Saturday, October 13, 2012

Yesterday soup, today soap!

Yesterday I gave you soup. Today I give you...


...soap! My friend Pierre came over yesterday and taught me how to make soap. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and I have overcome my terror of lye! You just need to treat it with respect.

We mad two pounds of soap, or 20 bars. The brownish ones are "five-fold orange" scent (i.e. very orangey) with vanilla specks for exfoliation.




The other ones are peppermint scented with calendula petals from Pierre's garden. I thought they looked really pretty!


I could have done a nice cutting job, but I was so excited about the soap that I didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing with the cutter. Oops!

I'm hooked and plan to order supplies and keep doing this. I love handmade soap. It's so cool that I can make my own.

Cuz I needed another hobby. Uh huh.

22 comments:

  1. I want to eat it all - maybe you should make fudge next time!

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  2. those look amazing, seriously made me want fudge :)

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  3. Okay you two, now *I* want fudge too!!!! :)(

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  4. I have the recipe....I have the ingredients... but now I want the pretty, smelly,flecky bits you have in yours before I make it.
    Jane x

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    1. Get some calendula pets, or grow your own!! And the vanilla specks I plan to order here:

      http://www.canwax.com/

      That's where Pierre gets all his supplies! Go for it, girl!

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  5. What a cool activity! Many people make soap and as you realize they can make some f pretty fancy stuff. Now I was thinking , "Does this blogger need another hobby ?" But you said it yourself. Go for it and have fun.

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    1. I so do not need another hobby, but on the upside, this isn't too time consuming!

      One thing you can say about me: I am never, ever bored!!

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  6. Wow.. that is so cool. You can make them for Christmas gifts and consider your shopping done. Lucky you. The orange one is too pretty to use.

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    1. I suspect everybody will be getting soap for Christmas this year! :)

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  7. Wowzie!!! that's some pretty soap!

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    1. I will grow some calendula in my garden next year so I can use the petals!

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  8. If Kelly were alive, she would be at your doorstep to learn how to make her own soap. I bet they just smell so wonderful and it is heartwarming to say you made them yourself. I'm definitely going to put that on my list "to do"...even though it's already a long list!

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    1. Well I would have loved to teach her how to make it. :) I have wanted to learn for years (I bought a soapmaking book back in 1998!) so I'm glad I finally did, and it was just so easy. I can't wait to make more!

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  9. Donna, over at midlifefarmwife.blogspot.com, makes soap every Sunday, and talks about her methods, new aromas, etc, each Monday. Could be worth a visit. Just say 'Cro sent you'.... she even named a soap after me; it's called 'Crobar'.

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    1. Oh, her blog is great! I will spend my Sunday morning perusing it! Thank you!! I love that soap name.

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  10. A gentleman only needs a 2lb bar of Carbolic affixed to a stout "reaching stick" to maintain sanitary. That, and a good and draughty bathroom to fight mildew-of-the-crevices. And a chap to wind up the gramophone while he bathes. And a chap to serve the port and a little bathing-Stilton. Nothing fancy.

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    1. Mmm, bathing-Stiliton. I think I'll just spread that on crackers. And perhaps less Stilton and more yoga classes would enable said gentleman to dispose of "reaching stick." Just sayin'! HAHAHA!

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  11. Wow.. they are really great! Like you, I always assumed it would be difficult. Will be on the internet researching now. What's the problem with lye?

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    1. It's really not a problem. You just have to be very careful with it because it's so caustic. If you wear gloves and safety goggles and are careful not to splash it around, it's fine. I had no problems. And if you have kids/pets, it would be smart to make sure they can't get into the lye crystals. I also learned you add lye to water, not water to lye. I think adding water to lye makes it all more bubbly and exciting or something!

      I figure if you can handle drain cleaner, you can handle lye!

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  12. Your soap looks (and sounds) wonderful. But does it taste as good as your soup?

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    1. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know when I do! LOL. I am very near-sighted (I wear contacts) and pretty much blind in the shower, so it's entirely possible I'll accidentally ingest some soap at some point...

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!