Sunday, June 29, 2008

mmm...smells good

Okay, so here is the story behind my soap making. As with any new craft I learn about, I get all excited about something and buy all the stuff that goes along with it. So I got the lye and the oils and the stick blender...on and on. Tried my first batch. I was going to re-batch, which is when you make a base batch and then remelt it and add your scents and stuff. So, I did the base. Cut it into small pieces. Put it into the crock pot and started melting. Things were looking good. Got everything melted, added scent and color. Poured into molds. Allowed to dry. What did I get...mold. Yes. Mold. Yuk! Never giving up, I tried again, just did things a little different. What did I get this time? No mold. That is good. But no smell and no suds. Try, try, again. Still no mold, but still no smell or suds. I give up! Well, no totally. I still like to make soap. I just can't make the base. I'll let someone else do that for me. Truthfully, it ends up being cheaper any way. You can still use additives and smell with the "melt and pour" stuff and these actually have suds and smell. Yeah! Oh, and yes I know that there are tiny bubbles in my soap. I actually like this and try to produce this when making by stirring a lot which adds more bubbles. I think this is actually no proper, but I like the look so I don't care. Above is some soap I made for my mom scented with Sweet Orange essentials oil and with added ground blueberry seeds for look. Below is the one made for Dad with Sage and Tea Tree essential oils and the ground blueberry. Also made the washcloths to go along with the soap. Made a nice little gift and they liked it.


2 comments:

RobynR said...

Love the bubbles . . . did you know that Ivory soap floats by accident? Evidently they over mixed a batch, didn't know it and shipped it out. Customers loved the "soap that floats" and so they've been deliberately mixing in bubbles ever since.

Julie Lynn Paper co. said...

Cool! I do have a recipe for floating soap.