Soap! Soap! Soap!

It had been a while since I had made soap.  In fact, my family had been using COMMERCIAL soap for several months.  GASP!!!!  A friend contacted me on Facebook and asked if I still made soap and if I would be interested in selling it in her store.  Their entire store is about re-purposing things that others find useless.  They are very down to earth people ... and they homeschool!  Anywho ... I've not been in her store, but I've read her blog (Patina in Paducah) and I have seen many pictures up on Facebook.  I very excitedly said, "Yes!  Yes!  Yes!"

Okay, maybe it was only ONE yes ... but inside me I doing a happy dance.  And it came at a perfect time for me.

So my daughter and I started getting busy making homemade lye soap (my daughter also created and earned a Create Your Own Badge for Girls Scouts).  I think they came out quite lovely and I enjoyed the time with my daughter teaching her something she had only watched me do before.  If you ever have the chance of using lye soap DO IT!!!    If milled properly with a good recipe, it rinses clean away leaving you squeaky clean.  My mother-in-law says that my Oatmeal, Milk & Honey is the only thing that keeps her eczema clear.  

The first ones we made were the Lavender Goat's Milk and the Cinnamon Scrub with Nutmeg & Clove (the little soap up front is a Gentle Milk Handsoap that came later ... it was leftover).  The Lavender smell so relaxing and it great for shaving legs and the Cinnamon Scrubs exfoliates amazingly (it smells yummy too)!

The next soap made was Avocado Peppermint Burst.  I had never made this before.  I wanted to try something new, so I added two pureed avocados and peppermint essential oil.  The main bars were all the standard square, but I decided to get creative with the leftovers.  The round one came from a finish round "block" of soap that set up in a tall plastic cup.  The heart one was poured into a heart shaped mini cake mold.  I carved a mesage in it for my lovely daughter.  I have been washing my rather long hair (down to my waist) with this soap for a little over a week.  My scalp has cleared up and my hair is super soft without using any conditioner.  YEAH! a few less chemicals on my body!!!  It's really a good morning wake up soap.

Another new soap for me was the Jamaican Morning Coffee.  Coffee soap is good for removing odors, I've been told, so I made my own.  I decided to try using cupcakes tins for another mold.  I think it's cool how the cupcake papers made ridges on the sides.  The next day when we made the Oatmeal, Milk & Honey, I set some plain soap aside, added milk to it, then put swirls on top the soap to make Mocha Latte Cupcake soap.  My beautiful, sweet and amazing daughter said they needed decorating and added the coffee beans.  She's so creative!  My 13-year-old son decorated a few as well.  The leftover from the "latte topping" was swirled on freezer wrap to make small palm sized soaps.

The last soap we made was the Oatmeal, Milk & Honey.  The cupcake soap was left the way it was, but wanting to experiment with something new, I double milled the bar soap.  That means I took out of the mold the next day, broke it up, added some water, then set it in a warm oven for an hour stirring and mushing every 15 minutes.  Then when it was nice and thick I spooned it back into the mold.  I used the back of my spoon to make peaks on the top.  I think it looks a bit rustic.  I couldn't be more pleased!  

 Our next creative soap endeaver will be making a soap cake ...