I am aghast that I haven’t made time to get down to some serious Christmas time soap making. This past week has been a whirlwind of driving in crappy weather and all that fun stuff that seems to always land right before Christmas.
Maybe this week I’ll get down to it (crossing fingers!)
I thought that you might like to see this recipe from last year. I gave this soap out as gifts and used it myself for quite awhile and never got tired of it, not once.
If you make it, send me your pictures! I’d love to post them.
So here it is -
HOLIDAY WOODLANDS SOAP RECIPE.
Essential Oil Blend…
I made this soap using the Angels Wings essential oil blend.
I used
4 parts fir needle
2 parts white grapefruit
1 part frankincense
That blend had smelled quite light and pretty to me as it was.
After I made the soap, I found that it became quite woodsy, it reminded me a little of opening up an old cedar chest, probably the combination of fir and frankincense. The frankincense really comes through although there is quite a bit of a smaller amount.
This makes a really nice man’s soap, but I like it too :0)
I also used the same recipe, but had to make a few changes, of course.
Here is the recipe that I used to make a 1lb batch.
HOLIDAY WOODLANDS SOAP TAKE 1
Castor Oil .5oz
Cocoa Butter 4oz
Coconut Oil 5oz
Canola Oil 4oz
Shea Butter 2oz
Aloe/Sunflower Oil .5oz
5 oz water
2.25oz lye
I used .5oz essential oils.
THE RESULTS
I love this soap!
I decided to mix a bit of green and red mica in.
I mixed up a small bit of each separately and drizzled it in using layers.
I poured a layer of the white base, then drizzled some red across the top, then some green.
Then I did another layer, finishing with a layer of the red and green.
I cooked it in the over at about 170* for 2 hours, shutting the oven off and leaving the soap in until a little after noon the next day.
A LITTLE WHITER
My daughter pointed out that the soaps would have been nicer if the base was a little whiter.
I tried to keep it white but I will have to try harder.
As it dries, it seems to be turning more and more beige.
Next time I’m going to try some vegetable shortening to replace some of the canola and see what happens.
I’ll keep you posted!
Just a reminder that Christmas is coming!
It doesn’t quite feel like it yet although I am already thinking Christmas decorations and theme for this year.
If you’re hankering to make some nice homemade natural skin care Christmas gifts and need some recipes, packaging ideas and a bunch of Christmas crafts, recipes and activity ideas that you can do with your family (or without :0) have a look at my Make It Special Christmas Collection.
It’s an instant download so you don’t need to wait, you can jump right in.
It also lists suppliers and has a section with some very nice contributions from some of them.
I was tickled to receive this from Barb, who was happy to receive hers – thanks Barb!
Hi Jan 
Your eguides are so wonderful! I’ve downloaded them and am having a terrific time reading, you have done an awesome job!!!
Thank you so very much
Talk to you soon
Barb
Don’t miss out on a chance to Make It Special this year, now is the time to get started!
It’s always more fun when you don’t have to rush.
If you run into any problems receiving your guide, be sure to email me here
jan.ferrante(at)gmail.com (note: (at) = @ I’m in disguise for spam people :0)
GRAB IT NOW
I am going to be adding to the guide over the next few weeks and the price will be going up.
You can grab your copy now at 8.99 and get any updates that I will be adding.
BTW, YOU CAN MAKE SOME MONEY BY HELPING OTHERS TO MAKE IT SPECIAL TOO!
I’m very excited about an affiliate program that I am working on for the Make It Special Christmas Collection.
That means that you can sign up for free and put your own link, picture and information on your website and make $5 from every sale.
If you don’t have a website, you can still participate through email, or even put it in pamphlets etc if you do shows or know someone down the road who might like it :0)
This means that you can help others to make it easier to make Christmas homemade – and special – this year.
In times like these, with the unsteady economy and the environment getting more obviously in need of attention and responsibility with every passing year, it only makes good sense – and a great Christmas too!
If you are interested, you can email me and I will send you the link for your free registration as soon as it is ready.
I’m pulling out my favourite homemade shampoo bar recipe again and thought you might also want to try it. I usually make it in the crockpot although I may try it in the oven this time – I LOVE making soap in my crockpot but the bars do come out nicer in the oven – hmmm. Decisions, decisions!
I’ve been using ’store bought’ shampoo for awhile again and once more am getting appalled at the mountain of bottles we are collecting and the chemicals etc that are streaming through my hair and scalp and over my body as I rinse.
Here’s the recipe…
http://www.skincarenaturals.com/recipes/crockpot-shampoo-bar-recipe.shtml
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes and if you did any tweaks.
