What soapy thing have you done today?

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I totally embraced using the soapee.com lye calculator. I want to use up what laurel berry fruit oil I ha left from batch I made over the weekend and I wanted it to be a dual lye recipe so with minimal fiddling I achieved my goals!
 
Mixed Lye with vinegar for the first time, to make shampoo bar tomorrow - it got *amazingly* hot. Have to think about what to scent it with since I don't know if vinegar smell will be in the final bar.
Made embeds for bath bombs
Did a cost sheet for bath bombs
Made labels.
Realized I need to organize my work space better so I can make some more soap.
Hung out with my daughter and granddaughter .... in the soap kitchen.
Quite a soapy day!
 
Driving along on my way to Flagstaff today, I was planning tonight's soaping session, when I realized I left my one-pound crafter's choice mold (with soap in it) in the oven at the cottage where I stayed while visiting my son this past week. I left ran it all through my mind, and sure enough, I was absolutely positive I left it in the oven (pilot light on, but oven itself off.) So I called the owner and told him, asking if he knew if the housekeeping staff had looked in the oven and found anything. He walked to the unit while we were on the phone, and, yep, it was still there. He is saving it for me in the office, and my son will pick it up for me. At least I don't have to worry about someone turning on the oven and cooking soap unexpectedly.

So I stopped at Walmart on my way here and bought a wooden box and some Freezer Paper (I now own 3 boxes of F.P.) to use for making soap tonight. I am waiting now for the oils to cool down a bit before adding the FO and then the lye, etc.
 
Special Baby Shower Soaps

I just finished up my order of 1/2 bar soaps for a Baby Shower gift. They say on the label, "From Meredith's Shower to Yours". I made them out of Goat Milk and scented them lightly with Lily of the Valley. I thing they turned out cute.

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Last night I made some Easter Egg soaps, some daisy soaps, a sports car soap and part of a frog soap (need to add more soap batter to this one to finish off the frog.) I found the Easter Eggs & the little daisies silicone molds in the cake decorating section of one of the Flagstaff Walmarts & thought it would be fun to try my hand at decorative soap design with this new mold. I used a syringe with a wide bore needle (designed for infusing food with flavoring/liquids) to pointedly direct the soap batter in specific design areas. It was not my first time using it for soap; I used it on my last Black Background soaps I made the night I bought it.

The Easter Egg soap project was far more time consuming than I planned for, but not unexpected. Awaiting the results. I think I will leave these in the molds longer as I travel the next few days.
 
Today I am try to NOT make soap. I have too many other things going on (why is March so busy?), and a new challenge will be posted soon, so I really should wait to make more soap..... but I could do a plain batch.....
 
I made the lye-heavy Castille recipe @Steve85569 pointed me to. It took me roughly an hour and a half total, with about 45 minutes on and off hand stirred (with a whisk). It was also my first adventure into colorants, using activated charcoal and Tumeric from my kitchen. No fragrance was added, as a beginner I was afraid it might mess with the trace.

It may not be pretty, but I enjoyed the process.. And at the end of the day (year?) it will still be soap!

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Got my order in of a container of lye, a sample pack of natural colorants, and a nice (but small) rectangular wooden mold.
I haven't made soap in over a year and my birthday was last week, so my sister gave me a $50 amazon gift card. I think I spent it wisely haha.
I'm super excited to get back into all things soapy!
 
I 'styled' and photographed my March challenge entry soap. Also bought the materials to expand and improve my curing rack. I'm quite excited about expanding my curing rack. Room for more soap!
 
About 2 months ago I finally bit the bullet and ordered my first clear Resin soap mold. I had them make it to my special size of 20.25" x 3.5" x 3.5". This I was hoping would get me 18 bars of soap 1-1/8" thick as that is what my wire cutter is set to. I was hoping to then have less waste then using my wood mold with freezer paper liner which is hard to get into the mold perfectly. Well I have been so happy with the way it has turned out. I get 18 perfect bars of soap and no leftover small pieces of soap, and it is so easy to clean and put back together. So a couple of days ago I bit another bullet and ordered two more of the same size on Easy. I can't wait until they arrive as this will give me three new molds and should be enough to keep me going for a while. I will still keep my wood molds in case of a large order or if I start getting behind. I know these molds are not cheap but in the long run will pay off as I was going through a lot of freezer paper and with no wasted soap to throw away or sell cheap just to get rid of them.
 
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