Kid-free Weekend and some Soap Porn

This past weekend, for the first time since our son was born, my husband and I had a child-free weekend! Benjamin spent the weekend with my in-laws, working on the farm...

Giving hay to the cows...

Driving tractors...

And indulging in a few s'mores at Myers pumpkin patch! 

While all of the fun was being had at Tunnell Farms, me and my husband enjoyed a lovely date night, filled with trips to antique stores, a stop at the Nutty Java (our new favorite coffee spot!) and dinner at Mad Greek in Bristol! 

I also found some time to knock out two great holiday soaps! 

This first one is called Country Christmas, which is a great blend of wood and pine, orange peel, berries, and snow scents. I colored the soap with a warm green base and swirled the top with some gold mica. Super simple, but I am in love! 

My second new holiday soap is one that I am calling "Christmas Night". The soap is a dark black soap, scented with black currant and topped with some white and gold sugar pearls and some iridescent glitter. 

And now, it's Monday. Husband went back to work and kiddo and I are back at school... But what an amazing weekend! 

Blackberry and Sage soap preview

Today, I cut one of my finest loafs of soap to date! Actually, it started off as a disaster! My purple colorant morphed into pepto-pink, my green faded to cream, and I spilled a few ounces of soap batter all over the counter! (it's always a good idea to keep some vinegar handy for spills like that!) By the time I slopped the soap into the mold, I was so frustrated that I could have tossed the whole thing!

Instead, on a whim, I decided to oven process my soap. Basically, I put my soap in my warm oven (under 200 degrees) for 2 hours, then let it sit undisturbed overnight, forcing the soap to go through the gel phase.

And my results were worth it! My fragrance is strong and stable, my pink colorant has really popped, and the creamy color seems to have recovered some of the list green! I am over-the-moon excited about this soap!

Look for it in my Etsy shop in 4 weeks... But here is a preview to hold you over:

Bergamot Eclipse and Honey Oatmeal

This week, I have been working on two delicious new soaps!

The first is a new soap of my own design. I call it "Bergamot Eclipse."

I started off by creating a half-circle loaf of bergamot soap, colored a rich gray by using powdered activated charcoal, which has a wonderful detoxifying effect on the body! After letting that set for a few days, it was removed and trimmed. Over the top and sides, I poured a lovely bergamot-scented accent soap colored with powdered tumeric, giving the soap a lovely, pale yellow tint!


Before letting the soap completely set, I gave the top a little swirl, which seemed to give the soap a life of its own!



Well, last night, I decided to venture in to very familiar soaping territory... Oatmeal and Honey! Nearly ever soap maker has made their own version of the classic Oatmeal and Honey soap, so I decided it was high time for me to head that way as well!

I started off by using regular old oatmeal (not the quick-cook stuff, the real oatmeal!) and I ground it up into powder using my Magic Bullet. I added the oatmeal to my soap batter once the batter had reached a nice, medium trace, and I added pure honey as well. I did not add any scents or dyes... I tried to keep this batch as natural as possible!
I am so excited about this batch, and I have not even cut it yet!

I added whole oats on top to give it a nice, country feel! And I had enough batter left over to make a 6 ounce teddy bear bar (one of my favorite molds! And a great thrift store find!)

They will be all cured up and ready for purchase at my Etsy shop by mid-September!