Creative Chaos: Crafting

Showing posts with label Crafting. Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2014

Soap Mold Remodel

Differences - New & Old

Unfortunately, I have been super busy this last week. My daughter is in American Heritage Girls. The girls are starting their spring fundraiser on Monday. Since they are using my soap for their fundraiser I have been frantically scrambling to get everything ready for that. Among other things I had a couple of soaps to get made so that I can include them. As a result of all of this extra soap making I decided to go ahead and finish my mold changes.

Side by Side

I decided I wanted to make them wider so that I could get 2 bars out of each width of the mold. The new measurements for the small mold are 5" wide by 5" deep by 10" long. It will hold a 5 lb batch allowing for about 8 ounces for cupcakes or samples. I also changed my closure from gate hooks to strapping with velcro on the ends and the hooks piece on the ends. After making a couple of batches of soap I changed to using a bungee cord hooked to eye hooks.

Eye hook for attaching the bungee cord

The bungee cord definitely works better. Even with using industrial strength velcro I found that it was not enough to hold in the weight of a batch of soap. As an added plus the bungee cord allows me to take one end off and check to see if the soap is starting to gel from the side. If I am trying for a complete gel this allows me to adjust the amount of heat or insulation I am using appropriately. Since I usually try to gel my soap (yes I am impatient) this is a big advantage.

Of course, as you will know if you read my post on Lady Grey soap, velcro melts as does a bungee cord. So I have been dealing with scratchy melted velcro on the ends of one of the molds and I am tired of it.

New and Improved

After cutting several batches of soap I realized that I needed to make some changes. Since I am also frustrated with trying to cut the loaf into two halves so that I can cut bars, I decided that it was time for a change. My new mold design is 2 3/4" wide by 17" long. This holds about the same amount of soap, but it means that I don't have as much frustration in cutting the bars. After having cut one batch of soap, I have found that it does make a difference.

I am linking with the following blogs:

http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/ http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com
http://www.hopeineveryseason.com   http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com
http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/   http://www.sewcando.com/
http://www.campwander.com/   http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
http://coloradolady.blogspot.com   www.aboverubies.net
http://abidingwoman.com/ http://www.besimplybetter.com/
http://www.deeprootsathome.com/ http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/
http://raisinghomemakers.com   http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/
http://www.52mantels.com/ http://www.the36thavenue.com/
http://www.create-with-joy.com http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://www.the36thavenue.com/ http://seevanessacraft.com/
http://katherinescorner.com/ http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net   http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com
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.adelightsomelife.com/
http://www.growinghomeblog.com http://nourishingjoy.com
http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/   http://trayerwilderness.com/
http://timeforseason.blogspot.com   http://mylampisfull.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Making Soap Dishes

If you didn't already know this, bar soap needs to be kept out of standing water if you want your bar to last as long as possible. However you don't need to spend a ton of money for a fancy soap dish to accomplish this. I will show you how I made these and why they work.

To start with I went to Goodwill for the saucers. Goodwill or Salvation Army is a good place to start looking for these at a very reasonable price. You might even be able to find antique or unusual pieces as well. Most of these were found at Goodwill.

The saucer with rocks works because the soap rests on top of the rocks. All of the water runs down between the rocks and evaporates. This means that the soap stays solid instead of softening prematurely.

Sealant in the center of the saucer

I started with 10 saucers and 5 pounds of river stones. I tried to find some aquarium sealant to use to adhere the stones to the saucers, but I was unable to find any. Instead I turned to 100% silicone sealant. This allows the rocks to be adhered to the saucers for ease of use. It is also waterproof which in this case is a very good thing.

Stone placement

I started by sorting out the stones that I wanted and made sure that I had enough in the color I was looking for to fill the center of the saucer. I poured the stones out on my surface. I squirted a half dollar sized blob into the center of the saucer and spread it out a bit. I started to place the stones in the saucer on one side working my way across. After the first saucer I used less sealant and started by placing it just on one side of the saucer spreading it out a little at a time with a toothpick. This also allowed me to add a little bit to the bottom of a rock if needed.

Stones to the side ready for application

I added rocks until the center was all filled. I completed seven saucers before calling it quits for the night. Now I just have to figure out how much to charge for the ones that I sell. Since I have found several saucers that are unique I will be offering them for sale. The ones that I will be placing for sale are for those that either don't have time to make one for themselves or who don't want to do it themselves. For those of you with the adventurous spirit or the desire to make things for your self I have offered this tutorial.

If you want the saucer to be easier to clean you could always leave the rocks loose and wash them separately. However all you will need to clean these is some hot water and maybe an old clean toothbrush.

Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

I am linking with the following blogs:

http://timeforseason.blogspot.com http://mylampisfull.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 27, 2014

Blackberry Vanilla Cobbler

Blackberry Vanilla Cobbler Soap

I have wanted to make some fruity soaps and this is one of the ones that I have been looking forward to. It has been on my list and I just couldn't wait any longer. Unfortunately because my soaping space is unheated it requires more forethought and planning. I have to turn the heaters on a couple of hours beforehand as well as start any oils melting.

Warming my oils and my space

I started by measuring out the water and lye for my batch. I did not mix them however. I wanted the lye water to be as hot as possible to help finish melting the oils. I started by melting my coconut oil in the microwave. It took 6 minutes before I got enough oil melted for a batch. I had put the olive oil on top of the heater and enough of it was melted for the batch but not any extra.

I got all of my oils measured out. I got the lye mixed. Warning - do NOT mix lye in a small closed space. It created some really nasty fumes. I thought that my space was ventilated enough. IT"S NOT. Wow, I thought that I was going to choke, before I got the window opened a little bit. I got it to the point where I could no longer see vapor coming from the container before I poured the lye water into my oils.

All of my colors

In the pot swirl

After getting everything to a medium trace, I poured off about 10 ounces to be colored brown before adding my fragrance oil to the remainder of the batch. I poured off about 1/3 for white and 1/3 for natural, that I hope will discolor brown from the vanilla. The final third I colored with alkanet oil. I used about 30 ml of brown oxide to color the little bit of unscented soap. You can see all of the colors here.

I molded my samples first like I usually do, before pouring the white and uncolored into the purple. I went with 12,3,6, and 9 as well as pouring into the middle. I offset the uncolored from the white, so that I would get a better swirl. This swirl is called an "in the pot swirl." I made a couple of passes through the soap with the skewer. I poured the soap into my lined mold. Once I had all of the soap into the mold, I used a skewer, my swirling tool of choice, to swirl the top into a pretty design.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

My New Soaping Space

The new sink area

Since I have had to move my soap making out of the house I was trying to figure out how to make the space in our shed for my soap making supplies and equipment. Especially when our shed was already full of stuff. I needed counter top space as well as shelf space.

Stacked cabinets for tool, mold & misc storage

As you can see a lot of stuff got crowded

Picture from the shed door

Misc storage underneath, but I can still
use the counter space

Of course I had to have help to get everything moved, and my husband has been swamped with plumbing work with all of the cold weather. I called my brothers and drafted them for help with the heavy lifting. The older of the two brothers that I called has been helping out a friend with concrete, so I had to get him when he was available. Of course, this ended up being during the coldest day of the last cold snap. I know, I know, we live in Tennessee, how cold could it have gotten? Well, we hit a wind chill of under -7*. Let me just tell you, when you are working in the wind, that is COLD.

As you can see S really likes the new space

We had to move all of the boxes and totes that were stored in the shed before we could move the furniture around. All of that went stacked in the yard around the shed door. Of course, we also had snow. Since it was cold it wasn't a soggy snow, but it did make things a little slick. They also very sweetly helped me get the insulation that was sitting in the shed up in the walls. This will make a big difference for me this winter. It will mean that I can actually use the heater to warm this area up with a heater. Once we got the big stuff re-arranged we started to bring the boxes and totes back into the shed.

After getting things settled, they left and I started to do some figuring. I had gotten a sink, counter top and cabinets from a demolition job. I wanted to put them in the shed, but I had to figure out if they would fit with everything else that was already there.

I was able to fit it in, but I had to move things around a little bit more, but it did work. I carried the counter top and sink to the house, and my brother brought the cabinets to the house. We literally just set the counter top on top of the cabinet. I don't have water hooked up to the sink, nor do I have drain hook-up. However, since I am only rinsing with soapy vinegar water, it will be fine to collect the grey water in a bucket under my sink drain pipe. Also I am using a bucket with a spigot inserted in the side for water for washing and neutralizing any lye left on the lye water dishes. Since I don't wash my dishes until after the soap has saponified for ease of work ( I will do these in the house) so I don't have to do a ton of dishes in this space with no running water. I am not real thrilled with the idea of carrying hot water out of my house every time I soap, but it is not the end of the world.

A little rough on organization, but I know things will
change as I work in the space

As you can see, it is rather crowded in there, but it does work. It is a small enough space that I could not take a good picture of the full space. It would be really crowded for multiple people but it is definitely OK for just me. I have things somewhat organized already, but I am sure that things will get moved around as I work in the space and figure out what will work the best.

In other exciting news, Frugally Sustainable is hosting a giveaway for free enrollment in the Online Intermediate Herbalist Course! This is a really great value, and I would love to have the opportunity to take this course. If I don't win I will have to wait a while to be able to afford to take this course, but it is definitely on my list of things to do as the money becomes available. To enter follow this link.

I am linking with the following blogs:

http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com http://www.bystephanielynn.com
http://blackfoxhomestead.com/ http://www.iamannekehn.blogspot.com
http://www.hopeineveryseason.com   http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com
http://littlehomesteadonthehill.blogspot.com/   http://www.sewcando.com/
http://www.campwander.com/   http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
http://coloradolady.blogspot.com   www.aboverubies.net
http://abidingwoman.com/ http://www.besimplybetter.com/
http://www.deeprootsathome.com/ http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/
http://raisinghomemakers.com   http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/
http://www.52mantels.com/ http://www.the36thavenue.com/
http://www.create-with-joy.com http://teachingwhatisgood.com/
http://www.the36thavenue.com/ http://seevanessacraft.com/
http://katherinescorner.com/ http://cupcake-n-bake.blogspot.com
http://alifeinbalance.net http://www.hopestudios.blogspot.com
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.adelightsomelife.com/
http://www.growinghomeblog.com http://nourishingjoy.com
http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/

Friday, November 1, 2013

Sleigh Ride

Finished Bars

My newest soap addition is called sleigh ride. The idea came from a sample fragrance I received this summer from Brambleberry.com. For those of you who don't know, Brambleberry is an awesome soap supply company. ( No this is not a paid endorsement, just my personal experience with the company.) The fragrance is called Woodland Elves.

Filling the mold

I didn't have enough of the fragrance oil to make a full batch and I really didn't want to make a small batch. So I added some cedarwood essential oils and just a touch of wintergreen for a coolness to the scent. I started by mixing my oils as usual.

Olive oil 40%
Coconut oil 30%
Sunflower oil 20%
Palm Kernel oil 7.5%
Castor oil 2.5%

I did not melt my oils. I just used the lye water to melt the coconut and palm kernel oils. After adding the lye water I used the stick blender only until I had a good emulsion going. I knew I needed to add my colors at a thinner stage in order to manage the swirls like I wanted. I pre-mixed each of my pigments with a little bit of water so that they would be ready to mix up. After I poured the soap into 2 other containers (about equal amounts eyeballing it), I added the pigment stirring by hand to start with before mixing very briefly with the blender to make sure that my colors were smooth.

Swirling the top

I started out with a nice layer of white on the bottom. To that I added a layer of green and then red before starting over. I ended up with 2 layers each of the white, red and green. By the time I was ready to pour the second layer it had thickened to the point that I could tell I wasn't going to be able to get a second smooth pour. I had filled my sample mold in between. After topping the mold off with a nice smooth layer of white, I mixed about 3 .15 cc scoops of gold mica in about 1/2 tsp of glycerin. I dropped it on the top and proceeded to do a very shallow swirl. I knew I didn't have much room without being in danger of pulling up some of the color.

After 24 hours

After getting everything situated I left the soap on the table overnight to work. I have stopped doing extra insulation on my soaps unless it looks like I am going to get a partial gel. My mold is made of wood and it seems like anytime I insulated quickly I end up overheating and cracking. I do think that this one gelled, but it didn't crack!

After about 24 hours I checked to soap and it was still a little too warm to un-mold so I put it in the freezer for about half an hour to speed up the cooling process. When I pulled it out of the freezer it was cold but not frozen. I pulled the soap out of the mold and pulled the liner off of the soap so that the sides could start drying just a little bit.

Cutting bars

After letting the soap sit for about 2 hours I went ahead and cut the loaf in half. After about another hour I cut the bars. I don't have my curing rack anymore (It died :( ) so I had to make do. I was trying to figure out what I could use to support the shelves that I still had, when I though of using Duplo blocks. So I snagged the kids box of Duplos and started building. I had to add one layer at a time, building the support, adding the shelf of soap, then adding the next level of supports. ( If anyone tell you that they are too old for blocks like this, then they just haven't pulled them out recently. Even my grandmother will play with them if the blocks are out. ;) )

As you can see it worked quite well until I ran out of blocks. I kept the "rack" for a couple of weeks before I gave the blocks back to my kids. And before you start thinking that I am a cruel, heartless mother, let me tell you that my kids thought it was awesome.

Makeshift curing rack

The only issue I have with this soap is that I am not fond of the scent. Everyone else has loved it, but I am not fond of woodsy scented soaps.

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

Monday, October 7, 2013

Soap Class

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl

This last Saturday I had the pleasure of showing a group of girls and ladies how to make soap. We have a group of girls that are learning all sorts of life skills. They are learning to cook, sew on buttons, repair hems, crochet and other things that could help them be more self sufficient adults.

I started by giving them a base of terminology. This way I didn't have quite as much to go over while we were in the middle of making a batch of soap. I explained the basic terms and how to get started when making a batch of soap.

I had pre-measured all of the oils so that we wouldn't have to slow down for that. We started by mixing our lye water and mixing our oils together. We added the pumpkin to the oils as well as adding a little bit of cinnamon. I started mixing the lye with the oil mixture showing them how it looked at each step and having them take a step back from the table in between. After I got to a light trace, I added some fragrance oil.

Our Cupcakes - everyone got to take one home

After we got everything to a medium trace, I started filling cupcake papers with the soap. We then put all of them in the oven at 170* for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I put all of the cupcakes in the freezer.

After I got enough cupcakes for everybody that came, I wanted to show the girls how to do a swirl. I reserved about a cup and a half of soap and added enough cinnamon to change the color. I poured the pumpkin soap into a lined mold then I poured the soap that was colored with cinnamon into the mold on top of the other soap from about a foot and a half height. Next I used a skewer to swirl the soap in the mold in a figure eight pattern.

I really wanted the girls to have some soap to take home with them. The oven made sure that the soap had completed saponification and the freezer helped to firm the soap back up. I am a firm believer in the hands on approach. I also think that trying something new is a very important thing for kids to do.

I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://jillshomeremedies.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://obsessiveandcreative.blogspot.com

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Dinosaur Eggs

Measured soap with dinosaurs

I decided to make some dinosaur eggs with all of the soap trimmings from the last several months. Since I have a little boy that I have a hard time getting him to wash his hands, I thought that this was a wonderful idea.

Weighting the soap

I started by gathering all of my trimmed edges. I have trimmings from the ends of the logs as well as from bevelling the edges of the bars. The soap is the same as the bars except it is in smaller pieces. I started by putting the bits in the crockpot a couple handfuls at a time. To this I added a little bit of water. I kept adding as the trimmings melted down little at a time until the crockpot was full.

After I got the soap all melted down, I added peppermint oil for scent. After I got everything mixed I started measuring out the soap. Since the dinosaurs aren't all the same weight and I wanted each of the eggs to have the same amount of soap, I weighted the soap on a cupcake liner for convenience.

Spread out the soap

I had more soap than I thought. I ended up with 29 eggs. Because of the number of different colors of soap the soap for the eggs is wonderfully mottled. I spread the soap out on the cupcake liner until it was flat. I put the dinosaur in the middle of the soap. Then I started by filling the crevices on the dinosaur before wrapping the soap completely around the dino.

After getting the dinosaur completely enclosed in soap, I made sure that the soap was fairly smooth, regular and egg shaped. This was somewhat complicated because it took a while to get the soap to cool enough to handle and work with (i.e. hold it's shape). I started with the tops. I finished all of the tops before scraping all of the soap off of the cupcake liner and finishing the bottom.

After I got all of the eggs nice and rough shaped, I coated them with cocoa powder. This contributed to the rustic look of the eggs.

Coated with cocoa powder

Formed eggs

The next morning I put the eggs on a rack outside my back door. I put a fan in front of them and turned it on high. I did this to blow off any excess cocoa powder.

Unfortunately, our dog was outside. She had been eating eggs she found while she was at my folks house. She snatched one of the eggs off of the rack and ran. I managed to catch her before she actually ate it. But of course I can't sell that egg. I can use it for my kids though. I managed to put her on her run line before she grabbed any more. It just goes to show life is never dull and boring when you have kids or animals.

I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://jillshomeremedies.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://obsessiveandcreative.blogspot.com

Monday, September 30, 2013

Peppermint Stripe Soap

Finished Bars

I have been trying to get soaps made for the fall and Christmas seasons. I finally got the last of my colorants in that were ordered. I started by making a 5 lb batch of soap from olive, coconut, palm kernel and sunflower oils.

Samples in the mold

After measuring out the water and lye and mixing them. I measured out my oils. After getting everything measured out, I added the lye mixture directly to the oils and started blending. Mixing the lye with the oils without melting the oils is my new favorite way to soap. I find that I have better control over the thickening. I also added the peppermint oil at this point. It thickened really quickly.

The second layer going on

I topped the soap with piped stars

I started out using squeeze bottles to fill the molds, starting with the sample mold. This helped me get things started before the mixture thickened up too much. I was able to fill the entire sample mold with the squeeze bottles. I also started out filling the regular mold with the squeeze bottles. After the soap thickened up I used a rubber spatula to gently spoon the soap into the mold and spread it out. This was a little tricky because the soap didn't want to be spread. I did manage, but it took some careful maneuvering.

Love the suds

After I got most of the soap into the mold, I put the last of the soap into the mold by making stars all over the top of the soap in the mold. This adds to the appearance of the soap. I let the soap sit for about 5 hours in the mold without any insulation. When I went to pull the soap out of the mold it had already hardened enough to pull it out. After I pulled the soap out of the mold, I then pulled it out of the liner to let it dry a little more before slicing. I sliced it the next afternoon. I only had one problem with slicing and that was the fact that for some reason the stars on top were a little on the crumbly side. It wasn't a big issue, but it did make it harder to keep the e red striped looking clean. After I sliced everything, I let them sit for about another 24 hours. This kept them from being so soft that the soap sticks to the stamp. After stamping all of the bars, I lined them back up on the rack so that they can finish curing.

All finished and stamped

I am linking with the following blogs:
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com
http://jillshomeremedies.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://obsessiveandcreative.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Shaving Soap

It is harder to get the soap in the mold when it is
this thick.

Thanks to Bramble Berry Soaps I have a new fragrance oil to try out. I received a sample of Shave and a Haircut in my order this month.

I couldn't think of anything more appropriate to use it in than men's shaving soap. I decided to use some bentonite clay to give it slip. I also used activated charcoal powder for coloring. I added the charcoal powder to about 1/2 an ounce of glycerin to make it easier to mix into the soap.

Definitely clamp

I had a little extra ;)

I made the mistake of soaping at a higher temperature so my soap thickened up really quickly. Next time I will add the lye at a much lower temperature to make a nice swirl. This time it will probably be pretty clumpy color wise. I think it will still be a pretty soap. I also learned that when using a PVC pipe as a mold not only do you need to line the pipe ( which I did) you also need to clamp that mold to the top edge of the pipe. This I did not do and as I tamped the mold to get the soap all down in the mold, my liner slipped too. When I unmolded my soap I found rather deep ( 1/4 inch ) lines in the soap where my freezer paper had slid down in the mold. Next time I will cut off all of the excess and clamp before I start filling, instead of midway through.

All sliced and the color is definitely clumpy.

I unmolded and sliced after only 12 hours. Since this recipe has beeswax in it I didn't want it to get too hard to slice. As for the pipe, I got mine from my dad's scrap pile. It was a piece that had been cut off of an new pipe and they saved it just in case. You should be able to get a piece at a home improvement store or call around to your local plumbing companies. I also used what is called a test cap for my bottom end. These fit tightly and are really cheep. If you are calling a plumber ask for this too, they usually throw them away. ;)

This scent smells like what I imagine an old fashioned barber shop would smell like. I like it a lot although I wouldn't use it myself since I am not a man. ;) It is a smell I would enjoy on my husband. Now I just have to think up a fun name for it.

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

Monday, August 26, 2013

Natural Soap Colors Reveal

Oil colors

I am getting a little low on soap and I decided to make another batch for my personal use and test my natural colors to see what I happens. I started by making a batch of soap with no superfatting. Since all of my colors are already using oil with my botanical additives.

My list of colors:
Mace
Paprika
Annatto
Alkanet root
Madder root

Gelling in the pot

Rosemary
Black Cocoa
Cinnamon
Yellow Dock root pieces
Comfrey
Turmeric
Beet root

Creativity is rarely neat in my world

Some of these I don't know what to expect, but this is the fun of soaping. Experimenting with color and swirls and discovering new things is part of the attraction for me. As a side note, beets do not share any of their color if you infused dried beets in oil. Since I had tried this with my beets I decided to grind them into a paste instead. This should still work and I won't have to worry about clumps of powder either. ;) After grinding them up I found that a great deal of the color appeared to be in the oil. We will see what happens with the soap.

Heart mold

I started my soap and was mixing each color sample in a 3 oz cup. I had 12 colors to check, so lots of little cups. I stirred the colored oils into the soap, added a little more soap and then placed it in the mold. Each one of these mold openings hold about 3 oz by volume. As you can see, by the time I got to the snowflake mold I was dealing with soap that had already gelled in the pot. I don't know how this will effect my colors. I am looking forward to seeing how all of these turn out. I will add pictures after they come out of the molds.

Snowflake mold

Since I had extra I filled my mold.

After filling all of my molds with color samples, I decided to color the rest and use my log mold. I used the alkanet, mace and madder to color layers and then attempted to swirl it with a skewer. We will see what the result it when I slice it. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

The only issue I can see is the darkness of the alkanet. Although it didn't color the suds, which is the main concern with dark colors.

Suds on the alkanet

My log mold layers

The snowflake mold

Heart Mold

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

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