Druin

It's not ideal, but for your purpose, I can understand Make sure you watch Hobby Lobby's website, they often have a 40% off coupon, so then its $6 for 2 pounds rather than $10 for 2 pounds. When I first started, I bought some from Hobby Lobby to play with and was not crazy about the regular clear, but the ones with additives are a bit better - I can't remember the brand name, but they have Olive Oil, Shea Butter, etc and they are suspending bases, so you could play with some additives too. Obviously the best plan is to order some base from a supplier, but if time is of the essence and it's just for play time, the base from HL will work in a pinch

Thank you for posting this - I had NO idea we had a supplier in the Tulsa Metro area!!! Woohoo - shopping spree!!!

I had about 10 oz of soap that was scraps I was trying to use up and I didn't have the molds filled to the very top, so my guess would be around 3.5 oz each. I just went to measure and my soaps (with the loofas) were about 3.3-3.4 oz each.

I got some of the small heart molds last year and they are the *perfect* size for solid sugar scrubs. Mine also had some larger heart cake pans, but I didn't see the muffin ones - will definitely have to check out the one by my work on Monday!

At dinner tonight, our ranch dressing came in these little containers, so I looked on the bottom to make sure they were #5. I asked the restaurant if I could buy some of them to try them out. It cost me $1 to buy 20 cups and lids. I came home to try them out and so far so good. Now to contact the local restuarant suppliers to see if I can get them locally Thanks for sharing the idea!

Went to Target this afternoon and at the front of the store in the cheap section, I found this silicone mold. It fits the loofahs perfectly!!! They also had the silicone mats that I've seen some of you line vertical molds with. They were $2.50 each Going back tomorrow to buy some more!

I think I'm posting in the right category I hope one of you gurus can help me out! 1) I've read several posts where people put fragranced baking powder into their vac bags or sprinkled on the carpet, but NOT to use it with bagless. I have a Dyson, which is bagless, but would love to have something to use as a carpet freshener... any suggestions? 2) I had made several corn cob sachets to put in Christmas baskets for family and friends. However, due to the snowstorm we got on Christmas Eve, the baskets are still sitting on my kitchen table, which makes my kitchen VERY fragrant!!! Does anyone just make a dish of corn cob for the kitchen or bathroom to help give a fresh smell? (FYI, Dreamsicle makes for a very strong sachet!! hehe) I don't really want sachets hanging all over my kitchen and bathroom, so trying to figure out a different way to have the corn cob where it still gives the smellies Thanks so much!!!

Number and Dolphin, They are definitely dry. In fact, one set I had made last night and tried to pop out this morning, about 10 hours later. I used to use V1 and never had a problem with them sticking, but I changed over to PB for a better scent throw. It's not that big of a problem to put them in the fridge for a few minutes, I just thought maybe someone out there might have a magic wand for either the scalloped molds or the silicone. I typically make M&P but I like putting tarts into my Christmas baskets for friends and family, so this only really annoys me a few times a year Thanks so much!

I use Ecosoya PB and its a pain to get the tarts out of the scalloped molds. I have to put them in the fridge for a few minutes to get them to release at all. I tried to use one of the Wilton silicone baking pans (24 small hearts), but it doesn't release cleanly, so I end up with rough edges on the tarts or a white powdery substance on them. Any suggestions on how to either get the scalloped molds to release easier (my fingertips will thank you!) OR how to get the silicone pan to release cleanly? Thanks!!!

PA, I bought some canned last week and made a trial bar for myself and I love it!! I am now thinking of making some for our moms for Mothers Day and I'm worried about preservation... can canned GM in soap go rancid? If so, how can I fix it? Thanks so much!

Here's the instructions... http://www.candletech.com/techniques-and-ideas/valentines-day-heart-embed-candles/ Hope that helps

I don't know about the legalities of it, but the other day I saw some Burt's Bees glycerin soap and it's ingredients listing was "vegetable soap base, non-fat powered milk, etc etc" or something like that... So could you do "Soap Base (x, y, z), shea butter, fragrance" ???

Question to the veteran M&Pers I have truly enjoyed my soap making adventures, but I will admit that I'm a newbie. I have used several of my creations and I also end up feeling "squeaky" clean and would like more moisture left at the end of the shower. I've read about everything I can get my hands on, but I'm more of a recipe type person - what additivies would you suggest and at what amounts? Also, while we are on this topic - any suggestions for a facial bar? I read a recipe today for 4 oz M&P and 2 tsp of cold cream, but from everything I've read, that seems like a lot of additive... opinions? Thanks so much!

I'm not Siberian, but there is a recent M&P post on Brambleberry's forums about the ingredients in SFIC and Anne-Marie replied about SFIC (which is their house brand).

Her Lemon Biscotti Pie is *amazing* I also love the Vanilla Latte... Bert is also VERY nice to work with and extremely fast in shipping. She answers her emails within hours and just has great CS overall!

Awesome soaps as always

Thanks everyone I couldn't have done it without your support, all of your posts, and drooling over your gorgeous pics in the gallery!

Okay - I am officially hooked!!! They aren't the best, but I wanted to share I'm pretty proud of them actually I started with the blue/yellow one. I purchased a pack of small cookie cutters in the Easter section of Hobby Lobby. I had planned to cut out two stars, but I didn't have room I poured the blue layer, let it set up, popped it out, used my cookie cutter to cut out the star, put the blue back in the mold and poured the yellow. With the star I had cut out, I put it in a square mold with some red chunks that I had from my first M&P attmpt (peppermint soap), then poured white over them. The clear soap didn't show up very well, but when I poured the yellow layer from the first soap, I had a smidgen of yellow left, so I poured a very thin layer and then cut it into strips and twisted it. I put the twists into a hexagon mold and poured clear over it. This is just too much fun!!! Thanks for looking

Okay - after lots of research and adding lots of links and videos to my Google notebook (LOVE THAT!!), I finally got brave enough to try my first M&P. I used the base from Hobby Lobby (life of the party) because I had a gift card and I couldn't beat that price with the cost of shipping! heheh I know I have a lot to learn and it needs to be cleaned up, but I was sooo excited to have successfully made my first M&P soap that I had to share!!! Scented with Bert's 'Candy Cane' Thank you for all of your help!!!

Okay, I'm going to be brave and post my area Hubby got tired of me taking over the kitchen, so over Christmas break, I reclaimed the "wet bar" in our living room. Thankfully we rarely have guests, so this hasn't been a problem! It is also nice because I can still be in the same room with hubby while I'm making my tarts. Since I only do a few at a time, the space is not a limitation *yet* LOL. The bar has a microwave, presto pot, and sink, plus drawers, shelves, and cabinets, which is very nice for storage. I bought some of the exercise mat stuff from home depot to put on the floor (we have concrete floors w/ no carpet so comfort was a must!). Here you see some tarts I just poured plus some that need to be labeled before I forget what scent they are LOL! Disclaimer: I am only a hobbyist, so I don't need huge amounts of space

Thanks guys for the warm welcome! Those are *gorgeous* soaps I look forward to exploring my creative side. I love making tarts, but with a severe adversion to flames, tarts are as far as I go on that end... Believe me, I have read here - looked at *every* page in the B&B gallery (that took a while!), plus several other soaping forums and blogs. I have learned a lot and look forward to trying the ideas. I do have one more question... when pouring layers, I know about the alcohol spritz, but one of the sites (may have been here actually) suggested using a fork to put score lines to help adhere the layers. This advice made perfect sense to me, but in all of the websites I've read, that was the only place that suggested it. Do you guys do this for layers or just spritz the alcohol? Thanks again for everything - I really look forward to working with you!!!

I have been making wax melts for several months now and while I love making them, I would like to be more creative. I've spent lots of time reading and admiring all of your M&P creations and I think I would like to try M&P. I have read about everything I can get my hands on concerning instructions, ideas, etc. Now for the weird question I really don't want to just melt, color/fragrance, and pour because I already do that with my wax melts and I'm familiar with that process. I know I will need to do that for the first try just to see for myself how the soap behaves, but I would like to try some of the more creative techniques I've seen - which method would you veterans recommend? I certainly hope this post makes sense!! Oh - and this would only be for my personal use... I just want the opportunity to play and be creative Thanks in advance

Okay - thanks! I'll try that this weekend

I was in Hobby Lobby the other day and in the Wilton aisle saw some neat potential molds in the shape of the awareness ribbon. However, they were actually meant to be lollipop molds, so they had a "stick" indentation. Could I still use these for tart molds? What would I use to fill up the stick spot? Thanks in advance! I would love to make my sister some pink breast cancer ribbons!

Nancy... So sorry I never got back to you The coasters worked very well for fresheners - I just painted a coat of fo on them, punched a hole and ran some ribbon through it. Now to find some non-poinsettas to try heheh.