10th ave. soapworks

I've been hoarding a little bottle of one of the most delish scents ever, Ginger Lime.  This week seemed the perfect time to break it out.  And yay, my faux funnel swirl did justice to it! I used turmeric for the yellow, cocoa for the brown, and chromium oxide for the green swirls.  These earth tones are so "me" and I am one happy girl.  Beg and plead all you want, but I won't be parting with several bars of this batch... Want to see some more awesome faux funnel swirls?  Take a peek here .

Well, I'm ahead of the game this week.  My soap challenge soap is made, cut, and looking good!  Pictures to come on Saturday. Anyway, I made this particular batch with yogurt.  If you like the qualities that yogurt gives to soap, you soapmakers can add a bit of wow to your next batch by making your very own yogurt.  (I'm all about the DIY projects!) It is Super Easy, too!  For years I've used my $1 garage sale yogurt maker but it breathed its last a couple of months ago.  (It had lived a good long life....I saw the same yogurt maker on an episode of the Bob Newhart Show , so that puts it at about 40 years old in people years--I don't know the equivalent in electric kitchen gizmo years....)  OK, no more relying on a gadget, I had to learn how to do it myself.  Have you ever searched "making homemade yogurt" on the internet?  There are 2,260,000 results on Google and I would reckon that every one is different.  So that means that ...

...and skipped last week's soap making challenge .  I had the best of intentions with my batch planned out but just couldn't fit it in during the week.  So I decided to make it on Saturday afternoon after the farmer's market ended but by the time I got home, I just collapsed and took a nap instead!  And I'm not even sorry. Truth be told, I wasn't as keen on this challenge as I've been on others even though I decided at the beginning of the year that I would work on experimenting with blends.  Oddly enough, this "always ready to experiment" girl doesn't like to mix up her fragrances.  I think blended essential oils are exquisite but I never seem to have the variety or quantity in stock to do a lot of experimenting outside of my few go-to blends.  And I'm fussy about my fragrance oils.  If I thought they needed tweaking, I wouldn't have liked them so much in the first place.  It's just messing with a good thing....

You've probably caught on by now that I love herbs.  One of my favorites is the dandelion.  Seriously!   It's an herb.   And God made them reproduce so abundantly just because they are that good for you (and so you won't even feel the temptation to pilfer your neighbors'.)  Take a peek h ere , here and even here . A couple of years ago, my friend had the idea to make dandelion wine.  Well, it sounded like such a grand experiment at the time that I decided to make my own batch.  Collecting mixing bowls of blossoms and picking the yellow petals from the green part was a delightfully brain (and finger) numbing way to spend a day.  I even added my own homegrown raspberries to the batch.  How resourceful is that, I ask you?  After it was "done," I tried a sip.  I noted a bouquet of nail polish remover with fruity notes, but then I am no wine connoiseur.  By any means.  Ev...

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...

This week's soaping challenge is all about piping soap.  I have my scent all picked out and once I put my soaping room back together I can get going on it.  But speaking of piping, I thought I'd share a picture of some decorating I did last week, but with real icing.  I wanted the decorating on the wedding cake to match the invitation and by golly, it did. OK, now, time for some SOAP!!!!!