Peppermint Soap

Finally, you say. Finally you’ve actually gotten off your butt and made that soap you’ve been talking about. Well guess what. I cheated! Hahaha! I spent a crapload of money buying all the supplies to make cold press soap and still haven’t done it. Instead, I decided to cheat and make melt and pour. In the microwave. The day before I sent them out. Yeah.

I could have sworn I took some nice pictures of the soap on top of all those handknit washcloths I labored over. Then I remembered what a rush I was in. Luckily, I’ve saved a bar of each color for my mom. Overall, it was pretty cheap and easy to do. I already had the scent I wanted (mint), so I just bough chunks of glycerin and green dye. I wanted to experiment a bit, so I used red food coloring on half to see how it would work out. Colorwise it’s good, but I haven’t actually washed with the soap yet.

The melt and pour part was also really easy. I used an old lunch meat container to melt the soap in the microwave and some wooden spoons I bought for my cold press soap. A little dash of coloring and scent while still hot and into the molds they go. The tip I picked up was to have a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol on hand to spray in the molds and on top after the soap has formed that “skin”. It helps to reduce bubbles in the bars for a smooth finish. After I could move the mold, I stuck them in the refrigerator because I was on a deadline. I’m glad I at least got the easy version off my list. Someday…. someday I will actually do the other.

Crap!

If you’re like me and not really into the holidays or you are and have a ton of people to visit, you understand the awesomeness that is holiday leeway. You know, the two day lull between relatives or the three hour plane-ride or the half hour when everyone but you piled into the car to see some distant relative. Those are the hours minutes we cherish. Those are the final crazed minutes of last-minute crafting. I’m using them ALL.

I’m nearly done with one big project and have two left, if you don’t count the IOU I gave my best friend and the present for my step-dad that is STILL in the planning stages. Oh boy. I started soon enough this year- you can’t do any better than September- I just didn’t do enough in time. Most of my gifts were sent the Saturday before Christmas, and trust me, I was the last person in line. No joke, they turned people away the second after I ran my butt in line at the post office. Whew! Christmas may be officially over, but for those of you who are desperately trying to finish like me, I wish you the best of luck. I’ll buy you a round after the holidays.

Washcloths

I feel like I’ve sucked royally with the updating bit of keeping the blog. Looking over the last few posts, it seems so long ago. Okay, I haven’t actually finished a whole lot, but I have been working. And finally, I finished the damn washcloths. I’ve even moved onto the other projects that really need to get done in less than a month. Imagine that.

And here they all are. All three sets. These small things took me forever. The blues are for my dad and step-mom, the citrus for my sister, and the pinks for my grandmother.

 

I did kind of a sucktastic job seaming up the pink circular one, plus I think I should have done another section so it wouldn’t curl up. The ballband turned out nicely, but I couldn’t figure out how to weave in my ends nicely, so the back looks messed up. The star… well, the color scheme looked good in my head. At least they coordinated. Redo them, you say? Hell, no! They’re done. They have CHARACTER. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.