Changes, changes, changes

My new soaps

So things are changing somewhat in my soap line-up.  I was trying to get ready for a craft show, and I was looking at the sheer number of soaps that I had to pack up to be ready to go.  I have about thirty different soaps!  It was stunned.  I couldn't believe that I had that many varieties. 

I finally came to the realization that I need to cut down on the number of soaps that I keep in stock.  I had such large quantities of my ingredients tied up in all my fun soaps.  I have had a hard time keeping my most requested soaps in good supply.  There have been several times that I have gotten down to one or two of my most requested soaps.  This is a problem for me so I am discounting all the soaps that are not going to be remaining in my stock line.  I am going to take it down to about 12 - 15 soaps and then 2-3 soaps for the seasons. 

I have four soaps that I will be adding.  I will be adding a simple goat milk soap, a Gardener's Friend soap and an Acne Relief soap.  The goat milk soap is simple, only three oils and no scents and only a little mica on top.  The Gardener's Friend soap will have fine coffee grounds for scrubbing and scent removal.  I live in the volunteer state (Tennessee) and I have found that the volunteer soaps sell well.  I have scented these bars with a combination of citrus oils.  The Acne Relief contains activated charcoal, zinc oxide and indigo.  Activated charcoal is good for pulling impurities from your skin.  Indigo is also reputed to excellent for helping to improve your skin and help with acne.  Zinc Oxide helps to heal irritated skin.  This soap will also have tea tree, lavender and rosemary essential oils. 

I have also ventured, after a ton of research, into making salves.  I will be posting on this soon.  I have also added milk baths and masques for my local customers and I may do a post on that also.  I am also working on adding a baby product line as well. 

Now that we have settled into a routine with homeschooling I am going to try to get back to posting at least once a month.  Now that things have settled out with school my time is a bit more available.  I will be posting these soaps soon so keep in touch for updates on my site.

Making Embeds for Cold Process Soap

Full line-up of embeds

I have made a batch of glycerin soap and while I will use it for drizzles and things like that I don't like to use it in large quantities in my cold process soap.  Most of your commercially available glycerin soap bases still have more chemicals that I prefer to use in my soap.  Also I find most of them to also be drying in comparison to cold process (hereafter referred to as CP) due to the use of alcohol of some kind being used to dissolve the cooked soap.  (For more info on Glycerin soap making see my post at http://cabinofbows.blogspot.com/2013/09/homemade-melt-pour.html)

The footballs - about 1" long

I decided fairly early on that if I was going to do embeds that I would use CP to make them and then add them to the soap.  Since I have quite a few soaps that I want to add to my line-up either for holidays or permanently that I want to use embeds for I decided to make a batch of soap just for this purpose.

To start with, I worked up a recipe that will work with all of my current recipes.  This was not complicated but it did involve estimating how much soap to make in order to get

Rubber Ducks

 all of the embeds that are currently on my list finished.  For some of my soaps I may have to make multiple runs due to not having as many molds as I would like in particular designs.

I also needed molds for some of the soaps that are either not readily available or are out of my current price range. This particular project will be covered in a separate post.

For my recipe I decided to use only three of my most commonly used oils to minimize confusion for me when filling out my ingredient labels.  In my case that means olive oil, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil.  I do use other oils and butters, but almost all of my recipes include these three.

Flip Flops and "Ice Cubes"

I started by making my full batch.  I measured everything out and mixed it without adding any colorant or fragrance.  Next I separated the batch into smaller containers for individual coloring based on how much I would need fill the molds available.  Except for the batch for the "malted milk balls"  I left all of the embeds unscented.  This made it much easier to deal with getting everything mixed.

Shells and Limes

I made lots of variety in this batch.  Unfortunately not all of the embeds worked as well as I had hoped that they would.  One of the ones that did not turn out was the lemon slices.  Unfortunately I did not blend to a thick enough trace before filling my molds and the lemons did not survive the unmolding process.  The lemons were not stiff enough to come out of the mold in one piece.  The shells that I made from my homemade mold worked very well.  I only lost one shell and it was a long thin one.

Hand rolled "malted milk balls"

The only multi-step embed that I needed to make was the "malted milk balls".  These are for a cupcake soap that I want to make.  I colored these with cocoa powder and scented them with a dark chocolate fragrance.  I gave this soap 2 days in the mold before moving to the next step.  After unmolding the soap, I used a long handled 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to portion out balls of soap that I hand rolled for uniformity.  These did end up being a little different size wise, but not by much.  After letting the finished soap balls sit for 24 hours I rolled them again to smooth them a little bit further.  When I rolled them the first time the soap was still somewhat sticky so the balls looked rough.  After all of the balls are rolled smooth and sit for a day or two I will hit them with some steam to make them nice and shiny.

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/

Puppy Poo Shampoo

Puppy Poo Shampoo

I have had several people ask me about getting a dog soap and when I would have one available.  So I started doing research.  I am one of those people that will research an idea almost to death before I actually start working on making that idea an actual item.  In this case I wanted to be able to make the soap as naturally flea repellent as possible naturally without causing any problems for the dogs that it was used on.  I knew that essential oils would be different for dogs than for humans and I did not want to choose oils that would possibly hurt the dogs.  After about 3 months I was satisfied that I had a reasonable handle on the oils to use.  I also wanted to use an infusion of fleabane for my liquid.

from nativeamericanencyclopedia.com
Fleabane Daisy

Fleabane is a wildflower with a folklore reputation for being flea repellent.  It grows wild in fields and roadsides all over my area of the country.  It is a member of the daisy family and is quite prolific in reseeding itself.  In this case I helped out my mom by pulling out the plants that had come up in her garden and flower beds.  In this way I avoided having to collect plants where there might be issues from road run-off or vehicle exhaust exposure.  I cut off the roots, rinsed the plants thoroughly and cut the plants into 3 inch pieces.  To the plant pieces I added boiling water until all of the plants were covered.  I let this set for 24 hours to get as much as possible out of the plants.

Fleabane lye solution

For the essential oils I choose tea tree, cedarwood, peppermint & sweet orange.  According to my research these are all dog safe - cats are another matter.  Tea tree and peppermint oil were recommended by one site and orange and cedarwood were recommended by another.

After straining out all of the plant matter, I measured out the liquid for the recipe.  Then I measured out my lye and added it to the fleabane infusion.  I measured out my oils next.  Because I made this soap on a warm day the coconut oil was really soft but not liquid so I didn't need to do any melting.  After using the blender to make the oils into a smooth slurry, I added the lye solution to the oils.  Since this soap is simply utilitarian I did not add any colorant and the scent is from the essential oils and fleabane infusion.

Oils for batch

I blended the batch, adding the essential oils at a light trace, until I reached a thick trace before pouring the soap into molds.  I started with the sample bar mold before filling the regular mold.  The soap was already heating up before I even got it into the mold, and as you can see from the picture it gelled almost completely.      

Soap in the mold

When I cut the soap, I found that the inside gelled area was still fairly soft.  It would hold it's shape, but still had a lot of give.  I could have further decreased the liquid in the batch, but I wanted it to be as effective as possible.  I don't know that this soap would be strong enough to replace your current flea repellent, but at least it is natural and should be soothing to your dogs skin and should leave your dogs coat glossy and smooth.

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/

Goat's Milk Baby Soap

Goat's Milk Baby Soap

This soap started with a local friend of my mother's who has milk goats.  She has lots of extra milk and I was looking for goats milk.  So we worked out a trade.  When she has time to learn how to make it I will teach her how to make soap, in exchange she is keeping me well supplied with goat milk.  

Frozen goat milk ready for lye

I started with measuring out the goat's milk and lye.  I wanted to keep the milk as cold as possible through adding the lye.  I added the lye in 15 minute intervals.  While I was waiting for the lye to work I measured out my oils.  For this recipe I used olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil, and palm kernel oil.  After getting all of the oils measured out I added to it 5 oz of pureed organic carrots.  Carrots are high in vitamin A which makes them good for the skin.  

Oils with Carrot puree

I used mostly melted oils.  My coconut oil was melted but the palm kernel oil was only softened.  After getting all of my oils mixed thoroughly, I added the lye solution to the oils.  I mixed with my stick blender to a medium trace.  Since I wasn't doing any layering I wanted a thicker trace.  I filled my sample mold then I filled my wooden mold.  

Close-up of the swirls on top

After my soap was in the mold, I mixed about a quarter of an ounce of vitamin E with a single .15 cc scoop of sienna mica.  I dripped the mica solution all over the top of the soap in the mold.  I used the sharp end of a skewer to swirl the mica in a circular pattern all over the top. 

I am really quite pleased with this soap.  The yellow coloring comes from the carrots, do be aware that you might find a tiny piece or two in the finished soap.  This soap is not scented but I wanted to be sure that it would be as mild as possible on a babies tender skin.  This soap will be ready to ship on March 16th.  

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/

Green Tea with Jasmine Soap

Green Tea with Jasmine

 This soap is a new one for me.  I had never used a floral fragrance oil before and I wasn't sure how it was going to behave in this batch of soap.  However it behaved itself very well.

Top detail

I started by measuring out my water/tea, adding a small amount of silk fibers, and measuring and adding the lye to the water.  After measuring out the oils, I started by mixing the oils to break up any lumps.  Next I added the lye water to the oils.  Before mixing though I added the fragrance oil to the oils.

After reaching trace, I separated the soap into three portions.  One portion I colored with beet powder, I was hoping for a pink, but the tea color was too strong.  One portion I colored with comfrey oil and a pinch of green pigment.  The last portion I colored with titanium dioxide.

After all of my colors were mixed, I started layering the colors.  I did two layers of each color.  Then I used a skewer to do a circular swirl to swirl the layers.  This gives a nice swirl through the layers that is beautifully visible when the bars are cut.  After swirling the layers I put down a solid layer of white and then topped with a thin layer of green.  After I had the layers in the mold, I mixed a little bit of ivory mica with a little bit of vitamin E oil.  I dripped the mica mixture over the top of the soap and started swirling the very top layer of the soap with the sharp end of a skewer.  I swirled it in little 3/4" circles back and forth across the soap mold.  I tried to keep from swirling the white in to a bare minimum.

After giving the soap 24 hours to gel and solidify, I unmolded it.  I love the swirl.  I haven't seen anyone else use it that I can remember, so I may have to come up with a name for it just to make it easier to blog the soaps I use it in.  I am not a huge fan of florals, and this one is still a little strong for me, but I expect that it will probable fade a bit over the next month.

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/

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/

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://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/

Floating "Peeps" Soap

Finished "Peep" Bars

I was trying to decide what kind of soaps to make for spring.  I wanted to have at least one that would be fun for the kids in my life and those of my customers.  I finally settled on making something that would be appealing to the child in everyone.  After all who can refuse a marshmallow peep.  I can't and I am not a marshmallow fan to begin with.   I also wanted to make the bar somewhat substantial.    

As you can see it is pretty stiff.

I started by measuring out ice and water to the full amount in my recipe.  The ice helps to keep the lye water's temperature low so that it can be used more quickly.  When making whipped soap the key is to keep your oils COLD.  Warm oils are soft and liquid, but cold oils will hold the air bubbles that you are going to beat into this soap.  Because lye will heat up your water considerably due to the chemical reaction, you want to start with mixing this first and using a good bit of ice to keep the temperature down.  You don't want to get your oils all whipped and have to sit around waiting for your lye water to get cool.

4 "Peeps" on a bar

After my lye water was mixed and set aside in the sink I started measuring my oils.  Since my space is normally unheated, I had turned on the space heater a couple of hours ahead so that it would warm up a bit and placed my coconut and olive oils on top to melt.  Unfortunately, they took forever to cool.  I was able to measure both in a liquid state and I ended up beating them in my bucket inside a bucket with ice water to get them cool enough to start holding the air.  As you can see the batter is very yellow orange.  This comes from using turmeric infused sunflower oil.  I knew from reading up on whipped soap that the batter would be much lighter after whipping so I wanted to make sure that the color would not disappear.

Rows of individually piped bars

After whipping the oils with the orange essential oil I was using for fragrance for what seemed like an eternity it finally got to the point of holding a firm peak.  Most of my research had said to get to the stiff peak stage before adding the lye, but at this point I was dealing with very cold feet and was getting pretty tired.  ( After all I started on the soap at 8:45 after I had put the kiddos to bed for the night. )  I added my lye water, which was almost completely cool by this point, in stages.  Then I started beating the batch again after each addition.

I made the mistake of making this batch too large and my batter was too high in my widest container.  This prevented me from being able to whip as much air as I wanted into the batter.   The soap will still float it just won't float as high in the water.  It took a while but I got the soap stiff enough that it would stay in the piping bag without pouring out.

It really does float although not as well as I would like.

Once the soap was stiff enough to work with I filled my piping bag and started to pipe the bars. I piped each one onto a separate cupcake liner.  I piped two layers of 1 1/2" x 3".  Next I piped the body of the peep, then the head.  I realized also about 2/3 of the way through that I had a problem.  The soap was stiffening up and getting very difficult to pipe.  It was hard to make the peeps look presentable at this point.  I finished up what I could with piping.

I brought everything into the house so that I could work in the warmth.  I neatened up the bars that had ended up looking a little too rough for my taste.  I also pulled out the sugar.  I coated the top and sides of each bar with sugar to get the same appearance as peeps.  These should be ready for purchase from my Etsy shop by March 3rd in plenty of time for Easter baskets.

It is so nice to work on something for spring when it is cold and nasty outside.  I hope that you are all staying warm and cozy where ever you are.

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

Soapy Valentines for Kids

Hearts, Roses & Shells

I started looking at prices on valentines and realized very quickly that I would do better to make soap.  I also wanted to go with something besides over processed candy.   I picked up some heart candy molds at Hobby Lobby to go along with the rose candy molds that I already had from making lotion bars.  I also planned to make some larger hearts for the teachers.

My two colors 2nd time around

I started with working up my recipe on SoapCalc.com.  This is my usual program for working up recipes and I have been really happy with the results.

I started by measuring out my water and lye and mixing them together.  I set this aside while I measures my oils.  This was my first batch made in my new space and let me just say that the cold makes a huge difference in how your mind works.  I finally got all of the oils measured out and blended up.  The oils were so cold that it looked like I was making a smoothy not soap.  I added the lye water to my congealed oils.  Now it really looked like a smoothy.  I almost didn't have to use the stick blender at all to achieve trace.

Molds all filled and you can see the
effects of putting them in the oven
on the one in the front corner

I separated it into 2 equal parts one to color white the other pink.  I added my colorant then realized that I had forgotten to add my fragrance oil.  I scraped all of the white back into the main bowl.  I mixed the fragrance oil in by hand - Blackberry & Southern Peach from Brambleberry.  Then I separated it back into 2 and tried to color the second part with a little more madder oil.  I poured the lighter color back in for an in the pot swirl.

Once I got it all together, I started to spoon the soap into the molds.  I started by filling the heart molds.  Next I moved to the Roses, the shells and the large heart mold.  After put all of the molds I had used all of the soap, I had to carry all of the molds into the house.  The cold will drastically slow down saponification.  I tried to put all of the molds in the oven at 170*.  I quickly discovered that candy molds DON'T like the heat.  My oven didn't even finish pre-heating before the connecting part of the molds started to shrivel.  Fortunately, the soap was still cold enough that none of the cavities warped.  I immediately pulled out the candy molds.

I forgot to take my camera out so I could take pictures.  I have to make another batch though so I will use the pictures from that one.

My clean up set up since I don't have
running water in my new space

The second batch went much more smoothly.  For one thing I put my fragrance oils into the oils before adding the lye.  For another I took my batch to a thicker trace and used a piping bag with just the very tip cut off to fill my molds.  In order to achieve any swirl with this method I layered the colors in my bag while filling.  As I filled my molds I got a light to medium swirl.  I actually think that I may use this for filling small molds more often.

As always you have to remember the cleanup aspect of soap.  I do let my soapy dishes sit for a day or two just so that all of the remnants of soap finish saponification.  This makes them much easier to clean and means that I don't need the quantity of detergent that I would need to clean them right away.  However I do wash all of my lye water dishes right away.  Since my new space has no running water I have come up with this solution.  I bring hot water from the house and this way I can wash my dishes without freezing my fingers off or having to worry about any germs,  It is actually a very nice solution and I like to think that I am also using a little bit less water as well.

Coming Monday - Printable and packaging for soapy valentines

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