I got the cutest (squealing, jumping, and clapping) necklace from a kind-hearted SoapQueen reader. I love it soooooo much! In fact, I’m wearing it right now. It was made just for me and I feel very special. It also came in its own cute, adorable bag handmade bag. Thank YOU to Holly P. from Lotion Bar Cafe for sending me such a thoughtful gift. **You are a doll!** (Side note: Her Baby Booty Balm has the cutest label on it. Swoon!)
And, though it might be hard to tell, the necklace is sitting on top of a bar of cold process soap. Guess what it is? It’s next Thursday’s blog tutorial! I can’t wait to share it with you but you’ll need to wait another week because tomorrow is a new episode of SoapQueen.TV. We’ve been in post-production editing for a few months on a nature-inspired melt and pour episode and can’t wait to share it with you tomorrow.
Finally, in industry related news, About.com Skincare is doing their Reader’s Choice Awards. Some of the categories include ‘Best Budget Lotion’ and ‘Best Indie Line’. I’m pretty sure I know a lot of indie beauty lines that would be great for this award. So go, speak up for your favorite brand (even if it is your own brand)! Click here to be taken to the About.com site and official ballot.
They do say ‘handmade’ don’t they? Customized is best! I’m wearing it right now …
That’s a lovely gift. I love the stamps and how they say “handmade” so beautifully. What a treasure!
Hi Anvardo,
Thank you for being a reader. I’m so delighted you’re finding value in the tutorials I’ve cooked up. =)
The answer to this is fairly complex but the main problem facing home soapers in manufacturing melt and pour is the recipe. Melt and pour is a complex blend of ingredients that are perfectly balanced to form an easily melting soap (in addition to sharing all the regular properties of soap like good lather, cleaning ability etc…). Recipes for melt and pour are generally a closely guarded secret and I know that I’ve never seen one that actually works very well.
To some extent, all soap can me melted with enough water and heat but to get the melt and pour to really melt down smoothly, other ingredients are needed. This brings me to the second problem with manufacturing melt and pour at home: scarcity of ingredients. If you could get a melt and pour recipe, you would need to be able to make it. Many of the ingredients listed in melt and pour recipes are not easily sourced or attainable for small soapers. Often the raw materials come in drums of 440 pounds or more, with minimums running much higher than that.
Finally, the processing equipment needed to make melt and pour correctly is expensive and unwieldy. The barriers to making melt and pour soap from scratch are difficult to overcome. You can make clear soap by using the book ‘Making Transparent Soap’ by Catherine Failor and that will soften and melt down to some extent but not as smoothly as commercial melt and pour. I have made soap from her recipes and it does melt down again. It’s just not quite as smooth as the melt and pour bases available on the market today. Also, it uses 100 proof alcohol which is a bit of a fire hazard. You can check out the book here and see if it’s something you’re interesting: https://www.brambleberry.com/Ma…
If you are looking for an easy-to-melt product, your best option is still the pre-made melt and pour.
Let me know if you have any other questions =)
It totally was. YOU are a lifesaver. Updating the post right now …
Hi Anne Marie. I absolutely love your tutorials – they have really taught me a lot of things! I have a question though: Is it possible to make soap myself that I can later use as Melt & Pour? I know how to make rebatch CP, but the texture is so different fram M&P.
How adorable is that??? Gotta love pregnancy brain…
Keep guessing. It’s a newish fragrance but not that new. But that soap color
is definitely Mangosteen appropriate =)
It depends if it was a wooden stamp that you peeled the back off of or just
one of the cool stampy things that doesn’t have a mount. Either way, you can
use again but you’ll need to re-mount if you want to use it for actual
rubber stamping (as opposed to soaping) =)
Really? Love that idea! It’s probably so I can learn everything I need to
about nurturing a new little life. There is a lot to read, theories to sort
through and items to compare (do we need teething pops or teething napkins
or teething rings? Or all three? Or none?! Augh!) =)
Aww, Anne Marie, moms grow new brain cells during pregnancy! It would be an excellent time to learn a new subject or two!
By the way, that necklace is simply gorgeous!
Hi:) I have a question but it doesn’t have to do with the lovely necklace.
When using the rubber stamp method with M&P can you re-use the stamp after?
Thank you!
I think the soap is the new Mangosteen Fragrance?
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That is such a darling necklace and that is the perfect gift for our
Queen! What a labor of love!
I get words mixed up and forget to lock the door, turn off lights etc… My
husband is being very patient considering.
Someone told me it was like having your heart taken out of your chest, given
legs and let to run around. That sounded like a great description to me ….
They’re super easy actually. Did you get our newsletter last month? It had a
gorgeous project with them …
The necklace is adorable…almost as adorable as you are! =)
PS – Working on the CP projects next!
I have done this one – which is all the blog projects from when the blog
started through July 2010:
https://www.brambleberry.com/E-…
P4833.aspx And it’s available for easy quick download. And, you’ll be
delighted to know that me and the fabulous team at BB are working on
re-organizing the blog in 2011 to make it much more user friendly (think
tabs for types of project etc…) =)
Awesome 🙂 I would love to see video that helps more that photos 🙂 I want to try 3d molds from you but was not sure if they were too difficult to try 🙂
The funny thing is that I saved their information until I wrote the card.
Then I swore I would NEVER forget their names because I love the necklace so
much, recycled the card (I’m on an organizing habit for 2011) and then
voila! Mush brain. Sigh … =)
Yes, yes, I have. You’ll have to ignore the bad photography. That was before
I got a decent camera and a clue. =)
All of the link to the different tutorials and projects are at the bottom of
this blog post here:
http://soap-queen.blogspot.com…
Please let me know if you have any other questions and yes, I will be
covering 3-D molds in an upcoming episode of SoapQueen.TV too. That will
definitely be helpful because good pictures or (in this case!) not, video is
always better =)
Is it from Holly Port of Lotion Bar Cafe? She sent me a lovely Soapylove pendant set VERY similar to yours! Maybe it’s from someone else, but maybe not! 🙂
Agree on both counts =)))
No worries; it’s a complicated name in the grand scheme of things! =)
sorry I wrote your name wrong:/ Anne-Marie 🙂
Love stamped jewelry. They are so much fun. 🙂
Well, I like anything that is personalized. 😉
Ann Mare have you ever made a turorial on how to use 3d molds?
That is adorable and looks very much like something from one of those cute Etsy stores. Hope your benefactor steps forward soon to let us know who made such a nice necklace.
I think that we, as reeaders and fans of AM blog, should write a petition that we would like to see AM comprehensive guide book for soapmaking! Everything that I saw here, on BB web and fan age on FB, has been more usefull to me than any soapmaking book available on the market! And I would definitely pay to have it all on one place!
I don’t think it’s just pregnancy brain. I think that once you step over that threshold into motherhood, your entire brain has to juggle it’s priorities and once they settle into place again– it’s nothing like it was before. Your kids are always top of mind and everything else seems so much less….important somehow- but in a good way!
BTW- I LOVE the necklace! Super cute!
Ohhhh sorry Jo I thought you said it WAS a myth… My apologies. 🙂
No Jo, not a myth. I had it too. I lost my purse TWICE, forgot where I put everything ALL THE TIME, lost my phone 3 times, forgot to pay bills… The list goes on and on. Maybe it’s a myth in your personal situation, but it does affect some of us. Even for the first 6 mos my daughter was born, it still affected me.
Myth. Ha! I say… It’s totally true and it gets worse until you get to be in your ninth month, then you just get ready to nest. No need to think too much 😉
I am positively enraptured …
PS – In case anyone is up to date on pregnancy brain studies, yes, I know that supposedly pregnancy brain is a myth but I swear, I totally have it! =)
Not yet … that one is coming. This one is natural colorants for MP but not infusions yet. I’m working on a booklet to go along with the infusions one so that’s a bit slower coming! =)
IS IT THE SOAP QUEEN EPISODE ABOUT NATURAL COLORANTS?!!? AHHHH!!!
You’re right… I’ve been waiting months for it 😡
That is lovely!