holiday Archives - Page 3 of 3

A big thank you for a great shout out from Alpactate2008 – a rancher in Texas with over 100 acres of land and “six alpacas and two guard llamas right now to enjoy, plus our lab mix dog, April.”

They said:

When not cleaning pastures or painting chicken coops, I have been looking into the idea of making my own soaps and lotions. It is not difficult and you eliminate the preservatives and extra ingredients that can be harmful. I discovered a wonderful website called Bramble Berry. I have the link in the left hand column. They have instructions, online ”classes” and tutorials, products to make the soaps (remember soap on a rope? they have the rope; you make the soap), sugar scrubs, bath fizzies, candles, makeup, and more, plus soap molds as well as packaging materials and labels, and gift sets (you make the product, they provide most of the ingredients and all gift packaging). Sign up for the newsletter and read the blog, order something to get started. Be sure to find the Soap Making Forum for “getting started” info and ongoing conversations. Note that the bar soaps must “cure” before using, like 4 weeks or longer, so get started now to give a try to a new hobby. You can also make some money by marketing them at the local farmers market or holiday festivals. I am so excited to find them because they are the first I found with EVERYTHING I need to get started in one place. I am making up a list of supplies today and ordering so I can have holiday hostess gifts, as well as family and friends Christmas gifts, ready by Christmas.

Of course, we think our ultra cool $97.99 Gift Set Ensembleis the perfect way to make your own goodies for family and friends this holiday season. It makes a full 10 yummy handmade gifts.

President’s Day was originally designed to celebrate President Washington’s birthday. Now it’s common to include President Lincoln, also born in February and all the presidents in this federal holiday. To celebrate the day, I made soap (no surprise there).

This soap is an easy three layer loaf soap, with some sparkles thrown in for fun.

Ingredients:

White Melt and Pour
Clear Melt and Pour
Non-Bleeding Red Liquid Color
Non-Bleeding Blue Liquid Color
Iridescent Glitter

For this project, I used the new Bulk Economy base (150 pounds for $180). With its extra glycerin, the layers stick together easily.

Before starting the layers, make the sparkle corridors by adding a dense amount of sparkle (1 heaping teaspoon to 8 ounces of clear soap) to melted clear soap. Keep stirring until the glitter suspends in the soap. The soap will be thick and soupy and almost ready to set up before the glitter will evenly suspend. Pour into a mold long enough to span the entire length of your loaf.

The first layer is made with clear soap and non-bleeding red. It’s important to use clear soap to get a true red. If you use white soap, the color will end up pink. Hint: if you use a yellowing fragrance (such as orange essential oil), your red color may end up orange. Choose your fragrance wisely.

Pour the first layer. Allow it to harden with a thick skin. Depending on how hot you poured the soap, this may take 5 to 15 minutes. While you’re waiting, cut the glitter soap into long strips.

Spritz rubbing alcohol onto the first layer to help layer adhesion. Pour the second layer of white soap. Because you will be embedding the glitter strips in the soap, make sure that the soap is a cool temperature. If it is too hot, the surrounding soap will melt the glitter strips giving a different effect than wanted. Once the white layer is poured, add the glitter strips to the soap. Make sure that you are fragrancing each layer. I normally forget to fragrance at least one layer.

Wait for this layer to harden with a thick skin, enough to sustain another layer of soap. Prepare the blue soap. To ensure crisp, clean lines, make sure that your blue color is a non-bleeding color. Spritz the white soap with isopropyl alchol. Pour the blue layer.

Wait for the entire soap to harden fully. Cut with a sharp knife or a crinkle cutter. Oooh, ahhh and celebrate President’s Day with your patriotic soap.

Be Original for the Holidays

President’s Day Soap