Spellbound woods. Midnight soaping

I soaped last night with a new fragrance. I love it. It's a called spellbound woods. It does have vanilla in it and that has a tendency to go brown or tan. I hope not. The soap turned out awesome as is. I mixed to a thick trace and glopped the mix in and sprinkled gold mica between the layers. I read to try pantyhose as a screen on a container to control the flow and it worked out perfectly. I think it looks kind of like marble or maybe even jade, anyway here are some pictures

Nation's creations soap

I have successfully lured my friend Stef into the crafting world! Mea ha ha ha ha! For years I tried to get her to soap, or craft or anything and she always said she wasn't crafty. Well, look at her now. She makes amazing soap!

Little feet

I made these soaps for my sister in law's sister's baby shower. I found these little foot stamps at a leather shop.  Super cute IMO. The fragrance is coconut milk FO and I used coconut milk in it. I mixed apricot kernel in the beige to get the sand effect. I also used my awesome mold that my father in law made for me for mother's day:) I made 45 bars of soap! That's a lot for me. Usually I make 8. Sometimes I make 16, If I'm feeling a little wild. So this was a new experience. I had lots of fun! Here are some pics.

Jennifer's handmade soap

We did a soap swap and I received some very wonderful soap from Jennifer's handmade soap! I've been using her gardening soap and I love it. It smells of clove and has a little bit of grit to it to help get the grime of your hands. I like it because even though it cleans very well, it doesn't dry out the hands. That and I love clove. My 2 year old even uses it after playing in the dirt! A great soap.
I can't wait to use her other soap I received.

Lye veins

I made soap last night...One batch came out great, I'll post that later. The other batch seized on me. I used some Shea butter that smelled a little off, and I think it caused the seize. I have in the past noticed if you use an oil that has gone a little funny, that the patch has a tendency to trace very quickly or seize. Anyway, I tried to stir it and get it mixed well, and I was very hopeful. But... when I unmolded it I saw some strange, lighter striations.

When I tested it with my phenolphthalein(a chemical that reacts to alkaline substances) it came out bright pink. So sad. I made this soap especially for my husband. It had a very masculine scent and has pumice in it to get his hands nice and clean. Bummer. Here is a video of me testing it, so you can see for yourself.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=912p0sUOw1k&list=UUOoA7HKsZ_s9-zBQzFYCvjg&index=1&feature=plcp

I talked to my sister, and she suggested re-batching it. I don't re-batch often, mostly because I am not fond of my outcomes, but I gave t a whirl. I shredded it and remelted it w/ just a little bit of water. It is useable now, so thats a plus. But I am on the fence about the look of it.

Salt Soap

Ahhh Salt soap. If you haven't tried salt soap, you really should get yourself a bar.  It definitely feels like it is drawing out impurities. You would think it would be scratchy or drying, but in reality it is neither.  Here is my latest soap. Margarita Lime Salt Soap. I think it turned out rather pretty.

Best laid plans

So, I had this wonderful idea of swirling clear mp and cp soap. In my mind it looked all pretty and swirly and cool. I envisioned amber swirl in a creamy base. Didn't go as planned.  I had a minor disaster. Then a volcanic mess that just kept on oozing. I crammed all I could into my mold.  Then I took my leftover bits of soap and made  soap balls and dipped  them in cocoa powder for a little contrast and shoved them into the volcanic mess. I want expecting much, but when I cut them I was pleasantly surprised.
I took a soap stamp and used some more cocoa powder mixed with water to color the stamp. I think they turned out great.

I made a new soap last night. It is a spearmint, peppermint and eucalyptus EO blend with cocoa butter and grape seed oil and coconut oil. It smells sooooo good. Mint soap is something you either love or hate. Probably mostly because it leaves your skin tingly and not everyone likes that feeling. I did the cold process oven process method where you put it in the oven to bake after you make it. The scent of peppermint filled the whole house. My husband has had a sinus cold the last couple of weeks and the mint was so strong it cleared his sinuses.He was thrilled.

So I am not really a hoarder... really I'm not. But when I was going through  my soap box I found a few bars I had saved of my very first soap!  My sister Michelle taught me how to make soap around 12 years ago. Holy crap:) I still remember that day.  The night before I had dreamed about making soap in the isle of a hardware store(Because I was so excited) and I rode the trax to her work that day so I could go to her house and she could teach me to make soap. We made coffee soap with brewed coffee and coffee grounds in it and put it in a mold that her dad had made. Oh the memories. YES, I am a nerd:) But I am so glad she taught me to make soap!

Breast milk soap

A little while ago I made breast milk soap. I made it with leftover milk I had saved. Its only supposed to be good for feeding for about 6 months when frozen. I had all this left over milk that wasn' t good for feeding, but I didn't want to throw away, so I thought why not make soap. It had ben a while since I made any type of milk soap. I forgot that milk soap has a tendancy to heat up pretty quick. Needless to say I overheated the soap and had an overflow problem. But with a little triming and cutting it came out pretty ok.

Overflowing from the mold

http://www.etsy.com/listing/90614491/mothers-milk-soap

Pumpkin soap

Mmm. I love the smell of pumpkin and clove. It makes the whole
shower smell like pumpkin pie.

Soap Soap Soap

I am just starting this soap blog. I started making soap more than ten years ago, but as life got a little busy I stopped making soap for about 3-4 years. Well now I'm back! There are so many new methods and fun stuff that other soap makers have done and it has inspired me to get back to the soap kitchen!