Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

I Made Soap!

Last night I made two batches of soap - bar soap for the bath and bar soap for making laundry soap.  I am so thankful that Crystal had taken the time to write instructions on how to make this soap on her website.  You can find the instructions and recipes here:  http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/makesoap.htm.

I used the recipe for Crystal's Simple Soap and added Eucalyptus Mint scent to invigorate in the shower.  For the laundry bar, I didn't add any scent - I will add the scent when I mix up the laundry soap.  I was very glad that I bought two stick blenders at garage sales this summer to help with the stirring of the soap - it would have taken quite a while by hand!  I poured the bath soap in a plastic soap mold that I bought at JoAnns, a metal square bread tin, and still had a little leftover.  Crystal said that when you look around everything is a potential mold, and I had an airplane shaped cookie cutter on my hutch.  I grabbed that and set it on a plate and filled with the remaining soap.  It will be very cute - I hope it comes out in one piece!

Now I just need to find the patience to wait 3 to 4 weeks for the soap to completely cure before I try it out!  It was fun to make - took my time setting up and getting everything measured out just right.  When the time came to work with the lye, I put on my long sleeved shirt, my goggles and my long yellow gloves.  Just then Rod walked into the kitchen and said I looked so cute, he had to take a picture.  He got the camera, but the batteries were dead.  Darn!  Well, next time we'll take more pictures...

I spent a little time with my 7 year old niece this afternoon.  We went and bought her a skein of blue thick chenille yarn and a large crochet hook so she can work on learning to crochet.  We had a quick lesson on how to make a chain, so she can practice that for awhile before we graduate to a single stitch.  I told her about my grain mill and she wants to help grind flour and bake bread this weekend.  Sounds good to me!

Those soaps look great!

3:14 AM, Friday, October 13, 2006 .. Posted by Anonymous

Soap making is addictive isn't it? I like making my own soap for use in my homemade detergents too!

Carla Lynne Klimuk
http://www.carlalynne.blogspot.com

I have been

3:56 PM, Friday, October 13, 2006 .. Posted by Tinakay

wanting to make saop for a while now. They look great. I think the hardest part would be waiting for them to cure. Lol I am not very patient. I haven't attempted this because I do not have counter tops at the moment and it would be hard. It is hard enough for cooking and baking. I hope they are a good as they look!
Tina Kay

How exciting!

12:47 AM, Saturday, October 14, 2006 .. Posted by Hisirishgem

I don't have enough space yet either. Hopefully after the spring we'll know where we're going and have a bigger kitchen! I was a bit alarmed about the lye, but since you said you did it. I think I'll try it. In the meantime I'll buy some essential oils to get ready.Haha

****The wooden mixers you speak of...what do they look like? Anything to help the mixing process along!

I also left you a respons on the water issue...check it out!

Edited by Hisirishgem on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 4:48 AM

Soap

7:04 AM, Saturday, October 14, 2006 .. Posted by Scooby

Ooooh I have been wanting to try my hand at making soap... let us know how it turns out!

Untitled Comment

7:08 AM, Saturday, October 14, 2006 .. Posted by Scooby

Oh yea, and color me stupid but whats a stick blender?

Nice Soap!

7:04 PM, Monday, January 15, 2007 .. Posted by OklahomaJamie

Congrats on the lovely soap!! Isn't Eucalyptus Mint nice? I'm warning you, it is so addicting, this hobby.

Soon, you'll shed the gloves, goggles and long sleeves though.