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.
   

Honesty

I unmolded my soap this morning and chopped it into bars. Cut beautifully and looks quite spectacular if you ask me. Then I began looking at it in morning sunlight and I'm not sure but I think it might still have some lye crystals in it. I won't know for sure until I get some ph test strips but this might be a failed batch.

I guess that would be why milk soapmaking is so tricky. You cannot tell whether the crystals have completely dissolved or not. The book says to take its temperature and when the temp starts falling, the lye is dissolved. I thought the temperature was falling but maybe I was impatient.

I will not be discouraged. I am going to get some more coconut oil today and try again. This time I think I'll used powdered goat milk so I can see that the lye is completely dissolved in the water.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again!

A Peak Into my Fridge

When I was a little girl, the anticipation of Christmas morning always kept me awake until the wee hours of the morning. Would I get the Barbie styling head? Would some Cabbage Patch Dolls find their way under my tree? Could Santa possibly fit a new bike in that bag of his? All the things that mattered to me most when I was 8 are so silly now that I am mid-30's, a wife, and mother. What would I want Santa to bring me today...fabric, a new cooktop, a toilet for the basement, nothing an 8 year old would think very exciting.

I often think of our first refrigerator in our first house. It was a housewarming gift from my in-laws. It is not particularly fabulous. It has no ice/water dispenser in the door. It's not a fancy french door, stainless steel model. It's basic white with an ice maker. I was so excited about that refrigerator because it was something we did not have to buy when money was tight after we had purchased our first house. It was something we so desperately needed and my in-laws had been so wonderful to provide. That refrigerator has moved with us and resided happily in 3 kitchens. The door is dented from one of the moves and the moulding piece on the bottom tends to pop off when bumped. The ice tray is often filled with a solid rock of ice topped with a few new ice cubes. It is covered from top to bottom with homemade magnets, pictures, artwork, memos, and dental reminders. It is in one word, utilitarian.

Utilitarian, that is my view of soapmaking. I do not want to run a business. I do not want to make fancy soaps. I want to make soap because quite simply, I want to use it. Plain soap with no fancy perfumes, synthetic detergents, and petroleum based products are expensive. My youngest has extremely sensitive skin and has been known to break out in a head to toe rash from sunscreen. At $4/bar for Dr. Bronners it may be eco-friendly but not economically friendly.

So when the lye arrived today, I was as giddy as an 8 year old on Christmas morning. I had frozen some goat milk earlier in the day so I was ready to go. I used the basic recipe from Milk Soapmaking by Anne Watson. Not having an ice cube tray, thanks in part to my beloved ice maker, I used several small gladware containers. I suppose all went as planned and after some stirring and glamorous moments in rubber gloves and goggles, my first batch of soap made it safely to the fridge. It may not be pretty but here's hoping it turns out to be useful.

Oh Mr. Fedex Man...

My lye should be here tomorrow! Hopefully tomorrow, I'll get to post some pics of soap in the making.

Hemp vs. Cotton

I have tried repeatedly to find time to get this post typed up and now the sun is setting and the girls are trying to suck jello up a straw (great April Fool's day prank), so I best get typing before the day is gone. I have been tossing around this post all day and intermittently poking around the internet doing a bit of research. I was all set to expound on the benefits of hemp. I was looking for information to back up my suspicions but unwilling to further unsubstantiated propaganda.

I have heard that hemp is the wonder crop. Growable in all 50 states, organic by nature in that it doesn't require herbicides or insecticides, and wholly held at bay by the cotton lobbyists. I have heard that hemp fabric would cost $1/yard if produced locally whereas now hemp fabric is between $9-$20/yard or more. I have heard that it is it's use as marijuana that keeps it from becoming a US crop. A weedy plant that has proven useful in various industries, as food supplements, body care products, and animal feed, hemp remains forbidden in our country. It is grown in Europe, China, France, and Canada.

From all that I have heard, this is what I have found to be true. Industrially used cannabis plants have very little if any medicinal value. Meaning the level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is so low that it is worthless as a drug. The United States imports more hemp than any other country. Hemp does not require the pesticides and herbicides needed for cotton crops however it does have some fungi and insect pests that can damage the plants, however they typically do not do enough damage to require pesticides. Because of this, it is naturally more suited to organic products. Every part of the hemp plant is useful either as food or in industrial applications. Hemp can be grown in all 50 states however poor soil would yield a poor crop. It does require the use of some fertilizer when grown industrially.

Cotton is a staple of the US economy however it has been used for thousands of years around the world. It is native to the US but needs a long growing season with ample rainfall. It has been genetically altered to resist Round Up and some pests but is still insecticide dependent. About 25% of the worlds insecticides and 10% of the world's pesticides. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton) The cotton industry is also heavily reliant on herbicides and fertilizers which contaminate our water and land. While cottonseed is useful as a food product it does not have equal benefits as hemp seed.

That all said, you would think that we should whole heartedly support hemp farming in the US. If we import so much of this product would it not be cheaper to farm it locally? I read an article that made me think about the implications of this statement. Purdue From 1935 - 1950's the government encouraged farmers to plant kudzu to control erosion and thus was born the great vine that ate the south. Where something is encouraged with enthusiasm without considering the cost, disaster generally ensues. The US is not equipped to process hemp as are the countries that have been doing so for years. Hemp is not native to the US, but has been previously farmed, most notably for sail cloth and rope.

Hemp could be a profitable crop for the US with some restrictions. This plant is misunderstood in this country. Hemp used to be synonymous with rope but now is synonymous with the war on drugs. Before this plant could be successful in this country, the reputation would have to be changed. I see hemp showing up in sportswear and organic, eco friendly textiles. I have used it personally in cloth diapers and for a t-shirt that has become my favorite. I have made children's play cloths, dresses, and pants. They have all survived repeated washings and abuse. Hemp fiber is durable and beautiful when combined with other fibers like cotton and silk. Used in soaps and bodycare products it provides moisturization, essential fatty acids, and has anti-inflammatory properties useful for eczema and dermatitis.

Someday, I would love to see industrial hemp in the United States. I don't know if the $1/yard fabric is just a dream but I do know that the cost would definitely drop because there would be no import fees. I am excited that Canada is growing hemp and hope that it brings some renewed interest in it as a viable agricultural product. Even my favorite Dr. Bronner's uses hemp oil. I cannot wait to add some to my soaps, assuming the lye ever arrives!