So long, cardboard!

I just thought I'd show off the wooden mold my mister built for me last weekend. It's my first wooden log mold (with a few more promised!) Up until now I've been using cardboard boxes of the right shape. I'm not complaining, since they have worked well--they're cheap (free!) and sturdy. I have made hundreds of bars with my current "set" but they are beginning to bow and look their age.

I was so excited when he gave it to me that I dropped everything to make a batch. He was interested in seeing how it worked out for me, too. It was a complete success. It's the perfect size for a 1 oz. sampler of fragrance oil and so easy to line! I love it!!

I decided to make a goat milk soap, scented with Sweetgrass. It smells like the country in the spring to me, sans the manure-y overtones, of course!

This is the first of four batches I made this week, with another one planned for today. Happiness is a new mold!

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Soaping with Madder

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap. Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days. Hmm. If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder. So....whatsa madder? It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week. This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest. I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing. I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...

Loofah--from vine to soap

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one. People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown. No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant. Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen. They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year. Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space. Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt. But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...

Soap Challenge--Piping

I'm jumping into Amy W's soap challenge here in week 3--piping soap. I chose to make a version of a batch I made last year--my Sweet Pea scented soap. It was really popular for me last summer so why mess with a success? Some soapers assume that piping soap means that it must be whipped, but it's not necessary to whip it first. When I don't want the whipped look (or more frequently, don't want to clean beaters) I just let it sit until it thickens up on its own. (By the way, don't you adore these itty-bitty dishes? I just bought them a few weeks ago. A set of four cost $1 at the Dollar Tree!) I used a Wilton tip #3 to make the little squiggles. I added tip #103 sweet peas and made leaves with a # 352 tip. One thing I love about piping soap....it never leaves even a trace of ash to spoil the design. And then I took lots of pictures (it was a rather photogenic batch). Here are a f...

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