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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My plans for 2019...

...also known as A Loose Idea of How I Imagine the Year Will Go. (Because who actually has things go as predicted? Not this girl.) I started selling at the Monroe farmer's market way back in 2012. That first year I was at the market every Wednesday afternoon. By the next year I was going both days a week--Wednesday and Saturday--and continued to be a "full-time" vendor for several years. In 2018, I decided to slow down. I had to, actually, because I had so many "life" things that needed my attention as well as a number of family commitments that fell during market hours. For someone that once rarely missed a day in a 50+ market season, vending even once a month became hard to fit in. After a lot of recent thought, I've decided not to stretch myself as far as I've done these last few years. I know for sure I won't be vending at any of the indoor market dates through April. But beyond that, all my markets and show dates for 2019 are to be dete...

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...

10th ave. soapworks

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