White Tea with Peach Soap

White Tea with Peach

Guest soaps in the mold

I have been totally craving a chance to make some soap.  Trust me is is addictive.  I also found out that Brambleberry is looking for panelists for this years S.O.A.P. panel to test new fragrances.  I love trying out new scents and new soap recipes and would love the opportunity to be a panelist.  I am super sensitive to fragrances, but I have yet to have any problems with the fragrances from Brambleberry.  In fact so far Brambleberry is the only company I will use to order fragrance oils.

So I started pulling out everything that I would need to make this recipe.  Once I had everything together, I started by brewing the tea for the recipe.  I put 5 tea bags on a jar with about 10 ounces of hot water.

After my tea was steeped to my satisfaction, I added it to my pitcher then added ice and water to the full amount needed for this recipe.  I put this in my kitchen sink.  After measuring out my lye I added it to the water and tea mixture in my pitcher.

After getting my lye water ready I measured out my oils.  I reserved 2 ounces of plain olive oil and 2 ounces of paprica infused olive oil from the remainder of my oils for coloring the batch.  After all of my oils except the reserved oils were ready in my pail I gave them a whir with the stick blender.  It did get difficult to break up the coconut oil because it was really cold from being stored in the shed.  Before I added the lye water I added a half a tablespoon of Southern Peach fragrance oil from Brambleberry  link  to the oils.   After I worked out all of the chunks, I added the lye water to the oils.

I swirled the top but I should have saved a little more
of the white for the swirls

Once I had the soap up to a light trace I split the batch in half.  I added paprika oil to the one half.  To the other half I added the plain olive oil and titanium dioxide mixed with water.  I mixed the white half until all of the oil and titanium dioxide were worked into the rest of the soap.  Next I mixed the paprika part until all of the colored oil was mixed in.  I filled my sample mold before adding the white into the colored for an in the pot swirl.

My cute little guest soaps

Once I had my molds filled I still had more soap in my pail.  I decided to use the little molds I had for guest soaps.  I love the smell of this soap.  It is lightly fruity without being overpowering.  The tea adds a little bit of depth the the fragrance.  The bars are a little taller than my usual bars.  I had some issues when I cut my loaf, but I really think that my customers will enjoy this soap.

Disclaimer:  I was not paid by Brambleberry for this post.  These are simply my own opinions.

I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com
http://www.hopeineveryseason.com
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com

Where I am Headed

Coming soon for sale - currently curing

I have about 7 new soaps to add to my regular line-up as well as new seasonal soaps that will be coming very soon.  I have 2 more tea soaps and several bakery style soaps as well as several general use soaps that will be coming out within the next several months.

Gingerbread Man on Clearance

I also have all of my fall and Christmas soaps on clearance as well.  I apparently made more than was needed for the season.

Peppermint Stripe - on Clearance

I have plans for a Rooibos Vanilla and a White Tea with Peach soaps for my tea soap line.  I also have plans for several bakery soaps: Lemon Poppy Seed, Blackberry Vanilla Cobbler and a Peach Pie soap.  I will also be adding a Goat's Milk soap, a Natural Flea soap, a second men's shaving soap, and possibly a shampoo bar in our general use soaps.

Pumpkin Bread - on Clearance

Among other things we may be moving sometime this year.  I look forward to bringing you lots of new and interesting soaps in the coming year.  Get ready for a wild ride folks.  It looks like that is what is in store for this year for my family at least.







I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com

Gumpaste Rose Caketopper

The Cake topper

I was asked to make a cake topper for a wedding this last week.  So I started with a package of prepared gumpaste. You can make your own but in this case I just didn't have time.  I was expecting to have over 20 people come in for this wedding and most of them were staying for Christmas.  So I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. What with getting 2 houses ready for guests and getting all of my soaping  stuff out of my house I had a ton of stuff to get done.

I had to get the topper done by Friday so I started working on Wednesday night after my kids left for church.  I needed a good stretch of time without kids around to jostle or bump.  For those of you who have never worked with gumpaste, it is extremely fragile once it has dried.  And it dries very quickly.

I started with a plastic rose base.  I inserted a short piece of 20 gauge wire into the base of the rose base.  This is the base for the rose which I then set aside for a while.  Before going any further I made my gumpaste glue from a pinch of dried up gumpaste and water.

Next I took a piece of gumpaste and added some red food coloring to it, kneading it into the mass.  Normally I tried to avoid overuse of food coloring.  However, in this case, since the decorations are not going to be eaten, I am not worried about the food coloring.  I rolled out the gumpaste, folding and rolling until the color was basically even throughout.  You cannot get red from gumpaste without massive amounts of food coloring.  But, by kneading in some color, it is easier to get a better color when you paint it with food coloring.  

Once the gumpaste was colored, I rolled out the gumpaste using corn starch to keep it from sticking, before cutting out a flower with a gumpaste cutter set.  For the center of the roses, I cut the five petals apart.  From there I took the ball tool and rolled the edges of the petal to ruffle them.  After ruffling, the petals I took the glue and adhered one to each center sideways.  This makes the center of the rose and gives the rest of the petals something to adhere to and build your rose.  For storing pieces between cutting and using I pulled out the every useful gallon Ziploc bag.  I kept my cut pieces in this bag with a small bowl of water in the corner to keep everything from drying out before I had a chance to work with it.  

Close-up

From here it gets a little easier.  For the next layer, cut 1 five petal piece from your rolled out gumpaste.  Roll the edges of each petal with your ball tool to ruffle the edges.  After all of your petals are ruffled take your glue and lightly coat the center and the lower part of each of the petals.  Insert the wire into the center of the 5 petal piece and slide it up the wire until it reaches the center.  Align the petals to be off set from the center petal.  Lift and mold one petal at a time in the following order: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5.  This will ensure that your petals fall in a natural fashion.

For the final set of petals, follow the directions in the previous paragraph up to adhering the petals.  Once you have your second set of petals on the wire, place so that petal 1 is positioned in-between the two closest petals.  Wrap the rest of the petals in the same order as before.

After you flowers are put together and have had time to dry, paint them with gel food coloring with just a touch of water added.  You only want just enough water to thin the food coloring to an acrylic paint thickness, and only add water if using a gel food coloring.  I wait until I have all of my large flowers placed before I paint them, but I paint the small flowers and leaves and allow them to dry before placing them in the arrangement.  Be prepared to give them a couple of hours to dry after painting and be aware that they may stay tacky for up to 2 days depending on your humidity levels in your work space.  If you are having trouble getting your flowers to dry you can always place them in a container with some silica gel packets like they put in medications.


I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com

Peppermint Wake-Up Soap

Peppermint Wake-Up Soap

I made this soap with some help from one of my nieces while they were here for Christmas.  I started with the same recipe that I used for the Peppermint Stripe.  Of course, before I could start making soap I had to gather all of my supplies from the shed and my bedroom.  All of my soap making oils were put in the shed which at this time of year means that the olive oil had solidified and the coconut oil was extremely hard. The olive oil liquefied fairly quickly.  However I had to soften the coconut oil in the microwave.

Top swirls

I started by brewing peppermint tea.  Then I added the tea to my pitcher for my water and then I added enough ice and water to make my soap.  After measuring the lye I added it to my liquids.  It surprised me by turning orange.  I measured out my oils then added the lye water to my oils.  Of course, since my lye water was orange it made my soap mixture somewhat orange as well.  Since I was looking for white and green, this didn't really suit my plans.  I poured off a little less than half of my soap and added zinc oxide mixed with oil to the smaller half.  To the large half I added a little extra comfrey infused oil.  When this did not help turn the larger half any more green I added just a little bit of green pigment mixed with a little oil to the mixture.

side view

Once I had everything mixed so that there were no noticeable lumps.  I started by filling my sample mold.  I do this first so that I know that all of the remaining soap can go toward filling my mold.  I started with a layer of green, then white, then green, then white, then green, then white.  Next I used a skewer to vertically mix the layers.  After I was satisfied with the swirl, I layered another layer of green then white.  After that I let it sit for about 30 minutes in order to thicken up before swirling the top with a spoon.

I let the soap sit for about 20 hours to set up and finish saponifying.  When I pulled the soap out of the mold, I was very pleased with the colors and the swirl that I found.  I think that my customers will be pleased as well.


I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com

Making Korker Bows

4" lengths of ribbon

I started my shop with hair bows.  I started making them as a favor to my sisters-in-laws.  And of course, since I love anything little I just had to make some corkers that were made from skinny ribbon.

Combining patterns

I started by researching how to curl ribbon.  I found two methods.  One method involves painting ribbon that is wrapped around a dowel with fabric stiffener.  The second involves wrapping ribbon around a dowel and baking it for 20 minutes at 200*.  I don't like the fact that grosgrain ribbon is stiff and scratchy when heat sealed.  So I decided to go with satin ribbon.  Satin ribbon will only get stiff and scratchy if over melted.  

3" ribbon lengths

I started by curing my ribbon on the same size dowel as the ribbon width.  I clamped the ends with alligator clips to keep the ribbon fastened to the dowel during baking before placing the dowels in the oven on a baking sheet.  I didn't want to put the ribbon directly on the oven rack to prevent the ribbon from getting stained by anything on the racks.  After 20 minutes I pulled the ribbon out of the oven and left it to cool.  If you remove the ribbon before it has cooled it will not hold as tight of a curl.  

After removing the ribbon from the dowels it must be cut to the proper length for the hair clips.  The size of the ribbon governs the lengths that it needs to be cut into.  I have a guideline that I use personally for making clips.  

I use a loop of ribbon through the clip to mount the bow.

For 1/8th inch ribbon I cut into 3 or 3 1/2 inch lengths.  The 3 1/2 will give a more "leggy" clip.

For 3/8th inch ribbon I cut into 3 1/2 or 4 inch lengths.  The 3 1/2 will give you a very tight clip.

I haven't tried any wider ribbon than 3/8ths although I am sure that it would be possible. I have used both sizes of ribbon in the same clip in which case I cut both sizes to the same length.

I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com

My Plans for this Weekend

My ornament and hair bow table

Last weekend I did my first Christmas show.  It was rainy and nasty weather wise, but we were inside and it could have been a whole lot worse.  We have a small but fairly steady stream of people through.  I had really nice vendor around me to chat with when it got slow too.  All in all it was a worthwhile weekend.

My soap table

This is where I will be this weekend.  It looks like it will be a great show.  Come out and have a look.

Lady Grey

Lady Grey

This soap did not go as planned.  To start with I tried to fill my mold with squirt bottles.  Let me just say, NEVER again.  It took forever and all of my soap thickened way too quickly.

Adding the soap coloring

I made a nice recipe and separated the soap into 2 medium containers and 1 large.  In the large I added madder oil to make a pink.  To the mediums I added titanium dioxide and activated charcoal respectively.  I mixed everything by hand so as to not accelerate trace.  After filling my squirt bottles, I started filling my mold.

I started with a layer of pink, followed by alternating black, pink, white, pink and so forth.  I finally gave up on using the squirt bottles when the soap got too thick to squeeze out of the bottles.  At this point I just made thin layers with a spatula.

After getting all of my soap in my molds, I insulated the whole thing.  After checking on it I found that I had some water pooling from adding water to the squeeze bottles to get as much of the soap out as possible.  This water was added after the soap had been at trace for about half an hour so I wasn't worried about lye being in the liquid.  I put the soap in the oven at 170* for about a half hour.  After an hour it still looked like it had too much liquid so I did another half hour @ 170*.  Then I left the soap in the oven without opening it for the night.  I got busy and forgot to take it out.  BIG mistake!

All trimmed neat & tidy

I made this soap on Saturday.  Sunday morning I woke up with a migraine.  My husband came home from church and started pre-heating the oven for biscuits, at 475*.   And yes my soap was still in the oven!  Yikes!!!!  He had asked me to come help him in the kitchen for a minute, and I was wondering what I was smelling.  I decided to check the oven.   I found the soap.  I had lined my mold with a small trash liner and it had melted.  So did the bungee cord that I had used to secure the mold closed.  Not only did it effect my soap, but my oven was a mess also.

We promptly carried the soap outside to cool.  After the soap had cooled completely, I started unmolding it.  I started by cutting the bungee cord off.  Next I took the soap out of the mold.  The liner had melted to the soap.  I cut all six of the sides off of the soap.  I took about a half inch off of each side.  I sliced the remaining soap in half length wise, before slicing it into bars.

I know that I will do a different design next time, and hopefully I won't loose any soap.


I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://www.create-with-joy.com
http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net
http://thediydreamer.com
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com
http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com
http://www.flusterbuster.com
http://www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com
http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/
http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com
http://nourishingjoy.com