Trying to Blog Again

Sorry I've been away so long!  Our life has been kind of crazy and it got turned upside down when we got a couple puppies and less than a year later one of our sons got one, and I became it's sitter during the week.  When all three were together, felt like I was running a puppy daycare.  Things have settled down quite a bit since then, but have had to change up some of my hobbies, setting some on the back burner for a while, and of course, I picked up a new one this spring.

The newest hobby is soap making.  Ages ago I bought a book and chickened out when it came to making the lye solution that is needed to mix with oils to make soap.  The book was filed away, and probably donated, because I haven't found it yet.   I made some melt and pour soap, but melting, adding some color and scent and then pouring in a plain mold didn't wow me, so I never kept it up.  Stick blenders were invented and soap making became a much faster way to make soap and now we have blogs and videos that promote handmade soaps and help others learn.  I was oblivious to this new way of soap making until one day when I was reading a blog I followed,called Delighted Hands, and she started making soap along with her other hobbies, such as quilting,  knitting and spinning.  Over time, I began to think about it again and finally looked into one of the suppliers she had mentioned and I was on my way to becoming a soap maker too.

Back in March, I started out by making some hand lotion bars, then lip balm, melt & pour soap, and finally cold process soap - the traditional oil and lye variety that is mixed with the stick blender instead of stirring for hours.  Many of my projects have been recipes from the Soap Queen Blog and Soap Crafting book, using Bramble Berry supplies, although I've tried a few from other websites and online videos as well.

My first cold process soap was made from a beginner kit and it used the box as a mold. It was a basic soap, scented with Cranberry Fig fragrance, which is still my favorite scent so far!

As soon as it was poured in the box mold I wanted  to make another, so made the Calendula Cleansing Bar with Calendula petals in it from the Soap Crafting book. Since I didn't have the fragrance it called for, I used the closest I had - Coconut Lemongrass fragrance oil!

After a few days,  the soap was removed from the molds and sliced into bars.  It takes several weeks to cure and dry before it's ready to use, and I have to say it was well worth the wait.  Making soap is fun and so far, the ones I've made have been so much better for my skin!


My first soaps: