I wanted to show off the finished soap. I covered the bar with a brown paper bag and a cute red checked ribbon. Didn't they turn out well?

Hot Process Handmade Gingerbread Soap From Scratch

It was a cold and damp day, so I thought it would be a great day to make more soap. I'm running low on basic soap, but I also need some holiday soap....so I'm made Gingerbread Soap!
In the above picture you can see the hard oils melting. I have coconut, palm kernel, shea butter, and palm oil. Off to the side (which you can't see), I have my carefully measured lye/water solution and my soft oils. My soft oils are olive, rice bran, and castor.
While the oils are melting, I got my mold ready to go. I put oats on the bottom of the mold. This will actually be the top of the soap.
I also added ground oats and cocoa powder. The oats are great for your skin and the cocoa is for coloring the soap.
This is my favorite part...right after I poured the lye/water mix into the melted oils. In the above picture I just turned on the stick blender.
This is what it looks like one second after blending.
Here you can see a light trace. If I were making cold process soap, I would stop at this point, separate the mixture and add coloring. Since I'm hot processing, and I'm using cocoa for color, I'm skipping this step.
This is what it looked like after it came to a medium trace and I added the oats and cocoa.
Now the soap is "cooking". You can see the outside of the pot starting to gel.
About 20 min. later. It cooks from the outside in, and when the white spot in the middle is tiny, or disappears, it's finished!
This is a crummy picture, but this picture was taken after the soap had cooled to 170 degrees and I added the Gingerbread oils to the soap.
I added oats to the top (bottom of soap), but most of it fell off after taking it out of the mold. Hot process soap is ready to use as soon as it's finished with the "cook". It takes several hours for the soap to cool.
All set to go! See the oats? This was the bottom of the mold.
All cut and ready to go! I like to let my soap sit for a week or so before using. You don't have to, but the soap will last a lot longer if you do.

Now you know what it takes to makes soap!

New Body Butters!

I'm adding new body butters to my shop! The top on is Winter Grapefruit. It should be in my shop tomorrow. The one below is Pearberry....I love it! Fresh, fruity, and oh so soft!

Trunk Show Trial

My first trunk show is less than two weeks away and I think I finally have the table the way I want it. Above is a close up picture of one section of my "soap box". On the left are Gingerbread Men Soaps, and the right are my Denture soaps. These were added for a little "fun".
I have two of these candles on my table. I bought them a few years ago and they are battery operated. I thought they would add a nice "spa" touch to the table. *reminder....buy extra batteries!
Here is the middle of the table...you can see the candle "lit". My soap box holds so much soap (about 4 to 5 bars deep) that I have lots of room for other products on the table.
This is the left side of the table. I've already moved a few things around since taking this. I guess the "tweaking" is never really finished!
Now I have to pack everything up, and iron the tablecloth...whew!

Have You Thought Of Christmas Yet?

If not, you should! I usually start purchasing right after the 4th of July. I dislike crowds, and if I start early, I don't have to deal with grumpy crowds.
I put three of my favorite scents together, along with a soap dish....makes a wonderful gift!
Click on the soaps to purchase....easy peasy!

Christmas In June! Cold Process Soap

I have a hard time picking a favorite scent, but I think it may be Gingerbread! I could use it all year!
They came out quite yellow, although I didn't add any color. I'm hoping they cure to a nice brown!