motherhues

thank you! Sorry I posted this in the wrong forum, I didn't see the wickless one so i went for the soy one

I have some clamshells and my friendly neighborhood testers ready to help me play :D can't wait for the wax to arrive!

I am thinking about making a few to try out because i ALWAYS loved my old potpouri burners before I had kids. But when i had my first I stopped burning candles and just got out of the habit.

I always said I would never get into candles because I just have too many damn hobbies already but I can't help it, I am intrigued... so I thought i would start with tarts.

So, after all that... here is my dumb question-does the wax dissapear in the potpouri burner or do you have to scrape it out, and do you have to scrape it out or does it come out easy. And, do you need special candle burners or can you use any old tealight in the bottom bowl/well/whatever in the top melty thing?

newbie on the loose, AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

Thank you for your patience!

Selena

I have dreamed about owning a B&B cutter from for crafts sake for SOO LONG ROFL....

I am such a dork....

if you don't mind lining wierd shapes, the bamboo silverware trays or drawer inserts from Target or Walmart work lovely, too.

Oriental trading company has some pencil boxes, also, you have to cut off the top (they have a slider for a lid) but they are good, too, if you dont have a log splitter or a steady hand with a knife

thank you! Do you know if they have a shelf life?

I bought a ton of stuff off an old soaper..she said they were 2 years old but then come to find out from ANOTHER local soaper than she went to look and they are actually 12 years old...sigh.. I am still happy with how much I spent ($100) because there was a 1 ounce bottle of sandalwood in there under the huge pound bottles :D but I have a few questions.

There was a big ol dusty box full of oxides and ultramarines. I have always used Clay and Herbs to color my soaps so I have NO idea what to do with these.

Do oxides and ultramarines have a "best by" date or will they color forever? Can I use them in a room spray for kids for monsters and sweet dreams or do they not disolve in water? Or will they dye everything they touch? lol... including the kids and the $300 Pottey barn blanket (no, not mine, my customers, lol)

anyhow, complete newbie here about these colors hopefully I wont have to toss the whole box...

well, yes, that is the theory...but it isn't working that way...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....its either me or my printer I am hoping it's me...

and EVERY time I flip the paper it seems to do the back off center.

I use the free Avery DesignPro5 and I am just making a 1.5 inch square to make a simple cardstock hangtag for soaps in bags.

you would think it would be easy

I am not sure if it's ME or my PRINTER or WHAT but I am SOO lost. I have tried every possible way of just flipping my stupid paper over and I am about ready to tear my hair out.

is there some special button or selection you need to make to print on the reverse to make it work? you would THINK you could just flip the paper and it would do the exact size in the exact same place, right?

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??!

AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

sigh...

sorry.. just had to get that out before I throw the printer out the window and kill my husband for asking me to calm down....

grr...

Selena

www.motherhues.etsy.com

ok, the cut pictures are even better. My girls would kill for those soaps Very fun, very pretty.

been soaping up a storm this last month or two

Rosemary with parsley

Patchouli/Ylang "Green Goddess" with double the parsley.

Lavender and Geranium YUM! its alkanet and madder root in wierd little drops. This is really neat looking in person... kinda blah in photo

Patchouli and Lavender with French Clay and Madder Root

And I did a group shot

I also did a charcoal soap but I need to get a better picture before I list it.

its also a HUGE bar... I may cut it in half for sale... not sure... but it looks very rough and coal-ey

Selena

www.motherhues.etsy.com

I did this yesterday!! But I have a water loss problem... I think... The original recipe says it shoudl be enough to fill 4 8 ounce bottles, and there IS 32 ounces of lotion-exactly...

I added up all the ingredients from the recipe and it should weigh 982.5 but it weighs 747 grams... that is about an 8 ounce loss of water... did I do something wrong or do you really lose that much water to a pressure cooker?

I did the Sammi Janette's First Try from MMS but swapped a few things because I discovered that the bottle of Almond I thought I had was actually Avocado..and I didnt have enough so I added some shea and some Jojoba.

This is the original recipe:

2.5 Grams citric acid

30 grams liquid glycerin

40 grams stearic acid

50 grams e wax

200 grams sweet almond oil

660 grams water

plus preservative and fragrance.

I did:

2.5 grams citric acid

30 grams liquid glycerin

40 grams stearic

50 grams e wax

145 grams avocado oil

25 grams shea

30 grams jojoba

400 grams water

260 grams of aloe juice

so... I am assuming some of the weight loss is from whatever is leftover in the pot (I didn't scrape...) and the rest is water...

Do I just heat and hold 8 more ounces of water and stickblend it in? Or can I use straight distilled? Or should I just go with it and see a thick cream?

ACK! first times are always nerve wracking

This morning it's thickened up A LOT now that it's cooled down... I didn't add preservative or fragrance yet because I didn't know how much to do or what to do with the water...

can I gently reheat it and add the preservative according to the weight it is now? Or can I add extra heated and holded at 176 degree water and add the right percentage then?

my friend who is a pressure cooker pro she uses hers like 3 times a week for cooking She says it looks like the seal was just a bit dry from not being used for a long time-its an older one with a brand new seal and top seal thing.... so I am thinking next time I might not lose so much water? its worth a shot, anyways, I suppose.

and it doesn't rock it just releases a teeny bit of steam at the top...

well, experimenting is fun.. I just need to get more oil today...

thank you, I am a dummy, found the info on their list of FOs.

Thank you

I have a friend who has been BEGGING me to add a room spray for ever... thank you for the link!

I have a question, though, are all of their fragrance oils skin safe or only for candles? I sent them an email but thought, since it was the weekend, that you might know

Thank you scented My etsy store is rather empty right now... we just moved and I haven't found my "picture spot" here yet... one day next week I am going to take a bar of soap and a notebook and take pictures everywhere until I find "the one"

I made my first soap 13 years ago... you won't regret it how fun to have such a supportive hubby!! :D

mine is supportive in the way he loves the extra money coming in

Selena

www.motherhues.etsy.com

I love the bright colors I only use herbs so never get the riot of color... sometimes I lust after a good neon green rofl... will you post cut pictures?

oh gorgeous!!!

charcoal is always so striking in soap! those look great

Does the charcoal make the lather black?

thanks for your warm welcome

I still have my lard... I have formulated my recipe I am just still stuck in the "hmmmmm" phase. I have more shea butter coming Monday, hopefully, and will make it next week:)

Can you CPOP lard or will it end up smelling porky? Is that a soapers urban legend? or does hot lard really smell piggy in soap?

Selena

I personally have found I like old wine boxes best they tend to be the perfect width and make a nice 12 bar loaf. I am just sick of lining it... I need to try out the silicone stuff...

I just got a 4 cavity vertical mold from for crafts sake and I am going to sell it because I just like making the single loaves the best... ??? I am heartbroken because I have coveted this mold for years... ah well. Anyone need a mold? rofl...

oh that is waaaaaaaaay too much fun I wanna seee cut pictures

Selena

Hello!

koala-nut invited me over here and I just wanted to stop in and say "Hi!"

I made cp soap, using mostly vegan ingredients and EOs but I am thinking about branching out into lard soap a bit of a switch, lol, but I have been thinkin about it for a while. I have been making soap since I was 20, about 13 years ago, and have always done Veggie/Vegan. I have three kids and also love to dye things, machine embroider and make waldorf inspired dolls I live in Northern CA and that is me in a nutshell

nice to meet you!