SOAP SWAP REPORT

I received the most awesome bars of soap and a bag of natural laundry soap in the latest swap. There was no theme, just a deadline. We swapped out on Sept. 1st. After years of smelling EO's and FO's I must say that this latest swap was full of the most fabulous scents EVER! Thank you ladies for your friendship and continuing to share your creativity year to year :) I can't wait to use everything!!



THANK YOU AMBER

THANK YOU NATALIE

THANK YOU CARRIE

THANK YOU HEIDI

THANK YOU DENISE

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SOAP!

I've been so obsessed with my bees lately I haven't said much about soap. So, here is a picture of one batch. I have many more to come. Trying to use up all the supplies over the summer and then take a soaping break for a while.

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TIME FOR ANOTHER SOAP SWAP

I am very happy to have some of the best soaping friends. Over the years we have managed to stay connected thanks to blogging, Facebook, and email, plus come together for the occasional soap swap. Some of us have met in person and some have yet to do so but I feel fortunate to be linked to such a great group of women. This time around we are swapping a soap of any color, fragrance, packaging, etc... so I am busy making soap, trying to decide which scent and design of soap I will settle on. Can't wait to see what my creative friends come up with and then, of course, to post picture of all the goodies. 

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SOAPMAKING JOURNAL

A couple years ago I posted a page from my soap making journal for others in case anyone keeps track of their recipes and experience. I thought I'd resurrect that post in case others are interested in keeping track of their recipes and experiences with soapmaking without the hassle of drawing up your own journal.

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UNDER THE WILLOW GIFTS

My dear friend Carrie over at Under the Willow Gifts makes the most awesome products that each year or throughout I always need to get my hands on some. I can't blog about what I purchased too much right now as I've ordered these for Christmas gifts and the recipients read this blog but I couldn't contain my excitement so I wanted to say at least this... 

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TROUBLESHOOTING SOAP DISASTER

I have been making soap for several years now and I thought I'd seen or heard of everything in the soap world but yesterday I uncovered a batch of soap and was surprised at what I saw. The soap had pulled away from the edges of the mold and turned almost rock solid. It reminds me of chocolate bark, the kind with the almonds in it. The soap isnt caustic, I can wash with it and it feels soft on my skin but it is hard hard hard. It can't be cut. I attempted to cut with my circle cutter and the soap split and the edges crumbled. Anyone know what happened?

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ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD

Actually, it is soap. I love this iridescent glitter from brambleberry and I am looking forward to buying some of the newbies she is selling. Have you seen the little stars? I have posted the before and after photo in hopes you can see the glitter better. It was added on the second pic. 

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.3

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NATURAL COLORANT FOLLOW UP

Now that I'm back to blogging I will also be back to posting about natural colorants in soapmaking. To start off I wanted to do a follow up on the natural colorants I already covered. I didn't think this was very important but recently I discovered that some soapmakers are actually claiming to have used natural

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GIFT BAGS ARE READY... HOLIDAY ORDERS ALREADY COMING!

The soap pixie is now offering handmade burlap gift bags (made by me of course). The bags contain an aromatherapy soy candle with matching scented soap. I finished up a bulk order of 20 gift bags recently and they all went over very well. The holiday orders are pouring in already and I'm very excited. Lots of bags, soap and candles to make.

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NATURAL SOAP COLORANT: ALKANET ROOT

Ok, my every Friday natural colorant posts aren't working out like I planned. Life is getting in the way. So, here it is. Natural soap colorant #3... Alkanet Root. I apologize for low picture quality, I took these photographs with my cell phone.

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HONEY

Although honey isn't something people usually reach for when they "think" natural colorant and I hadn't plan on blogging about it as such but I was making milk, oatmeal and honey soap this week and so I decided to include this in the blog posts on natural coloring.

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NATURAL SOAP COLORANT: Parsley

This week I made soap using Parlsey Powder. Parsley, as you probably already know, is commonly used as a spice in cooking. I always confuse it with cilantro even thought they really look nothing alike. I'm just goofy that way. I'm not a fan of the way parsley tastes but I like to use it when I want to color my soap

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NATURAL SOAP COLORANT: HIBISCUS

Hibiscus is my favorite natural soap colorant. Not because it creates a vibrant color in my soaps but because hibiscus has so many beneficial uses. I learned about hibiscus as a tea when I was a student living in Mexico during the early 1990's. In the town I lived in the Jamaica Tea (hibiscus) was plentiful, at every

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SOAP SWAP REPORT!

There was a great soap swap on the facebook group we "heart" soap recently, the theme was "all natural" and this is what I received.

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UNDER THE WILLOW: DOG SHAMPOO

Carrie over at Under The Willow Gifts has created some great dog shampoo. I recently purchased a bottle from her for my little ones (I have three chihuahuas) and decided to give it a go. Normally, they hit the groomers, but since my oldest isn't doing well on trips away from home and the others don't like to go anywhere without her, we've decided to do their bathing ourselves.

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WHAT'S NEW?

Well, my life right now is about getting my garden in order, cleaning out the house (seriously, I have a roll-off sitting in the driveway), nursing my poor hubby back to health (threw his back out last week and hasn't recovered yet), taking care of my babies (children and my bees). I've been focussing on the bee venture lately (obsessing is a better word) so I haven't been doing much creating for my website. Gawd, I feel guilty about that. Hang in there people, hang in there, it is coming I swear. I did manage to create a custom order of foaming body polish.

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ONE STEP CLOSER TO BEEKEEPING

My equipment arrived! My husband went from a nice healthy brown to a very pale sickly white when he saw me unwrapping the hive. The delivery man couldn't even maintain composure. He asked if I was making honey. It sounded funny me making honey since the bees are the only ones making anything.

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I KILLED MY OWN SOAP

Why Why Why? Is all I can ask myself. Twice in my soap making years have I had soap seize up on me, turning to a curdled mess. Sure, it's still salvageable for the sheer purpose of just giving it away but I wouldn't sell it if my life depended on it. Well, I would if my life depended on it but whatever... 

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A HODPODGE POST

Been busy around the house and with the family lately so I haven't had time to organized my thoughts in order to make an interesting post. Rather, I've decided to post now about various things since I hate leaving my blog to collect dust.

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SOAPMAKING CLASSES BEGIN

For a few years now I've been teaching soapmaking to people as they've expressed an interest, even one person who intends on creating a new business out of her new venture, so I thought, why not offer classes on a scheduled basis.

Beginning March 18 I will be offering beginning soapmaking classes for one or two people at a time in my home, so if you are in the area (St. Paul, Minnesota) and would like to learn the art of soapmaking, please give me a shout: michelle@thesoappixie.com

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