Handcrafting Melt and Pour Soap: Milk and Honey Soap

June 29, 2016August 21, 2016 Sarah

Handcrafting Melt and Pour Soap is an easy way to learn soap making, without having to invest into a lot of gear, or commit a lot of time. The Milk and Honey Soap recipe is a wonderful gift, and stores well. It is a natural, warm honey color. You can use clear or white colored soap base (I used clear).

Milk and Honey Soap

Needed:

1 pound melt and pour soap base
½ cup olive oil
½ cup purified water
½ cup dry milk
½ cup raw honey
1 Tbsp vanilla essential oil

To Do:

Cut the soap into small pieces. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer, in a pot. Place the soap into a heat safe glass bowl (such as Pyrex), and let it gently melt, stirring with a silicone spatula as needed.

Meanwhile, mix the olive oil, water, dry milk, honey, and vanilla essential oil in a bowl, until smooth.

Once the soap is melted, take off the heat, wipe the outside of the bowl off. Add in the mix to the melted soap, till mixed in, then gently pour into molds. I prefer a ladle to do this. For ease in moving, have your molds on a rimmed baking sheet.

Let the soap cool and set up, over night for best results. Don’t remove the soap from the molds until you are ready to bag it up. Glycerine soaps like to ‘sweat’ if exposed to air. It doesn’t affect the soap, but isn’t as attractive. I love the soap bags you can find on Amazon, however, if you are not feeling fancy, a snack bag zip top bag also works.

Using my favorite molds, I made 16 bars.

PS: To clean up, just fill your bowl with hot water, and let it wash itself 😉

crafts · DIY · Homesteading · Soap Making · Urban Homesteading

Handcrafting Melt and Pour Soap

June 24, 2016March 31, 2017 neverfreefarm

Too many years ago I did a lot of soap making. I was a lot younger then, and so many new books on soap making were coming out then (OK, I’ll date myself…it’s the year 1998).

I was really into it – I taught soap making classes through the school district, sold at the farmer’s market on the Island I lived on…all while I made time to macrame hemp twine necklaces weekly. (Ouch. Now I am really dating myself….) Even had a great article about my soap, posing in my sage garden, in the local paper.

Back then, I made all of my soap from hand. No cheating with bases. But then…it was a different time. There were only a handful of companies, all mail order catalogs. You couldn’t shop for obscure craft items yet as you can now. So yes, I am perfectly capable of making castile soap, tallow based soap (it’s amazing, especially when you render the tallow yourself), and coconut soap (it lathers in salt water), but at this point in my life? I just don’t have enough time, or really…wanting to deal with lye/water/fat and waiting for it to cure, then grating it, then french milling it into bars. It isn’t hard, but I have to be kid free (lye is very dangerous to work with), so the bases make it a snap.

Instead, I just start with an organic base, like the one from Our Earth’s Secrets. It is easy to melt, easy to pour, and easy to customize with add-ins. There are other brands out there, just be sure to read the ingredient list to avoid things you might not want on you! I prefer to use these bases, however, in a pinch? You can use plain glycerine soap, sold in bars, at the local store. It isn’t quite as nice, but still works fine. Look in the bar soap section, usually on the bottom row.

I came across these silicone molds on Amazon, by Baking Fun, which are the perfect size for a hand bar. They mold “100% Hand Made” on the top. And at $12.99-13.99 for 24, yes 24, of the molds, they beat the price point of nearly all soap molds. Silicone molds work the best of all soap molds (well, OK, for me they do!). They pop out easily, the details can be great, and unlike plastic molds, they don’t crack, or you end up with finger nail gouges in them.

They are not always affordable, but I’ve found buy a number of plain ones, and a few fancy ones:

Once you have soap base and molds, you just need to think what to do with it. Some bases are clear, others are opaque white. Do you want to color it? Scent it? Add in scrubbing agents? Cleanup is easy after. After all, it is soap!

I find the easiest way to melt it is to cut it up into small pieces. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer, in a pot. Place the soap into a heat safe glass bowl (such as Pyrex), and let it gently melt, stirring with a silicone spatula as needed. Once melted, add in any scent (essential oils work great, depending on what you like, 1 pound soap may need 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon), dyes, or other ingredients, till mixed in, then gently pour into molds. I prefer a ladle to do this. For ease in moving, have your molds on a rimmed baking sheet. Let the soap cool and set up, walk away over night for best results. Don’t remove the soap from the molds until you are ready to bag it up. Glycerine soaps like to ‘sweat’ if exposed to air. It doesn’t affect the soap, but isn’t as attractive. I love the soap bags you can find on Amazon, however, if you are not feeling fancy, a snack bag zip top bag also works.

Seal tightly, and enjoy for many months! For best results, tuck your soaps into an opaque storage box, and keep in a cool and dry area.

I will be posting recipes for melt and pour soap in the coming weeks, so be sure to check them out.

Crafting · crafts · DIY · Sewing

Learning To Sew Kits For Children

January 6, 2016August 21, 2016 Sarah

Anytime I have a child in my life who wants to learn to sew, I am all for it. The story behind the why?

When I was a child, we had an old Singer treadle machine and a decrepit Brother machine. Neither of which I had any clue how to use. My Mom wasn’t exactly talented in the fiber crafts. But she could sew a button on fine, throw patches on, and darn a sock. She taught me how to hand sew, and later on I got lucky and was forced into taking Home Ec in Junior High (I just gave away my age in saying I took that…..). Turned out I was a natural with sewing. It came to me relatively easy. But the key was I learned hand first, then later on machines. So with kids, encouraging hand sewing is vital.

Learning To Sew Kits For Children? Yes! Sometimes a kit can be just the thing 🙂

Walker has really expressed a huge interest in learning to sew this year, and while I had taught him some basics using felt sheets, yarn and yarn needles, these kits are just so much easier (and fun). And they get to make 3 stuffed toys as well!

The Orb Factory Sew Softies Woodland Kit

The proof that we finished it and didn’t cause me to rip my hair out 😉 Walker is 5.5, so he needed my help still, but an older child of 7 and up should be able to do nearly all by themselves.

And the The Orb Factory Sew Softies Sea Creatures Kit is our next project.

My friend’s daughter just turned 9, and I saw this kit – Creativity for Kids Fleece Fashions Scarf, Gloves & Headband Making Kit – and knew it was a good choice. Heck, I would have had a lot of fun when I was a kid with this one. (Oh heck, I’d have fun now….)

Crafting · crafts · DIY · Homesteading · Sewing · Urban Homesteading

DIY Wool Felt Crowns

October 5, 2015March 16, 2018 Sarah

DIY Wool Felt Crowns, a project you can make simple, or be elaborate with. I chose to make it with two colors, one a felted color, the other a solid. While I used a sewing machine, this can be sewed by hand if you have the patience. It would be pretty as well top stitched with embroidery floss.

See Momtastic’s post on Birthday Crowns post for a printable pattern. I printed out two copies of the pattern to make cutting out faster. You will need to tape the pattern together, but easy enough. Using two 8″ x 12″ sheets of wool felt I cut out 4 pieces total (2 of each color). The pattern is designed to be put on a fold, but since my wool was smaller, you work around it! As well, due to my boys having ample heads I extended the lowest part of the pattern and just cut to the end of the fabric. If your child has a smaller head…..follow the pattern 😉

After cutting out, pin each set together (there is no wrong side with felt) and sew the middle together with a ¼” seam. Flatten the seam with your fingers (don’t use an iron though on wool).

Pin the 2 assembled pieces together, making sure the center seams match up and are flat inside. Sew together, around the outside, using a ¼” seam. You can use a standard seam or a zigzag. Felt does not ravel, so need not be finished. If you are feeling crafty, you can use pinking shears after, as I did. If you’ve never used pinking shears, practice on a sample of fabric first.

After it is finished, it is time to add Velcro® or similar as a closure to the back. Fit it on the child’s head, mark where, and sew it on. Use a softer Velcro, such as the baby style, so it doesn’t irate their skin. Do not use off brand, it is never as nice. You only need a 1″ to 2″ piece, although you can add more, so it is more adjustable.

It is actually a very easy project, and great for sewing beginners. Felt is forgiving and easy to work with. And honestly, kids won’t notice if you do have any mistakes 😉

And then….onto the fun part. Decorating! You can add more felt, do needle felting, embroider, add-on buttons, sparkles, jewels, whatever you decide.

Crafting · crafts · DIY · Gardening

Building a Gnome Garden

April 15, 2015August 21, 2016 Sarah

Every garden needs a garden or fairy grove – tucked into a corner, or maybe in the middle of everything.

This one is Walker’s lil’ garden:

It has 4 “ponds” with paths between them, with features:

Walker saw a fairy garden kit and asked for it – it came with a tiny metal fence to go around a tree, with an arbor & bird bath (Gnome Garden Starter Accessory Kit).

A little DIY project made with wooden finds at our local hardware store:

Using poster tack, you can attach the little wooden items to large corks. This allows easy painting. Here I used two wooden milk jugs.

Painted gold, and then glued on top are large shooter marbles.

This project is making tiny fences and or doors with wooden craft sticks (tongue depressors).

You can also make windows easily enough:

Another example of how to make doors, this one is a little more stylish (thanks to my husband!)

Fence sections can be made with halved sticks and the smaller coffee stirrer size wooden sticks. Make as many as you need!

Tucking in a small gnome garden is easy – just find a spot under a tree, and start decorating.

A path of aquarium rock, a few well placed pieces and if you love your birds n’ bees, have it end at a “lake” (a saucer with baubles and rocks, with water).

Another project is Kirk loves to paint miniatures so when I find gnomes that are plain…well, I let him have fun.