cnsaitch

What a cool idea! I love those!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of paint did you use on those?

I cheat - I type something like this: convert 10 grams to oz. in Google and hit enter. Make sure you don't use *into* (convert 10 grams into oz) just use the word *to*. Trust me, you get 2 completely different looking pages. Works great! LOL Hope I didn't confuse anyone.

I'm not sure if this is where I would post this or not, but I've been trying to find something similar in fragrance to (don't laugh) Straw Hat - yeah it's an oldie! I found some at The Vermont Country Store and it lists the top notes, middle notes and bottom notes as follows:

• Top notes of lemon, lavandin, and geranium
  
• Middle notes of rose, violet, heliotrope, and patchouli
  
• Bottom notes of vanilla, musk, and sandalwood

Are there any of you with this knowledge that would be willing to guide me with some pointers of where to begin as I have no clue. Here's a dumb question - am I correct in my thinking that the top notes are my main target, then slightly lesser amounts on the middle notes and even less on the bottom notes?

Thanks,

Cindy

beloved - you might be very surprised about the smell. I did a cucumber soap last summer, cured it, boxed it up and forgot about it. The other day I found it when I was reorganizing. Curious about how it had aged, I brought a bar in and let me tell you, it has a wonderfully soft cucumber smell and the creamy lather is incredible. I love it!

I love the color of that! Beautiful soap!

Jan - I really don't know how much it weighs - I get an error on my scale when I try to weigh it. :undecided

KMommy - I *used* to live on Maui ( I miss it a lot sometimes). Now I live in Washington. For the frosting on the chocolate one, I just made a small batch and added some extra vanilla to it to make it darker than the *cake* portion. On the lemon one, I made a small batch and whipped it. I was scared to cut that one because my whipped soaps always seem to crumble. I got lucky this time. LOL

Hibiscus - My husband totally agrees with you. He said he doesn't think too many people would want to use a pice of cake to shower with. I think I hve to agree with that because first of all, it's not going to be easy to hold on to and not too many people really want to smell like food. I know I don't. These were just a way to play around in the soap kitchen. Just had to try it, ya know? LOL

Ok, I still might need to make a blackberry one! But that's probably all I'll do. Thanks again for all the compliments. This board, my soaping buddy, Jan and my hubby are what keeps me motivated and inspired!

I second the vote for Brambleberry! I got their Lotion Making Kit, which had a little book with instructions on how to make it. Between that and all the info here, I've turned into a lotion-making freak!

That is just gorgeous! I can just imagine the smell too . . . yummmmmmmmmmm!

Thanks you guys! They are huge, huh! I really have no idea what to do with them. I had seen pics of some beautiful soap cakes on another forum and wanted to try it. When I went to dig out my pan, I found the springform instead and got the idea. We used to own a sandwich shop/bakery on Maui (Kihei & Kahului) and made cheesecakes for Hawaiian Air and several of the resorts (mostly in Kaanapali & Wailea) - bringing our Poor Billy's *Cheesecakes* back to life was, for me, the natural thing to do. LOL Just so you know, I actually do have a "Not for consumption" tent card that I put on them at my show. I didn't sell any but people were sure pulled in by them.

Thanks again for all the sweet comments!

(Ok, Jan, this is for you! I hope I understood the directions on how to post a pic.) So, I pulled out my long-neglected springform pan and whipped up my basic soap recipe, poured it onto a layer of grated and loosely packed down soap shreds for the crust. The pink maraschino cherry sucks but I was kind of proud of my little lemon.

German Chocolate - scented/colored with Hershey's Cocoa, some unknown coffee f/o and a bottle of unmarked vanilla f/o - grated OMH for the crust.

Lemon *Cheesecake* - My basic soap recipe with pureed lemon in place of some of the water and scented with Lemon e/o - OMH for the crust.

Just ignore the pitiful set up - I haven't found my creative photo-shoot skills yet. :embarasse

I had a problem with my feet too. I've been using my emu balm recipe on them and it's actually helping. If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll be happy to share it.

Just to update you - I made lotion yesterday until my butt was ready to fall off and the popsickle thingy worked like a charm! Did anyone else happento try it?

Jan - I *would* drive over and show you but since you're going to be at the cabin all week . . . how about you pop on over here when you get back and you can help me master the GM soap.

Have a great & safe 4th everyone!

Not sure if someone already discovered this - if so -I apologize for the repetition. I've spent countless frustrating attempts trying to fill my malibus only to find out that the contraption I had set up to hold them wasn't as great as I first thought. Today, I'm out of control with excitement and just HAD to share with you all! I've found the absolute PERFECT and I do mean p-e-r-f-e-c-t solution! If I can figure out how to post a pic, I will but I'm sure you'll all be able to picture it in your heads. Ya know those tupperware type popsickle thingys - the ones you pour juice or whatever into to make the kids homemade popsickles? They were *made* for holding up your 4 oz and 6 oz malibu tubes! I don't know about any other sizes because I only have the 4 & 6 oz size. OMG! I just can't stand it - I feel like a bloody genius - I think I might actually enjoy my lotion making session today! :whoohoo:

If what they're saying is true then I must be luckier than I ever imagined because I put ALL of my soaps through gel and have never once lost scent or experienced the *rind* on any of mine. I even put a batch of GM soap through gel (not intentionally - it just happened) and it's just as *smelly* as any others I've made.

Yeah, I'm pretty convinced it is the water, the more I think about it. At least I can easily resolve that problem by not packaging that particular butter in tins cuz I ain't giving it up. What an AWESOME recipe, cindym - thanks for sharing it!

Wow! I love the Dollar Store! You guys are awesome - I knew I could find help here! Thank you! It's funny how sometimes the simplest things can get so darn complicated when you try to brainstorm an idea. I feel like such a dork now! LOL

Yes, I did put water in it. I used cindym's recipe http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23962

Never thought about that being the problem (duh) . . . do you think that might be the culprit?

What do those of you who make emulsified body butter package it in? I made some a couple weeks ago (LOVE IT!) and scented it with Rice Flower & Shea FO and packaged it in 2 oz tins and it's rusting my tins??? Any ideas on how to not have this happen? Or, do I just have the wrong type of tins for this particular product? Here's the weird part for me . . . I also packaged some whipped body butters (no fragrance added) in the same tins - no rust. I also packaged some emu balm in the same tins (EOs used) - no rust. Maybe it's because I used FO in the emulsified butter? I need help! Please? Anyone? Thanks in advance!

Accents - where did you find the puppet washcloths? Just sewing a soap pouch would save me a lot of time and frustration. Great idea! Thanks!

You're right - I hate - no - I LOATHE sewing! Can you tell, I'm the type of person that gets a hair up my . . . you know, and I go off in all directions while I'm trying to figure out how to do it. Of course, I always seem to take the road with the most obstacles and go through all kinds of challenges until I finally figure out that it would have been easier to do it another way. Duh! Now I'm thinking maybe some terrycloth, shaped like a mitt with a pouch. Although I really love the idea of having the soap integrated right into the fabric portion for the disposable idea, I just can't figure out how to even begin with that. Maybe I should buy him a sponge and slice it and insert a chunk of soap and call it a day, huh? Oy! LOL

Wow - what a great idea, Accents! Like - Handi-wipes or something like that? I've seen them on the same aisle as paper towels, if we're talking about the same thing. Those would definitely work, I'm thinking. I think (feel free to jump in on my brain storming - everyone welcome! LOL) if I were to take 2 of them and cut out a mitt to fit a hand and add a little pouch to put a thin sliver of soap into it, it might work? It's worth a shot, I guess? Not sure how to incorporate soap into the whole thing like Huggies did, but this just might work out ok.

Alajane - I will definitely post once I try this and let ya know how it turned out - or didn't turn out. I've had a lot of fun making baby products for E'lise - she has her own line of personalized products including her own fragrance and my son will not use anything store-bought for her. She's actually my 5th grandchild but my other 4 live in Idaho and I don't get to see them that often so having E'lise so close and being the *chosen one* for all of her bath and body products is pretty special.

Forgot to say thank you, sorry! THANK YOU!

This could get confusing and I apologize for that but . . . have you seen/used the Huggies (I think it's Huggies) disposable wash cloths (hand mitt)? My son has been using them on my granddaughter and loves how easy they are to bathe a squirmy 7-month-old, but, he said they seem to dry her skin out and asked me if I could make them using the soap that I make for her. I think it *might* be do-able IF I could find the source for the material used to make the *washcloth * (mitt) part of it. Does anyone have any clue where something like this could be found? Weird, I know, but if anyone has answers or suggestions, I know I'll find them here! Thanks in advance!

Not much help, but, I had/have the same problem. Try tipping your bottle and pouring slowly, we're talkin' painfully slowly (not easy for me because I want stuff done NOW). I fill mine all the way up to the neck of the bottle and if there's still bubbles, I thunk on the sides to loosen them. It helps me a little so maybe it will help you too?

Ok - well the first batch totally deflated when I tried to put it into my tubs which is fine because it was stinky (anise). So, being as stubborn as I am I decided to try again, only this time, I used only 1 bar of soap and added just a tiny bit of water (about 2 tablespoons) to melt the soap gratings - just enough to make a paste out it. I whipped the paste on low (the first batch had the snot whipped out of it) and as it got creamier I drizzled a little more water (probably about 1/4 cup). My thought process was to get enough water in it to keep it from getting hard, but not enough water to make it turn into that gooey jelly stuff. Anyway, I ended up with some stuff the consistency of shaving cream and this morning it's still puffy, did not deflate at all, but definitely not what I would call creamy. Oh well - it was worth a shot for someone (me) who is cream and liquid soap impaired. On the plus side, it IS creamy when you use it to wash your hands and if you have a gullible teenage daughter who thinks daily leg shaving is a necessary part of life, it makes a great alternative to DH's shaving cream, especially if you tell her you made it just for her! :rolleyes2

Sorry for jumping the gun and posting something potentially exciting that turned out to be a flop. I just get too carried away sometimes. LOL

Ok guys - I think I *might* have found an easy out for cream soap. I won't give you a long prologue as to how my mind works, but here's what I did: I grated 5 cups of cured, whipped soap and added 1 - 1/2 cups of water to it and melted it in a double boiler. Once it was emlted, I let it cool until it was a gooey, gelled glob of gunk. I took my glob and put it in my mixing bowl and started whipping it, gradually adding approx. 2 more cups of water. Since it was originally scented with anise and the smell was making me gag, I added in some lemongrass and a little drizzle of glycerin. I wish I had my camera but my daughter has it, but, I have a HUGE mound of creamy, soft, whipped cream-looking stuff that lathers like crazy. I don't know how this will end up after sitting for a long period of time but so far, it's still light and fluffy after having sat in the bowl for a couple of hours. I just wanted to share with you all because I'm excited as heck and who knows, it just might make cream soap a little easier on those of us who can't seem to get the hang of it the other way? If anyone tries this, I hope you'll share your results.