Inspired

I'm not a good writer. Most of you can already tell this by the lack of posts on this blog. I mean, it's been about 6 months since I posted last! Today, however, I was inspired to write. I wrote a letter to the editor of Women's Health Magazine.

Why?

Because of this:

This is an article that was published in the July/August issue of their magazine. After reading this I was completely horrified! Detergents are better than natural ingredients?? Bar soaps are drying?? Sodium Hydroxide is a *bad* thing?? Here's my response:

Dear Beauty Editor:

A friend recently emailed me a copy of the enclosed article from page 50 of the July/August issue and I was completely appalled by these horrifying claims!

I began formulating my own soap 7 years ago due to the synthetic detergents in most commercial soaps. Not only are these detergents drying, but most soap companies remove the glycerin (a natural moisturizing byproduct of the soapmaking process) from their soap and sell it for use in lotions which are more profitable. Sodium Hydroxide is not a detergent, but a chemical used to turn moisturizing oils, such as olive and coconut, into soap. Without an alkali such as sodium hydroxide it is not possible to make soap. It even explains this in the very definition of the word “soap” in the dictionary.

To address her statement that bar soaps are more drying than liquid because they are made with the chemical sodium hydroxide, I just want to say that liquid soap is also made with a chemical. It’s called potassium hydroxide. Neither ingredient causes dryness.

The second thing that shocks me is that she puts down sodium hydroxide but recommends a product that uses that very ingredient. Kiss My Face Olive Oil soap has “sodium olivate” right in the ingredient list. Sodium olivate is the INCI name for olive oil that has been saponified using sodium hydroxide. There are two ways that soapmakers are allowed to list their ingredients. One is by listing what goes into it: olive oil, sodium hydroxide, etc. The other is to list what the result is: sodium olivate. Just because sodium hydroxide isn’t listed, doesn’t mean it was not used.

Please, please, properly educate your readers. As the owner of a bath and body company it simply breaks my heart to read such false information.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I understand that you may think my view is biased so please look this information up for yourself. I would love to hear your opinions once you do.

Sincerely,

 

 

I can only hope that she'll take the time to look into this herself. Even if she doesn't write anything stating that this article was incorrect, at least she'll be informed for the future.

DIY Soap Mold Dividers?

I received some new molds as a birthday gift and I've been wanting to get some dividers for them. Since nobody sells dividers the size that I need I'll have to have them custom made which I imagine will be pricey. So what does any crafter on a budget do? Try to make them myself!

I've been looking for a good material to use and couldn't find anything to my liking. While browsing at Lowe's the other day my husband came across this No Parking sign. I would never have thought to use this! Perfect thin plastic material. Easy to cut, yet sturdy enough to hold it's shape. The best part...only $5! So I bought it and decided to give it a try.

First i measured my mold and drew lines where I would need to cut. I cut the strips with a good, sharp pair of scissors.

After cutting the strips I marked where the strips would interlock. Here I had to cut halfway and make the slits wide enough so the other strip would fit smoothly.

Then I put them all together to see if they fit. As you can see, some spots needed some more trimming.

After I finally got them pieced together properly I made sure they fit in my mold, remembering to allow some space for my mold liner. Looking good!

Now for the real test. Do they actually work? I whipped up a batch of soap to test them out. They fit in smoothly and everything looked good. I decided to do a basic CP batch instead of CPOP. That way if something went wrong I would know if it was the dividers themselves or if the oven affected them.

Here's where I find out if they really worked. Unmolding day! Most bars came out smoothly. 2 of them stuck in one little spot but aside from that I had nice clean lines. What I feared would happen though, did happen. Some of the lettering from the sign transferred onto the soap:( If it wasn't for this it would have been a success.

Does anyone know where to get this type of plastic material that wouldn't have any writing on it?

A Year of Chocolate

I love to bake. I love chocolate. When I saw the year of chocolate desserts in this month's issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray, I didn't even have to think twice about making them.

January's recipe is One-Bowl Mocha Cake. The recipe can be found here. I did make a few slight modifications to the recipe. I was trying to use what I had on hand instead of running out to the store and I didn't have any unsalted butter. Instead I used salted butter and eliminated the salt from the recipe. The only coffee I had in the house was vanilla biscotti flavored. I thought I had mini semisweet chocolate chips but it turned out I used them for something else recently and I forgot. My husband just so happened to be going to the store for something so I asked him to grab some. If I get too detailed with him he just tells me to get it myself so I asked for chocolate chips and figured I'd work with whatever he got. He brought home regular sized milk chocolate chips.

I don't know how different it would have tasted if I followed the recipe exactly but it turned out delicious! It's kind of like a big fudgy brownie. I had some yesterday right after it came out of the oven and another piece this morning. I honestly can't decide if I like it better warm or cool. I'll have to warm up another piece later to try to figure it out:)

Next month's recipe: Cran-Raspberry Truffles. Can't wait!

DIY Dry Erase Board

Here's a cute idea for your office, kitchen, craft room, etc. I made this with supplies I already had around the house.

You'll need:

Picture frame (I used an 8x10)
Scrapbook paper cut to fit your frame
Ribbon
Thumbtacks
Paint (optional)

If you're going to paint your frame do that first. I chose to paint mine a light green to go with the paper I chose. Allow the paint to dry. Cut the ribbon to the size you need for hanging and holding a marker. Attach to the back of the frame with thumbtacks. Insert scrapbook paper. The glass works as a dry erase board. Now you have a cute memo board!

New Year's Resolutions

I can't believe 2012 is almost over! Here are a few resolutions I came up with for 2013:

1) Blog more. Has it really been 8 months since my last post??

2) Eat healthier & exercise more.

3) Save more, spend less.

4) Double my business income.

Anyone else want to share theirs?

Cupcake Evolution

If you've been following my facebook page, you know that I've been redoing my cupcake soaps. Here's a peek at how the journey's been going.

This is what my cupcakes originally looked like.  They're made with melt and pour soap, piping the icing on when it gets cool enough to keep its shape.

Since that method is very time consuming I decided to look into easier methods.  This one was great.  Super easy to work with and I could get about 10 done in the time it took me to do 1 with the other method.  The downside?  The icing doesn't harden very well.  It uses foaming bath whip as the frosting so it doesn't get as hard as melt and pour soap.  I'm afraid these will get beat up during shipping but aren't they pretty?

The next method was using melt and pour soap combined with foaming bath whip.  These dried much harder.  It wasn't quite as easy to work with though.  The consistency was like that of Silly String which made it a bit harder to pipe onto the soaps, but still a lot easier than my original method. (sorry for the bad picture)

Then I decided to try cold process soap cupcakes.  These are made from scratch like my bar soaps.  It took a few attempts to figure out how to do it properly.  I learned that I can't use the oven method with my silicone molds or it gives them a very ugly texture.  I also learned that I have to pour the bases at a very thin trace and then I need to have patience to allow the "icing" to set up a bit before piping onto the bases.  This one turned out nice but I didn't wait quite long enough and couldn't get much height with the icing.

Here's another cold process soap cupcake.  This time I walked away for 15 minutes and when I came back the soap was perfect to work with.  I'm loving these but the bad thing is that I can't make one at a time like I could with the melt and pour soaps.  These need to be done in batches so I can't customize them unless someone wants a whole batch.

I think I'm going to sell both the cold process soap cupcakes and the melt and pour/foaming bath whip cupcakes.  That way I can make the cold process ones in batches but still have the others for the option of customizing.

There's one more method that I haven't tried.  It involves using melt and pour soap along with liquid soap.  I'll post an update if I decide to give that one a try.

Finished Projects

Here's a peek at some of the projects I completed lately.  I've been in the mood to do a lot of knitting and crocheting.  Here's the finished scarf that I was knitting before:

And a cute crocheted baby blanket.  I'm loving these colors.

I have a lot more in the works.  I'll keep you posted when they're finished!

Prize #6: $15 Gift Certificate to Add Some Stitches

Today's prize is a $15 gift certificate from Megan at Add Some Stitches!

This gift certificate can be used towards any of the wonderful items in her Etsy shop.  That includes crochet hats, baskets, headbands and more!

***Rules for entering***
You MUST "like" Megan's Facebook page if you don't already:
www.facebook.com/addsomestitches
and post a comment here telling me that you "liked" it. *You will not be entered unless you do BOTH of these things.* Be sure to leave an email so I have a way to get in touch with you if you win!

Be sure to check out my facebook page for previous prizes, and to stay posted when new ones are listed:
http://facebook.com/AngiesSudsNSuch

Prize #5: Coffee Cozy by Eden's Aprons and Gifts

TGIF!  Today's prize is a coffee cozy from Shyanna of Eden's Aprons and Gifts:

Fleece lined coffee cozy to keep your hands cool and your coffee warm!  (This one is for US residents only)

***Rules for entering***
You MUST "like" Shyanna's Facebook page if you don't already:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edens-Aprons-Gifts/116943978367572
and post a comment here telling me that you "liked" it. *You will not be entered unless you do BOTH of these things.* Be sure to leave an email so I have a way to get in touch with you if you win!

Be sure to check out my facebook page for previous prizes, and to stay posted when new ones are listed:
http://facebook.com/AngiesSudsNSuch

Prize #4: Key To My Heart Charm Necklace by Something Monumental

Prize #4!  This lovely "Key To My Heart" charm necklace by Mandy at Something Monumental.

This necklace features a silver key charm, a light purple crystal bead, and a dark metal miniature heart locket. The locket opens and closes. Chain is silver-tone and 18 inches (45.75 cm) long.

***Rules for entering***
You MUST "like" Mandy's Facebook page if you don't already: https://www.facebook.com/somethingmonumental
and post a comment here telling me that you "liked" it. *You will not be entered unless you do BOTH of these things.* Be sure to leave an email so I have a way to get in touch with you if you win!

For an extra entry, follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MandyCrandell
and post here letting me know.

More prizes coming throughout the week! Be sure to follow my facebook page if you don't already so you can stay updated on when they're posted:
http://facebook.com/AngiesSudsNSuch