah. My girls cannot wait to try it out and neither can I.

I intially started this hobby to make beautiful soaps for my family. I have succeeded to that end but now have soap piling up around the corners of the dining room. At some point, I'm going to have to sell it just to make room for more. Being a child of a small business owner, I fully understand the implications of running a business. My dad worked a lot when I was growing up. Having a business is like having a 2 year old child that never grows up and nobody wants to babysit. As an adult, I hear people fantasizing about running their own business. They dream of being free of a boss and being able to do things their way. They truly believe life will be easier and they will be wealthy running their own business. My dad has been running a business for over 35 years and I can tell you he is neither wealthy nor free and it's a relatively successful business.

Knowing these things doesn't dampen my thoughts of venturing into the realm of entrepreneurship. I have attempted at various points in my life to run small little hobby businesses. One never even got out of the starting gate before it fell over. Perhaps there is some genetic component. It is in my blood. The problem is that I want to start it but then I do not want all the headaches that come with ownership. There are taxes and business licenses, pricing and advertising, and craft shows. What is a soap seller without craft shows? Do I really want to travel that road?

All business ownership aside, there is the market saturation. There are soap sellers by the hundreds on Etsy. The craft shows and farmer's markets are also laden with the fabulous fruity aromas of homemade soap. What can make my soap any different from the masses? Surely I do not want to sell at a discount. Maybe I can persuade people that my soaps are better and sell at a premium. That's laughable in today's economic turmoil. I think people are more likely to buy Ivory with coupons than pay top dollar for my special soap. However I could ride the coat tails of the everything organic trend. My soap is locally made, even though the raw materials are trucked in from all over the country. The ingredients are all natural save the fragrance oils and fun colors.

Perhaps I will forgo business ownership and just use it as barter. Maybe my business will grow organically like the tomatoes that offer themselves up every year in my garden.

Whipped Soap and Organic Gardens

I found the most inspiring website Nizzy's . He makes some of the most beautiful whipped, piped soaps you've ever seen. I had to be very careful with this soap "batter" because it looked like pink frosting. Even in my rubber gloves and safety goggles, I was tempted to lick my fingers. The resulting soap looks like dessert and is so light and pretty. I have read that it disappears quickly in the shower because of the trapped air. Much to my children's delight, it will float. Ivory soap floats too because of the air rather than the natural ingredients. The downside to whipped soap, it takes 6 weeks to cure because it is mixed at room temperature. The upside is that the colors are brighter and the scent doesn't flash off so less fragrance is needed.

I haven't made much soap lately but I have been cooking up some fun in the kitchen. My girls and I made a larger batch of lip balm. They want to sell it and give the proceeds to our church. It's fabulous and the people that have sampled for me say they absolutely love it. The castor oil leaves your lips a little glossy too. Perfect for that less made up summer look and for young girls that want to wear "makeup".

I also mixed up some Bug Be Gone Balm. It smells a little strange but not bad. It is better them chemicals and I don't feel like I need to scrub myself down to get it all off. It is neem oil, soy oil, beeswax, and a whole host of essential oils with bug repellent properties. It works like a charm. I spent some time out in my veggie garden yesterday picking green beans and spraying for aphids (recipe below) and had no interest from the mosquitoes. Normally they swarm around my ankles and I come back in with 20 bites so this is a definite improvement.

Aphids attack my garden every year no matter how many ladybugs I release. I am an avid organic gardener and don't like to use pesticides. My kids love eating things out of the garden so I am very particular about chemicals. I bought a bottle of insecticidal soap a couple weeks ago. When I looked at the ingredients, I realized I had been taken. There was nothing in that bottle but true soap and water. I have a lot of extra lavendar soap I made for laundry detergent but needed the right proportions. After all, lavendar is a natural pest deterrent. Google saves the day and I found this blog http://tennzen.blogspot.com/ that details homemade insecticidal soap and the results. Mix 1/4 C of grated soap with 4 C of hot water. Stir till dissolved. This makes the concentrate. Mix 1 tsp concentrate with 4 cups of water to make the spray. The best part of this spray is that I don't fear getting it on my hands. It's safe enough for my kids to spray (and probably eat) and the aphids were GONE. This spray should take care of all soft bodied insects and plant bugs. The cost cannot be beat either. This concentrate makes an insane amount of spray...192 gallons!

Salty Disappointment

I made a salty disappointment yesterday, but the hydrangeas are beautiful. They were my inspiration for the color of the salt soap. They are so fresh and beautiful even on a rainy day. The gradations of color from yellow to lime to blue are definitely my favorite colors. Now that I think about it, my house has quite a bit of blue and green. I suppose it is rubbing off on my oldest daughter because she chose a lime green for her "tween" remodeled room. Gone is the pink and pretty and hello big girl brown and green.

I set out to make my hubby some new soap yesterday. He really likes the salt soap and has been taking it to the gym after realizing the soap at the gym was really awful by comparison. I wanted it to be a pale lime green and scented with cucumber & green grass. It would smell fresh and clean to go with the fresh color. All was going well and the color looked good. The soap traced quickly and smelled delicious. I added the salt and stirred, which lightened the color but sometimes the color morphs during saponification. I left it to sit in the oven while I took the girls to the pool. When we returned the house smelled great. I pulled the mold out of the oven and set it in the dining room to cool a bit while we ate dinner.

I should have cut it before dinner. I waited until we had watched Wipe Out and had sundaes before I tackled the now very hard salt soap. As I cut it crumbled into chunks. I think 3 or 4 slices were whole but the rest were oddly fragmented and looked like big hunks of rock found in a cave somewhere. The color is just about white with a tinge of green. Not exactly the color I was going for either. Now they look like slightly moldy rocks. Oh well, at least he will still be able to use it at the gym. I don't know that I will give it to any friends though.

On a positive note, moisture bar #3 is fabulous. It is a really hard bar that produces a wonderful fluffy, creamy lather. My next bar will be a rose hip powder bar. I'm looking forward to a new experiment. I also have some shredded loofah to make my brother, the mechanic, some hand soap. I saw a great tutorial for making round soap with a whole loofah. The summer is so full of soapy promises.

I do feel that I am improving. I look back at my first bars that were molded in a shoe box and giggle. I even threw away some really sad bars from my first attempts. I had no idea what I was doing and the bars were perfect illustrations of that fact. I was so proud of them at first and now so disappointed. I think if you decide to make soap, don't give up before you try a half dozen batches. Definitely start with a reliable recipe before making up your own. When you do decide to make up your own recipes, seriously look at a soap calculator and be familiar with the characteristics of the different oils. Most importantly, practice, practice and more practice.

Happy Soaping!

Luscious Lips

Look out girlfriends, there will be some lip balm coming your way soon! The girls and I had a fun afternoon of decorating tubes of homemade lip balm. We made 2 scents, vanilla and lemonade. There are a ton of recipes on the web for lip balm so pick one and give it a go. It was easy and fun. I think the best part of the whole process was making the labels. We made some special labels for some special people too.

In the background is my latest moisturizing bar. It is recipe #3. The first recipe was rather mushy even when fully cured. It is still a delightful bar but not as hard as I had hoped. I played with the soap calc a little further and developed recipe #2 which is below (in green). I added extra castor oil and some clay to make a shaving bar. It is delightful to shave with and smells divine. The recipe definitely made a firmer bar. While I have not sampled recipe #3, it smells heavenly. It is a combination of basil citrus and strong green tea fragrance oils. It is very firm and I cannot wait to try it out.

Here are the recipes for your soaping pleasure...
Moisture Bar #2 (shaving bar)
12 oz. coconut
4 oz. castor
10 oz. olive
12 oz. palm
5 oz. shea
5 oz. sunflower
18 oz. water
6.6 oz. lye
At trace add 2 tbsp. bentonite

Moisture Bar #3 (CPOP)
13 oz. coconut
4 oz. corn
.5 oz. castor (added at trace)
12 oz. palm
4 oz. soy
2.5 oz. cocoa butter
10 oz. olive
2 oz. shea
18 oz. water
192 g lye

Wealth, Greed, Happiness?

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Matthew 6:24

As I was working on making bathing suits for my girls this morning, it was quiet and I could think. When I'm engrossed in something, I typically have my "talks with God". What has been on my mind lately are the now infamous Jon & Kate (plus 8 unwilling participants). Obviously there are many takes on the seemingly sudden demise of their marriage. The truth probably lies buried amongst the rubble so I won't speculate or pass judgement. The media is reporting staggering earnings per episode and even more staggering are the free goods and services that the couple have recieved. I do believe the Lord provides and they were struggling in the beginning with 6 newborns. The question is did they turn a blind eye to the provider?

That leads to my next question, can you be wealthy and happy? Can you be wealthy and continue to follow God? Isn't it true though that we would all like to try being wealthy. Even King Solomon, in all his God given wisdom, was blinded by wealth and women. The rules God gave him were simple and he still disobeyed. Solomon had it all, peace in Israel, wisdom, wealth, family, a palace, and a legacy for his family and he ruined it for his heirs. Why are we so blinded by worldly possessions? There have been so many examples of this in the news lately...the executives at AIG, Bernie Madoff, Wall Street, etc.

We cannot serve both God and money. Maybe it is because the poor are never completely comfortable and the wealthy become complacent that lack of money leads to greater faith. If you do not have money, your faith gets you through the next meal and you are thankful for it. The wealthier the man, the less he attributes his successes to God. The more we have, the more we grumble about the little things that we do not have. For instance, I have a nice house in a fabulous location. It is not a mansion but it is not a starter home either. Rather than focus on the fact that I have a great house, I focus on the things that are wrong with my great house like the peeling wallpaper, the broken cooktop, the sinking sunroom with the wavy ceiling, the weather worn deck, the broken tub in the master bath, and all the things that annoy me daily. All those things are minor and I should be thankful that I have a house at all. I do believe that God answers prayers and the minor annoyances will be fixed when the time is right. What would I complain about if they were fixed? I bet I will complain about something else though.

Times are tight but happy days are coming again. We just need to make sure we acknowledge who is in charge. Hint: It is not us!

Extreme Clean

Yesterday was a long day. I started in the morning making some liquid soap. I just got Making Natural Liquid Soaps by Catherine Failor in the mail and decided to make a universal castile soap. It takes 3 hours to get the paste done. I decided to use my crock pot rather than a double boiler. Unfortunately, the crock pot is not extremely large and there was not a lot of room to stir. My arm was insanely tired by the end of this experiment but the resulting paste yielded 2 gallons of liquid soap. They are currently lined up on my dining room table like beautiful jars of jello to sequester for a week or two.

In addition to making liquid soap, I promised the girls we would have Spa Day. I had received another new book, Organic Body Care Recipes. It is loaded with fun lotions, potions, and scrubs. We made some mud masks and walked around for 20 minutes with our faces drying and cracking. We followed up with a vinegar/lemon astringent and some homemade lotion. The results were fabulous and my 10 year old claimed her skin had never looked so good. I guess you don't need a good detergent to get your skin squeaky clean. Maybe we don't even want our skin to be squeaky clean.

I made the decision to use gentler cleaning products in my home. It was a change in mindset at first. I couldn't remember what to use where and had to repeatedly consult my Clean House, Clean Planet book. Over the last couple years, I have transitioned to knowing just the right product for every circumstance, even dog vomit. I do not own a jug of bleach. I don't even venture down the cleaning product aisle at the grocery store. I am not tempted by the newest, most fabulous cleaning fad to come down the line. I used to buy them all with their wands and cloths and promises. I know better now. Why didn't I change my personal care first? Maybe I needed to test my natural cleaning products on something less personal first. If my house could take it, then maybe it would be ok for me. If my house didn't smell or turn green, then maybe I wouldn't either.

I have a friend that is trying the "no poo" experiment. Basically, you give up shampoo in favor of baking soda and vinegar. The result is supposed to be fabulous for sad, thin, lifeless hair. The point is to get your natural oils back rather than the mineral oil we get from conditioners. Another friend has given up industrialized soaps in favor of some liquid Dr. Bronners in the shower. Of course, I have given up purchased soaps in favor of my own. My husband said there were so many bars in the shower he didn't know which one to use. My daughter used face soap for her entire body because she didn't know it was face soap. I also just started using the Oil Cleansing Method on my face. So far my skin looks and feels much better. I will continue and keep updating.

An update on the homemade laundry soap...
I used it to wash the nasty dog bed and it did an amazing job. Here is the recipe in case anyone is interested. 2 bars soap, 2 C borax, 2 C washing soda, 1/2 C oxyclean Grate soap and then put everything in the food processor and give it a few pulses. Use 2 tbsp. for a front loader or 4 tbsp. for a top loader. I cannot advocate using it in a front loader in light of what my appliance repairman father said, but I can say that it does work to clean really well.

The HE Debate

One of the most intriguing ideas bouncing around the internet is the notion of homemade laundry detergent. The Duggars promote it on their show posted atop their recipe for Tater Tot Casserole. Frugal families all over the country are cooking up their own batch of liquid "gel" detergent. Others, that wince at the notion of a giant bucket of goo inhabiting their laundry rooms, blend up some powdered laundry soaps in their Cuisinarts. They display the powder in vintage mason jars tied with coordinating ribbons and place them strategically where others will see the efforts of their inner Martha Stewart. The common theme is the cost savings. Homemade detergent works out to a $.01 a load. There is blog after blog singing the praises of homemade and offering tips on where to find the ever elusive Washing Soda.

I got caught up in the hype and made up a batch of soap specifically for laundry. I made it 100% saponified, or very close to it, and set it out to dry. I tried making up the gel that seems so popular but mine never quite turned into gel and I was not quite sure what to do with the giant bucket of odd looking water. What if my dog drank it? I'm nothing if not a kitchen chemist so I dumped it down the drain and chalked it up to experimentation. After all, I have 9 bars left with which to experiment.

The Tide bottle was just about empty and I was ready to make another attempt. This time I set my sights on powdered detergent. This week was insanely busy with dance recitals, dress rehearsals, a sick dog which took us to the vet several times, my dad in town, and then the usual homeschool day to day. I figured I would wait until after this all ended to make my laundry soap.

Did I mention my dad is an appliance repairman? He started his business to save enough money to pay for my birth. That was over 30 years ago and he is well respected in the DC area for his integrity and honesty. He was the one I called when my Maytag frontloader finally washed it's last load. He said buy a Whirlpool so we bought a Whirlpool. It was not cheap but I do love the machine. While he was here, he looked at my machine and said "DON'T use anything but HE detergent". I don't know if he noticed my guilty look, but he continued saying that it will ruin the pump if I use other laundry soap. I didn't have the courage to ask if homemade soap would be ok. I envisioned him passing out from the horror.

So here is my predicament, how many loads would I have to do for a $.01 to make up for killing the $200 pump in my washing machine? Is it worth it and how would I explain to my dad why I need a new pump? Maybe I will only wash a few loads a week with homemade and do the rest with HE. What is an eco-friendly laundry lady to do?

Rainy Days

Who couldn't use a giant smiley face on a rainy day? Actually, I thanked God for this rainy day. As our homeschool year is winding down and things are ending for the summer, I am thankful for a day of being at home. The rain just makes it more convincing to stay home, inside, catching up on sewing, soaping, and reading.

I am reading the whole Bible this year. It's been a goal on my long to-do list. This Bible just happened to fall into our hands by accident. We were buying a Bible for the angel tree last Christmas and were in a hurry and there were so many to choose from so I picked up this one. When I got home and had more time, I started flipping through it and realized this was not the right Bible to give to someone that did not have one. Over dinner I told hubby that I would take it back. He flipped through it and thought it might be useful to keep. It sat on the dinner table for a couple weeks and then got moved upstairs where I saw it everyday. It nagged at me constantly and finally the middle of January I relented and started reading. I had a few weeks to catch up since it is The Daily Bible.

I have enjoyed the stories of the Bible, but admit that I had to slog through the laws. Thankfully, they were grouped by category, which made them a little more bareable. I am now in the midst of the Psalms which are uplifting. They too are grouped by category which means reading groups of battle Psalms followed by praise Psalms and currently Psalms of thanksgiving. I'll be honest, I dread reading them because they are getting monotonous, but once I get into them, I find things that I need to hear.

On a soapier note, I whipped up a batch of laundry soap last night. I made some coconut and soybean oil soap which was almost 100% saponified (no extra fat). I scented it with some lavender essential oil and popped it in the oven to sit overnight. It made a delightfully hard white bar that I was happy to chop up this morning. I'd like to try the powdered version because it would be easier to keep but I think I will have to use the liquid version because our water won't dissolve powdered laundry soap.

I also have a batch of goat milk bath soap curing. I've been playing with the soap calculator at Soap Calc and it is fun to see what different oils do to the hardness, lather, and moisturizing qualities of soap. Next up is a batch of shaving soap.

Hubby also told me the other day that he is getting spoiled by my soaps. He used the nasty stuff they have at the gym the other morning and said he realized how much better my soaps work and feel. I'll take that compliment and keep going.

Gifts

Who would not love a cute gift bag filled with soap? I will soon find out. As a Girls In Action leader at our church, I feel inclined to give year end gifts to the other leaders that teach my girls. There are 6 of them besides me so it cannot be something expensive. I try to find something thoughtful and useful. At Christmas everyone got a handmade candle from http://www.loveyourmama.com/ . They smell divine and the scent was not perfumey. Everyone seemed to like them.

My new soap obsession lends itself perfectly to year end gifts. I'm sure my bars will be lathering up all over town before the spring is over. There are Sunday School teachers, choir leaders, dance teachers, and band directors that would all love a token of my appreciation.

I am also getting much more competent at developing my own recipes. I have decided that I like the texture and final product of cold process better than hot process. The hot process is ready sooner but the cold process just looks so much better and is easier to color and scent. With the hot process I feel like I am running a marathon to get everything added and stirred. In my haste I inevitably leave something out or add something at the wrong time. For instance, I made a hot process batch yesterday that I wanted to marble. I pulled out some to color and added it back in to swirl and realized I forgot the scent. I added the scent and stirred a little more which left my marble less defined than I had hoped. I will try again with cold process.

If you are interested in this little tote, pattern directions can be purchased here... http://www.sewthankful.com/CCTBosaNovaBagsPattern.html

They are quick to stitch and make perfect gift bags.

New Molds

I had a birthday yesterday. When my hubby asked me what I wanted for my birthday I told him a soap mold and a toilet. Obviously the soap mold is for soap but the toilet is for my basement sewing room. I grouted the tile on Wednesday and all that is left is the toilet and sink. Never do we think a toilet and sink will be so exciting. For that matter, a soap mold is probably not terribly exciting to most either.

The soap pictured above, with my new hubby made soap mold, is an attempt at face soap for my oily skinned pre-teen. There is definitely some art and know how involved in soapmaking. The different oils have different uses. The essential oils are also effective at alleving different ailments. I read up on what to put in an oily skin face soap. I studied other recipes on the internet and in the books on my shelf. Then I threw caution to the wind and whipped up a batch. I got some rose clay as a sample so I added that because clay is good for skin. I added some shea butter for moisture, grapeseed oil for its astringent properties, and some tea tree oil and lavender essential oil to top it off. I meant to add some goat milk but forgot. I tried to add some beeswax but it wouldn't melt with the oils so I just strained out the beads as I added it to the lye and water. I wanted to add some sodium lactate but forgot whether to add it to the water or oil so instead of looking it up, I just left it out.

It was like Christmas this morning opening that mold and seeing what happened. The bars are a pretty rose color and smell good considering the medicinal smell of tea tree oil. They are nice and smooth and hard. I checked the ph because I'm freaky that way and they were a very acceptable 8. I am definitely getting better at this hobby.

Next on the list, laundry soap.

Be Still

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

I am impatient. I want things done. I want to check things off my list. I suppose that is why I do laundry only one day a week. It turns it into an item I can check off my list rather than an ongoing chore. I feel compelled to have a clean house before I can do anything fun so there are less things on my list to think about while I am having fun. Maybe I need therapy.

Soap is, as I have mentioned before, an exercise in patience. It is an exact science with precise measurements which appeals to my mathematical side and yet it is a process that is finished with no help from me. If the ingredients are mixed correctly and set aside, the saponification reaction carries on with no intervention from me. Here is where I have problems "being still". I want to poke at it and check it. I want to turn it over and cut it up. I keep peeking when it is supposed to be insulating and reacting. In short, I want to do something to make it done so I can check it off my list and congratulate myself on another soap well made.

"Be still and know that I am God" popped into my head while I was vacuuming this morning. I can only assume God is speaking to me and telling me to do less, listen more, and have faith. His timing is usually different than our own and yet, always a better outcome. I want to remodel our kitchen and I have been waiting for 4 years now. Every time it seems like the time is right something happens and our plans change. Most recently we were ready to get started and the money was needed to fix the basement. I know that God wants us here and He will provide for us. Eventually, we will remodel this kitchen and the money will be there. It's only a matter of timing. Still, I want to do something to speed up the timing. I am only human.

This afternoon, be still and know.

Soap Kitchen

We won! My husband plays the Fantasy 5 occasionally and the other day it was over $500K so he bought a ticket. He called me from work and told me to check it the next day. I figured it was just another wasted $1, but humored him by checking anyway. To my surprise, we'd gotten 4 out of 5 numbers. Both of us had visions of thousands in prize money. Alas, we won $203. That's still a good amount of money for a $1 investment but not as much as we had hoped.

The plumber came yesterday to continue our progress on the basement remodel. In case you don't know me, it flooded a year ago. I should say, "we" flooded the basement with a garden hose a year ago watering some newly planted shrubs. My sewing room and the kids playroom reside in the basement so it was a major imposition to move all that stuff upstairs and finally address the underlying water problem in the basement. Needless to say, water is not our friend when it comes to the basement. We found molded drywall, termite damage, a cracked foundation, and rat droppings in the process of demolition. The dollar signs just kept getting bigger.

My husband was also unemployed last summer. The Lord provides. Hubby was able to do most of the re-building himself. He ran electrical wires and re-framed all summer. When it came time for him to go back to a real job, we hired out the drywall and plumbing. Two dumpsters and thousands of dollars later, my basement is getting closer to completion.

The plumber was cutting the flange on the toilet and raising it to accommodate the new flooring and subflooring. He was also putting shut off valves on the hot and cold for the faucet. He also fixed up the girls' bathroom that was leaking. I am excited about getting a bathroom back. It is annoying to have to walk up the stairs to fill the iron over and over. We have decided to put a kitchen in the basement. It will be a necessity when we remodel the main floor. When all is said and done, it will be my Soap Kitchen.

The bill from the plumber...$203. The Lord provides.

Coming Clean

I got to use some of my soap this morning in the shower. It was the hot process chamomile, oatmeal, lemon soap I made last week. I was a little apprehensive at first thinking I might break out in some horrible rash and have to attend Easter service looking freakish. My ph strips were wildly inaccurate so I was not even sure it was ok to use. Turns out it was great and my skin felt nice and soft and not as dry afterward. Feeling encouraged by my showering experience, I'm contemplating taking some to a friend this afternoon. Are there legal ramifications if you make soap and it causes someones skin to peel off? Now that would be a cleanliness I could live without.

I was daydreaming about soap in the shower so strong is my current obsession. Thinking about all the potential and possibilities. It is like buying a new piece of fabric. It has so much potential and yet could just be a plain solid colored linen. Soap can be a plain solid colored linen too. It can be useful and beautiful even without fragrance and fancy additives. Now I see my friends and think of what soap I could give them that would make them smile. My pastor would definitely appreciate a coffee soap. My friend Jodie would love a savory blend of rosemary and lemon. My husband and my dad would both appreciate some soap with sand to clean off grimy gardening hands. My girls are thrilled with the thoughts of different scents.

Today I am thinking I need to make some cocoa coffee soap in celebration of all those chocolate Easter bunnies. I think I shall make soap today, in celebration of the clean start Jesus gave us all when he died and rose again. Soapmaking has almost become therapeutic for me. Sometimes we are driven to do things and reasons are not so clear. I am not even sure what started this latest obsession but my passion does not seem to be diminishing, only growing. I have a tendency to start things and enjoy them for a few days and then tire of them. The only exception is sewing which I have never stopped enjoying. I don't know where this new hobby will take me, but so far I am enjoying the ride.

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed.

Chamomile

I got a few things in the mail yesterday that got me ready to make a couple new batches. First I got a tub of coconut oil. It's much cheaper to order it online in larger quantities than to buy the little jar in the organic section. I like this soapmaking website. http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/ They have everything you would ever need for soapmaking and also lotion making. It's a dangerous place to visit if you are excited about making soap or lotion. They also have a lye calculator which is useful for checking recipes. To top it all off, they have recipes too.

Mr. Fedex man also brought some ph strips. My one batch is still questionable but the other ones are in the acceptable range for now and will continue to get milder over the next couple weeks. Today Mr. Fedex man should be bringing some shea butter and palm oil. I did not think I could get local palm oil but turns out I had some in my pantry. It is also known as organic shortening or vegan shortening sold in organic sections. I get mine at Whole Foods. Again it is cheaper to order a tub of it, than to buy organic shortening. Same product but marketed for consumption makes for expensive soap.

It is spring break in most of Atlanta schools. Since my kids are homeschooled, they still have school but at least all their activities are cancelled. I have been free to play with soap this week. Monday I made a batch of coffee soap. It has among other lesser oils, goat milk, hazelnut oil, cocoa butter, and coffee grounds. It smells fabulous and I'm sure has just enough caffeine to get you going in the morning.

On the to-do list today...chamomile soap. The chamomile is brewing. I picked up a cheap crock pot at Wal-Mart last night and want to experiment with hot-process soap. The steps are basically the same as cold-process but you cook it to neutrality in the crock pot. The added benefit of hot process is that it is useable much quicker than cold process. Technically it can be used as soon as it cools but in practice, it is allowed to cure for about a week to harden. A week is much less waiting than 4 weeks and I am impatient.

Soap Everywhere

My dining room is being overrun with soap. It's a beautiful sight. I experimented a little and mixed up a batch of rosemary soap that smells divine. You can smell it when you come in the house. I hope it turns out. I made up the recipe and checked it with an online lye calculator based on my limited knowledge of oils. If it turns out to be a good batch, I will gladly post the recipe.

I have decided that soapmaking is much like cooking. The only difference is the goggles and not being able to lick your fingers. I figured I would like soapmaking as I love to cook, especially dessert. Cooking is definitely immediate gratification of a job well done. Soapmaking is a trial in patience and perseverance.
At left are my trial bars of rosemary soap. I love rosemary and have it growing in my yard. I steeped some in the water for the recipe and strained it. It turned a brownish green color when I added the lye. I actually thought it was a pretty, natural looking color. When I poured it in the mold (shoe box lined with parchment) I noticed it had taken on a more greenish color because of the olive oil. I added some rosemary essential oil and some finely ground dried rosemary. It looks quite sophisticated with the flecks. When I checked on it this morning it had turned a pretty cream color. I do hope this batch is good. Guess it is all part of the experimentation.

In celebration of my soapmaking fun, I'm going to post my TNT Tomato Sauce Recipe. It is what we had for dinner tonight. It is the result of some experimenting and no two batches are the same. I don't measure anything, just dump it in the pot.

TNT Tomato Sauce
2 cans 14.5 oz fire roasted tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4-1/3 C dry red wine
2 tbsp. brown sugar
pinch red cayenne pepper
olive oil

1. In saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil (about a tablespoon oil).
2. Pour tomatoes into a food processor and whirl a couple times. More if you like smoother, less if you like chunky. I use my mini-chop-chop and do one can at a time.
3. Add tomatoes, paste, wine, brown sugar, cayenne and Italian Seasoning to saucepan.
4. Stir together and let simmer for 10 min. uncovered, stirring occasionally.