Canfield Handcrafted Soaps

Scent samples a hit!

2012-01-23T13:33:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to stop in to say how happy I am that everyone is so pleased with our scent sample offer! We've had great responses from everyone who has tried it in person and from our Etsy page. So, here's a HUGE "thank you" to everyone who has tried them and given us feedback!

If you're thinking of trying a set of 10, please remember that we also recalculate the shipping for every order to make sure our estimate is correct. So if you order a set of scent samples with a soap or lotion you'll end up paying less than the cost of a stamp for the scent samples.

Remember, too, that if you decide you like one of the scents you order, the first time you order an 8 oz lotion from our shop made with that scent you will receive a discount equal to the amount you paid for the 10 scent strips. If you're in the US, that will be 65 cents off the price! Here is a link to the 8 oz. lotion.

Brief update...

2011-11-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

...on how everything's going:

My computer died about a month back and I'm roughing it for now using other people's computers to get everything done. I'm managing well as far as daily life goes: bill paying, checking e-mail, etc. But it's going a little slowly as far as the business side of things are concerned. You do really get used to the convenience of having everything on your computer "just so"!

We took care of our very first Etsy order on two different computers (it went very smoothly thanks to the friendly and patient buyer), and listed one of our lotion formulas on Etsy (woohoo! finally! People around here have been asking for a while) and printed business cards on another. We will soon be listing our lip balms as well as updating the product info on our website, but I've got a miserable cold right now, so I'm waiting on that until probably Monday or Tuesday. :-)

I had a dream last night that we had an open house for our soap and a friend came up and said "I bought something from your Etsy shop!" It reminded me of one of those dreams where you find treasure and then you wake up disappointed because it's not real- apparently getting Etsy sales is the new "finding treasure", *lol*...

It hasn't all been work since my computer died though- my Mom and I discovered the slightly-addictive Abbey Road Cam, and we've been playing a lot of Minecraft as a family. Good times!

Public service announcement: Check those old passwords!

2011-10-08T12:45:00.000-07:00

We noticed last night that our bank account got charged for two Microsoft items (to be exact in case anyone googles this: MICROSOFT ONE MICROSOFT W 08003865550 WA ) and did a little digging to try and find an answer as to why it happened. We wanted to post the information we found out in case it can be helpful to anyone who goes through the same thing- what we found helpful and what we would suggest avoiding.

After we noticed the charges, we called Microsoft right away. This is something that we would NOT suggest doing. (The most common phone number you'll get when you search on the internet is 866-672-4551. This is the phone number for their billing department- more specifically, the department that handles subscriptions.) It seems like others have also tried this route and have had no success getting the problem solved. The first thing the representative did when we tried to explain the situation was ask for our full credit card number. Our reaction: "Wait, what? Someone just committed credit card fraud and now you want us to give you our full number?" They told us something about how the credit card information is not stored (which does not make sense, because then why would they want the full number? The rep had no explanation.). We tried another number for Microsoft and just got transferred back to this billing number, and got told the same thing. It seems like all roads when calling Microsoft about fraud lead to this department, and they don't have any answers. The second rep admitted that the credit card number would be on file, but not your security code or the expiration date of the card. We still did not feel comfortable giving the credit card number out.

Our second call was to the bank, to dispute these charges and have them send us a new card. (If this kind of fraud happens to you, it will probably not be due to a lost card. Your poor card will probably still be sitting safely in your wallet. Call the 1-800 number on the back of the card to talk to someone.) The rep was able to see the charge right away, and the full information about where the charge came from, which is not something you can always see when you're just checking your statement online. In any case, at least we have the peace of mind knowing that the random person who bought the two things can't do it again.

Our third call was just as helpful, and we think that after you call your bank, it should be your next call. We gave up on getting help through Microsoft and got more specific- we called XBOX support. (The direct number there is 1-800-469-9269.) If you call you might be a bit intimidated by the huge menu, *lol*, but just make sure you get to the part where you can speak to a real person. I think we went through the billing department, and the first (and only) person we spoke to was incredibly helpful, sympathetic and understanding, not only fixing the problem on their end but also explaining how it might have happened in our case. We each had different questions, and so this patient rep ended up talking to almost every member of our family in turn to answer them. He could see on our account exactly what the person had tried to do, and gave us reassurance that the matter was being investigated, and told us how we could keep up with that investigation (it takes 25 days to make a full investigation, but they restore your account completely and put everything back the way it was before the fraudulent charges were applied.)

Even if you don't even have an XBox, but someone does this to you, we would still suggest calling the Xbox support number. (Whenever we've had to talk to Microsoft support, we've had negative experiences- but whenever we've had to call XBox support, we have come away with glowing praise for the reps. Haven't been able to figure that one out.) At the very least, the rep can ask you questions to try to find a link between the charge and your recent activity. The rep we spoke to asked very specific questions (including the last four digits of our credit card number as confirmation, which we are completely okay with) to see if there was any way that someone could have taken our credit card number or hacked our computer. Like I said, I've noticed from research about this problem that it's even happened to people who don't even have an Xbox or Microsoft account of any kind, but calling can still, at the very least, let them know that there is a problem, and they can give you some suggestions.

I think the most valuable piece of advice we came away with today was to check and make sure that any passwords for old e-mail accounts are still secure. It happens all the time in this busy world- we get an e-mail address, then suddenly months or years pass and we haven't checked it or even thought about it because we have another one that we use more. But hackers get better all the time- and nowadays even the big companies are getting hacked (Sony, Google, Microsoft, and many more!), so if you have any old "straggler" e-mail accounts, they may not be secure either. And if any of those old e-mail accounts are linked to your online activity, you are susceptible to fraud (or at the very least, privacy invasion!). We believe that this was the link to this charge in our case- one of the "big guys" got hacked (MSN) and we were one of the "little guys" whose information is now out there somewhere. And it's just a good policy anyway to keep your passwords up-to-date and secure- can you imagine how insecure your passwords from a few years back are when we are now being encouraged to use capital letters, more numbers, and special characters? Check those old accounts or close them, and make sure that you change the passwords often (one site suggested every three months).

Okay, well, I'm sorry if that was long-winded, but I hope you can learn from our experience and prevent this from happening to you. :-)

Centering your webpage when you've got a full size background

2011-10-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just finished fixing our website so that when your browser isn't fullscreen, it will still look nice, and not all smooshed to the left side of the screen. My eyes are so crossed right now...

Here's a link to the page that I found the most helpful in my quest to center my poor webpage:
http://simplebits.com/notebook/2004/09/08/centering/

It looks perfect on our resolution of 1024x768, but I don't dare check it out on any other resolution... that might mean more coding! *gasp!* I got out of the web design business 10+ years ago, so I am completely out of date with my HTML skills. (I'm glad I chose soap as a business instead. It's stayed relatively the same for how many thousands of years? *lol*)

Note to self: when you're done uploading your changes, hit F5 before you freak out because they don't seem to have taken effect. No, just hitting 'refresh' won't always do it... I didn't think the last bit of coding I tried worked so I was ready to start all over again with another piece of coding, but then I heard my I.T. brother's voice in my head: "Diiiiid you hiiiiit F-fiiiiiiive?" (You know when Luke is stranded on Hoth and he sees Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan says "Uuuuuuuse the foooorce, Luke..."? Like that.) I've learned the whole "have you tried turning it off and then on again?" thing, now I just need to get that drilled into my brain. ;-)

MMS Swap!

2011-10-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

We got our box today from the Majestic Mountain Sage "Simply Botanicals" Swap and gathered around to smell everything and sample the salves and lotions. This was a BLAST! Next week when I know that everyone has received their goodies I'm going to post again with pictures and details of everything. I look forward to doing more sampling! :-)

If you're having problems seeing images on Etsy.com...

2011-09-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

...here's something you should try-

Go to etsy.com in a new tab, then go to your AdBlockPlus options (this is easy in the newest version of Firefox, since ABP is a little red stop sign at the top of the browser. Just click the drop arrow next to it.) and click "disable on etsy.com".

Out of the blue about two days ago, half the images on Etsy stopped working for me. I didn't think it was anything I did, because it was half of all the images, not just half of my images. I also hadn't changed any image filters or anything- but I had forgotten that ABP checks for updates on its own. And like all the best programs, it was a bit "over-helpful" in blocking what looked like ads. ;-)

I noticed while doing research to try and fix the problem that most people say that the only images affected are on (or loading from) Etsy.com, and that if they have two browsers, all the images work just fine on one, but not the other. If you're having the same problem, I hope you'll give this quick fix a try.

Finally on Etsy!

2011-09-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I JUST finished opening our Etsy store and listing our first item. Aaaaand, I wasn't wearing my glasses, so now everything is blurry. *l* This evening I have a lotion order to complete, but tomorrow I'll work on listing the rest of the soap and lotion that we have for sale. :-) And I'll wear my glasses this time.

Canfield Fair 2011

2011-09-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Every year, Canfield, Ohio has a 6-day craft and agricultural show, and we wanted to post a link for the people who are getting directed here by search engines. (Having people check out the blog is cool, but that's not exactly what they came here for, *l*)

http://www.canfieldfair.com/index.html
Prices and tickets

It looks like SO MUCH FUN! It's over for the year, but maybe some year we can go... it's only 2,466 miles away! ;-)

San Diego power outage

2011-09-08T22:40:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to ask- if anyone has a picture (or knows where I can find one) of the power out in Downtown San Diego, can you point me in that direction? Our neighbor rode his motorcycle down Orange in Coronado and said the sight across the bay was a once-in-a-lifetime sight- all of San Diego with no lights! But on the AM news they were advising not driving unless absolutely necessary... and I guess driving down the Strand to gawk didn't count... ;-)

EDIT: I found a couple of photos online- here are the links to the articles/slideshows.
Slideshow photos by Mark J. Terrill - Check here for a larger copy of the first photo! San Diego looks cool in the dark with only the emergency lights on.
Another slideshow of San Diego's power outage- I liked the first photo of the freeway, but it's also interesting to see people just kind of... waiting for the power to come back on.
This short article includes a map of the affected areas, and an interesting first-person description of the power outage and the "block party" atmosphere that it caused. We experienced the same thing in our neighborhood- people were out on their bikes, in their front yards looking at the stars and talking to their neighbors, and generally having fun. You could hear people all over the neighborhood enjoying just being outside in the cool air.

Site update

2011-09-08T15:12:00.000-07:00

I've spent yesterday and today completely revamping our website, and tomorrow and for the weekend I'm going to be working on updating the products page to include our new soaps and a page for lotion and lip balm, which we make to order. I'm also updating the FAQ, since it was previously geared to soap and now we're making other products (and people have had a lot of questions!).After that it will hopefully be maintenance- keeping the scents and sizes in order, that sort of thing. :-)

Lotion update

2011-08-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

I took a few minutes yesterday to make some fresh Shea Butter lotion for Mom, who needed something soothing. I used some extracts and allantoin for their healing properties, and I scented it with Chocolate Raspberry. Today it's a bit on the Raspberry side, so I may need to add more Chocolate. (It still smells delicious!) Our Shea Butter lotion makes our skin sooooo soft... I find myself using it even when I really don't need lotion, just for the extra healthy feel of my skin after I use it.

Today's batch will be a lighter lotion with Wheat Germ oil. I'll let you know how it goes! :-)

Autumn S.O.A.P. team time!

2011-08-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

Whoa, time flies, doesn't it? I can't believe it's already been a whole season since the last S.O.A.P. team was chosen and did their testing. Bramble Berry is accepting blog entries to choose the new team, and I'd love to be chosen to be on the panel!

Believe it or not, my favorite product from Bramble Berry is still the water resistant label paper! This paper is awesome! I've gotten the paper wet on accident and wondered what would happen, and unlike some other "water resistant" paper, you can't even tell that anything happened. It's also not glossy (which I liked because it looks more natural) and not pre-sectioned, so your labels can be whatever size you choose. Okay, maybe that's a bit boring of me to choose the same thing I did last time, so I'll show you the mold that's a favorite around here- the Wave mold! It's a great, and stylish, all-purpose bar mold- the best thing about this mold is that the soap it makes stays in your hand and keeps its wave shape down to the very last ounce of soap.

I really enjoyed reading all of the entries for the past few panels- everyone did their testing so thoroughly that it seems a bit daunting to try to think of new ways to test the scents, but I'd really love to give it a shot! I have a few ideas that are different from what others made, so I didn't want to pass up the chance to volunteer. My fellow potential scent testing participants (aka, my family!) are helping me get my ideas together, and we are excited about the challenge of testing on a larger scale than what we're used to. Autumn is our favorite season (here in San Diego even the weather seems to agree that it would much rather be autumn than summer!) and we'd love to participate in testing the new autumn/winter scents.

Thanks for reading, everyone! It's great to be part of the ever-friendly and ever-enthusiastic soaping community- here's wishing the best to everyone who gets chosen, and we look forward to reading your entries! :-)

Total lunar eclipse in Tajikistan

2011-08-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

I saw this on APOD and wanted to repost- I think very few of us have seen a total lunar eclipse, so my jaw dropped when I saw this. We all love astronomy! Hope you enjoy it too! (And do watch it in full screen if you get the chance! :D )

Here's the description from APOD: "If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer during the total lunar eclipse last month was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video from Tajikistan. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the above video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is a nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the moon becomes eclipsed and fades, the wind dies down and background stars can be seen reflected in foreground lake. Most spectacularly, the sky surrounding the eclipsed moon suddenly appears to be full of stars and highlighted by the busy plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The sequence repeats with a closer view, and the final image shows the placement of the eclipsed Moon near the Eagle, Swan, Trifid, and Lagoon nebulas. Nearly two hours after the eclipse started, the moon emerges from the Earth's shadow and its bright full glare again dominates the sky."

SLS vs... SLS?

2011-08-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Looking at the websites of a couple of skin care companies today, I noticed that both of them mentioned that they one, don't use surfactants, and two, stay away from anything with the words "lauryl" or "laureth" in it (Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, etc). The thought came to me that these statements could mislead some who had never heard the terms... So, having done a mind-boggling amount of research on these terms, I thought I'd post a few links and give some information to help arm you when reading the label of that soap/shampoo/bath bomb/toothpaste etc. Please see the links below to do more research on your own. :-)

First of all... are all surfactants bad in skin care products?
In a word, no- the dictionary simply defines "surfactant" this way: "A substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved". Basically defined (for skin care product use, specifically), a surfactant (technically called a surface active agent) is a substance that one, contributes to emulsifying the product, two, helps whatever you're putting on your skin or hair to glide on smoothly by reducing surface tension between the product and your skin, or three, promotes lathering. That definition could have a wide range of meanings- for example, in lotion, you will often see the ingredient "cetearyl alcohol"- this fatty alcohol is often used in the emulsifying wax that makes lotions stable blends of oil and water, yet it is classified as a surfactant, and is also classified as being not toxic or harmful in skincare products.

That being said... are all surfactants created equal?
Again, no. A big no! Take, for instance, the difference between one group of ingredients- as mentioned earlier, Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, to name a few. I will leave the main explanation to Michelle of Pegasus Soaps (I have to give her full credit for reassuring me with her blog post when I started soapmaking that I wasn't going to be causing my family/friends/customers to get some horrible disease because I used a foaming agent), but here is a list of the basic differences between these seemingly similar ingredients...

Two of these, Sodium Laureth Sulfate (what most people are referring to when they say SLS), and Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (also sometimes referred to as SLS, but also commonly referred to as SLES) are:
1. Chemically derived
2. Rumored to cause cancer
3. Irritating to the skin

And although these are pretty hard to avoid (go grab your generic body wash/shampoo and read the ingredients), many people are learning the risks and trying their best to stay away from them. I mean, come on- even if it only caused skin irritation, if you were looking for a more natural, high quality product, you'd frown and try to find something else.

Now, let's take a quick look at Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate:
1. Derived naturally from coconut or palm oil
2. Safe and not toxic for use on the skin
3. Does not irritate even sensitive skin

Big difference, isn't it? Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (sometimes also called SLS, now it's called SLSA more often than not) is a newer product that creates a wonderfully rich lather without the concerns, but it should not be confused with SLS or SLES. I have used SLSA ever since I started making yogurt soap (dairy in soap cuts down on the lather, unfortunately) and I have had people with very sensitive skin use the soap with no bad effects. The soap rinses cleanly and doesn't strip the skin.

Well, I hope that if you're buying or making bath products you'll take the time to read the labels and do some more in-depth research on what you're using. Can't hurt anything, can it? ;-)

Resources:
Michelle of Pegasus Soaps' original post
Wiki article on "surfactants"
Skin Deep Cosmetics Database info on "Sodium Laureth Sulfate"
Skin Deep Cosmetics Database info on "Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate"

Soap roundup

2011-07-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today I've been working on taking stock of the soap we've made over the past few weeks, and thought I'd share a photo of a couple of the ones people have been loving so far. One lady mentioned that she hung on to her Spiced Apple-Pear butterfly for a few days because at first she thought it was just too cute to use!

Okay, I know you can't smell them, but these recent soaps are scented with Jasmine, and two lovely "soapy" scents- Crystal Blue (an herbal/oceany scent that I have been saving for a while) and Fresh Air (an ozone/fresh scent). All very "mmmmm!" inducing. ;-)

My main goal was to make soap today, but I found that I was just about half an ounce short of the amount of yogurt I needed! I thought I'd have to be patient until tomorrow, but my brothers are rescuing me by stopping to grab some yogurt this afternoon. Two tubs of it- "one for eating, and one for soap", as my older brother said. Thank you, guys!

I also wanted to let everyone know that sometime within the next week I'll be updating our site to include all the recent stock we've made, and adding a full page dedicated to the "made to order" products that we provide- lotion, lip balm, etc. Second, in the near future, we will me making a more detailed Yogurt Soap tutorial and posting it here. We noticed that a lot of people are browsing our last entry about our experiences with yogurt soapmaking, and wanted to give them a bit more info in case they wanted to try it themselves. :-)

Upright mold swirl tutorial

2011-07-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.nizzymoulds.com/BLue%20&%20Yellow.htm

I usually save links to LiveJournal, but it's not loading for some reason... so here I am, with a link for making elegant, yet simple swirls in an upright mold. Check it out!

Update: In unrelated news, I found the reason LJ isn't loading... DDos attacks! *winces*

AWESOME soap gear!

2011-07-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

For Craft's Sake Soap cutters

This is waaaay out of my price range right now, but can you imagine going through your whole log of soap in just a minute or two? LOVE it!

Craft Show tips from Dirty Laundry

2011-07-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to be sure I shared Jeanee's blog posts about preparing for, attending, and cleaning up after craft shows. All three are excellent reads for anyone who wants to sell their crafts at a show (or farmer's market, or open house...) and have the minimum amount of stress, while having the maximum amount of fun and, of course, being professional. Or, anyone who wants to "ooh" and "aah" over a lovely display and adorable products! ;-)

Part one: Before the Show

Part two: During the Show

Part three: After the Show

Thank you, Jeanee, for sharing your years of experience! I came away feeling much more educated, prepared and confident- I gleaned so many tips that I will put into practice when we do sell at craft shows in the future!

Chocolate... essential for all soapmakers

2011-07-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Wanted to save this link:

Ghirardelli's 54-count "build a bag" of chocolate squares

I'm a huge fan of the 60% Dark myself. :-)

Jasmine soap woes

2011-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Just finished a DELICIOUS smelling batch of Jasmine yogurt soap- the weather here is not making it easy... closed toe shoes, fully gloved, mask on, goggles on... on a warm humid day!

I somehow managed to freeze the yogurt I was going to use, and did not discover it until it was time to add it to the soap! Managed to get it pretty well defrosted, but I fear that my tan soap is going to have tiny white yogurt specks. I was laughing at myself because coincidentally, I did this exact same thing to the last batch of Jasmine soap that I made. It was wonderful soap- but had tiny white specks!

Off to make more soap! This weekend's project will probably involve making soap boxes and making coffee... to put in the soap and also in ourselves. ;-)

New yogurt soaps

2011-06-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

We've got a batch of Spiced Apple Pear soaps that have been curing for about 2 1/2 weeks now, and even though the yogurt combined with (I suspect) the touch of vanilla in the fragrance is turning them tan, they're going to be really pretty!

These molds are pretty adorable, aren't they? We've even had guys stop by who have said "that soap is beautiful!" :-)

I made some soap using this same recipe, scented with Citrus & Basil, and we couldn't resist using it. Even at 2 weeks, the soap holds together extremely well, doesn't mush when it sits in water (which surprised me, since it has such a high yogurt content), and lathers and moisturizes beautifully. I'm not going to post pictures of the Citrus & Basil batch because they turned out a bit "cute grunge", as we call them... what that really means is that I waited too long to pour the soap (I was getting the additives mixed in well) and the last few bars ended up pretty chunky in the mold! Oh well, good thing that doesn't affect the quality of the soap! ;-)

The good thing about the "cute grunge" batch was that we have found an excellent "tester bar" or guest bath soap size. We're making more next week, using Jasmine fragrance, and I'll post pictures then.

How to play Cassino

2011-06-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wiki article on how to play Cassino

My youngest brother and I heard about a card game called Cassino and looked up the rules, and then played a few hands. Once you get the rules down it's a lot of fun! It's called a "fishing" game, which means you collect and pair cards as you play. It is very much like "go fish", except you collect cards from the table, not other players' hands. You can also "add" cards to other cards on the table to make them equal the number you're 'fishing' for.

I would highly recommend this game, and it seems especially suited for younger teens who have outgrown "go fish" but are still interested in cards. The end of each complete deal is especially fun, because calculating your points can mean a complete reversal of who you thought was doing well!

Windburn prevention lotion

2011-05-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've never tried a recipe with Allantoin before, but since we're going to be in a very windy stadium this weekend I'm trying a light moisture recipe that will hopefully prevent (or at least soothe!) some of the windburn I know we're all going to get. :-)

80 gr. water

10 gr. palm kernel oil

6 gr. stearic acid

5 gr. em. wax

5 gr. rice bran oil

5 gr. wheat germ oil

2 gr. vit. e

2 gr. wheat protein

2 gr. sodium lactate

1.5 gr. Optiphen preservative

2 gr. allantoin

2 gr. ivy extract

fragrance

This lotion recipe is usually very light on the skin. I need to add the allantoin after the lotion is cooling, when it's at about 90 degrees. I'll let you know how it goes!

Summer S.O.A.P Team!

2011-05-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

I'm coming back from a blogging absence to post about why I'd love to be considered for Bramble Berry's Summer S.O.A.P. team- this has been a good chance for me to get out of the lab (aka, kitchen filled with experiments!) and concentrate on the 'technology' side of soaping... blogging about it! :-)

To begin, my favorite Bramble Berry product (as yet) is the water resistant label paper! That may sound like a strange choice- but I know labeling is an important step in getting our business off the ground, and it's the product I am still the most excited about! What you put on the outside of a product reflects the care that went into the product. It's great to find quality label paper at a great price, and the thing that I was the most thrilled about was that I could buy it a few sheets at a time for testing. It's nice to be able to save money wherever you can when you're just starting to turn your hobby into a business.

A sheet of plain paper, full of label color print tests. Time to make labels!

I would love to be considered for this panel because I am constantly looking for new challenges while working on our business. It's been a bit scary trying to take something that was a fun hobby into the world of small businesses, so my awesome helpers (my Mom and three brothers) and I have done our best to leave our comfort zones and experiment to create things that we think others will like (and that we love!). And, though the business aspect is still in the works, we have already had the best kind of rewards- seeing other people get excited about what we're doing!

Now it's time to take it one step further and start branching out to help others in the crafting community! We've done it on a small scale, answering questions from friends and on forums, and even having friends over to show them that making soap or lotion isn't hard. It feels great to have someone literally jumping up and down because you're showing them how to make soap! But we would also love to contribute something to the companies that we purchase our supplies from to show we appreciate their hard work, which is why I'm volunteering for the S.O.A.P. panel. Plus, who could pass up a chance at something that sounds this fun? ;-)

I'm very fortunate to have four willing family members- we are all very different so when we come together to work on crafts we have a lot to bring to the table. If I am chosen to participate in the S.O.A.P. team, I look forward to getting their first impressions on the scents and their help with the projects. :-)

In either case, I have enjoyed reading the blogs about the last S.O.A.P. team and look forward to reading everyone's experiences with this panel and seeing the results!

Take care, everybody!

Cream of Broccoli Soup recipe

2010-05-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post and share this recipe, since it's so popular around here! I get requests for it whenever we have company, even from people who tell me they hate broccoli as a rule! I found this in an old cookbook when I needed something to use up the last bit of a bag of broccoli that was lurking in the back of the fridge, teetering on the edge of going bad. (Everybody seems to have one of those in the fridge! *l*)

Here goes!

4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli
1/4-1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
pepper (to your taste- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp)

4 tbsp butter (1/4 cup)
4 tbsp flour (1/4 cup)
2 cups milk

salt, to taste
1/4 cup sour cream (optional)

Put the broccoli, onion, chicken broth and pepper in a pot to boil. While this gets to a full boil, melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk the butter until it's bubbling, but careful not to let it burn. Add the flour and whisk until the mixture is completely liquefied. (Make sure the heat stays on medium, or the roux will get too dark very fast and you'll just have a batch of brown gravy starter! *lol*) Add the milk and whisk until the "gravy" is thickened, when it has been boiling and bubbling for about a minute. Remove from heat. All done with phase one!

Let the broccoli pot boil, stirring every now and then, until the broccoli just falls apart when poked with a fork. Your kitchen will also just be beginning to take on that characteristic stink of cooking broccoli. Don't worry, it'll go away, and this is worth it! Now, here's the fun part! Grab any trusty stick blender you have lying around and blend it until you can't see any chunks of broccoli. If you haven't got a stick blender, a blender will do, but please be careful! This stuff is about as dangerous as napalm at this point, and it's easy to get a burn or even a steam burn during its trips from pot to blender and back to pot again. :-( All done with phase two!

Next, add the 'gravy' to the broccoli pot and mix well! I also wanted to mention that if you try to add a fixed amount of salt at the beginning, you can quite easily end up with really salty soup. Gross! So at this point, you can see if your soup needs anything to make the background flavor a nice balance of onion, chicken broth, and black pepper, as well as adding salt. We also add about 1/4 cup of sour cream- it adds a special something to the soup. :-)

Note: This soup is even better the next day! So, conveniently, you can cook it the day before you need it and just warm it up again, and the flavors will all be even better, and the soup very mild and creamy. When we're having company we put out little bowls of cheddar cheese, bacon buts, ham chunks, and even sliced jalapeños, so that people can add it to their soup. We also double the recipe for company (see below. :-D). Enjoy!

Doubled recipe:
8 cups broccoli
1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped
pepper (to your taste- 1/2 to 1 tsp)

8 tbsp butter (1/2 cup)
8 tbsp flour (1/2 cup)
4 cups milk

salt, to taste
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Yogurt Soap Half and Half experiment

2010-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

We've wanted to make another batch of yogurt soap for a while, and when we read MMS' blog posts about making milk soaps using the Half and Half method, we were really excited! We had made yogurt soaps before, but with a lot of hassle- mixing and freezing the dairy and water, stinking up our kitchen with a horrible ammonia scent when we tried to add lye to it, watching it get darker and darker, not knowing if we did something wrong... We liked the feel of yogurt soaps but not the hassle!

Tonight we actually got the chance to try the half and half method for the first time, and we all loved it! Below is the recipe we used- this is what I call a "desperation" batch, in other words, we make it because of wanting to use up older remnants of oils. (I've found that sometimes desperation batches make the best soaps because you are more daring with your ingredients, thinking "well, if I ruin it, who cares? I was just using up some leftover oils anyway!")

25% Palm Kernel oil (approx. 12.6 oz)
27% Olive Oil (approx. 13.6 oz)
17.16% Shea Butter (approx. 8.65 oz)
10% Apricot Kernel oil (approx. 5.04 oz)
10% Wheat Germ oil (approx. 5.04 oz)
5.84% Cocoa Butter (approx. 2.95 oz)
5% Sweet Almond oil (approx. 2.52 oz)

9.576 oz water
9.576 oz yogurt

(optional) 1.575 oz Sodium Lactate
(optional) .8 oz Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate
(optional) .9 oz fragrance (We used Jasmine)

First, we checked the recipe in a lye calculator. Then we measured all the oils, the water, yogurt, and the extras, and put the oils in the microwave for two 30-second bursts to warm them. I also took a couple of tablespoons of the water and mixed it in with the yogurt to make it more liquid.

We got our gloves and goggles on, and we were ready to measure and mix the lye! It tried really hard to cake at the bottom of our pan, but we just kept stirring and it all broke up and dissolved. (We started mixing in the lye while the pan of water was sitting in an ice bath- I'm not sure if that helped it to cake up on us, but next time we'll probably save the ice bath for when the lye is mostly mixed in and needs to cool while we finish getting it all in there.) Once it was all dissolved, we took its temperature, and it was about 115 degrees.

Time to add it to our warmed oils and blend with the stick blender!

We mixed for about two minutes, then added the yogurt and kept mixing! The mixture lightened to a pretty tan when we added the yogurt. No scary ammonia-smelling brown mixture here! :-)

At this point it seemed to come to trace VERY quickly! I barely had time to notice how nice it looked, have my ~~older brother~~ assistant take a few pictures, and add the extras before it was setting up in my bucket! The whole family chipped in to hold the bucket and mold, and spatula the quickly-hardening soap into the mold. In the end we had to have my ~~younger brother~~ other assistant give the mold some good slams on the counter to get some air bubbles out (see photos)!

Fortunately, the soap all made it into the mold and was smoothed out before it set up completely. It reached the gel stage very quickly as well.

This batch was a lot of fun to make! Next time we're definitely going to be more careful about how quickly the soap comes to trace. I mistakenly thought that it would take as long as some of the other large batches we've made, and wasn't prepared when it came quickly to trace with the stick blender and started setting up! We also broke a bit of a soap rule by putting dairy soap in a mold that wasn't shallow, but that was partly because we like this mold shape and partly because we wanted to see how dark the soap would get when we experimented with the half and half method. We also wanted to note that the Jasmine fragrance is very light and pleasant. We put the soap in the garage because some scents are overpowering, but were happy to find that it stayed true. I noticed that it also smells (to me anyway) closer to true Gardenia than a lot of Gardenia scents out there! We'll have to ask around to get opinions but we may end up just calling it Gardenia.

We also had to rework the recipe early on- we had wanted to make a batch that was 25% palm kernel oil, 25% olive oil, 25% shea butter, 10% apricot kernel oil, 10% wheat germ oil, and 5% sweet almond oil, but we didn't have enough shea butter! When we order more supplies we'll have to try this luxury batch again. :-) But we will definitely be using the half and half method- it took a lot of the scariness out of the process and simplified it quite a bit. If you are someone who dreads making milk soap because the process seems daunting, give it a shot!

Our Mom was the 'facilitator', reading out the instructions as we went along and making sure that everything was done in the proper order. It really helped, and I think that's a good tip for making soap! Have one person assigned to keep things in order and on track. We also had our ~~youngest brother~~ third assistant close by to help with taking a few pictures, opening windows, and putting things away as we went. Even in our tiny kitchen, our whole family enjoyed hanging out together and making this easy batch!

ETA: Here are some pictures of the cut soap!

Take a look at a comparison between yogurt soap not made with the half and half method, and the much lighter batch, made using the half and half method. The lighter tan is very nice!

Links:
easy Milk soap directions on the MMS Blog
Magestic Mountain Sage
SoapCalc.net

Site update

2010-01-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I double-checked everything on the site today, including the shipping weights for the soaps. Check it out, and remember- for the time being, all orders over $25 receive free shipping! (Just remember to choose the "Free shipping" option when you pay using PayPal. :D )

Trial, Error, and the Sweet Smell of Sucess (aka, What We've Learned in Two Years of Soapmaking)

2009-12-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

We stumbled onto the path of soapmaking like many others did- we wanted to start a home based business that wouldn't cost too much to start and that we would really enjoy for a long time, not just while we were feeling the initial fun of getting everything going.

I was browsing the internet looking for ways to start a jewelry-making business inexpensively, and somehow ended up on a page that had all kinds of craft ideas- the one that caught my eye was "Soapmaking". I thought "seriously, you can make soap on your own? Isn't that dangerous?" but I read through the page and decided to investigate. Now, many fun batches later, I'm very glad I did! I've had the chance to make soap with my Mom for a few years now, and we wanted to write about some of the things we've learned!

First and foremost, we learned that soapmaking is an incredibly useful hobby/business. As I mentioned, we wanted to start in jewelry-making. But our reaction to the cost of tools and materials was a gasp nearly every time! With the basic ingredients for soap, it was much more reasonable. Even the most exotic butters and oils are usually less expensive, ounce-for-ounce, than that cup of gourmet coffee you probably bought this morning as you dashed off to work. Beyond that, what you make can be used on a daily basis, whether you decide to make it your business or not. So in the long run, you're saving money on personal care products that can be as basic or as luxurious as you want them to be.

If you're kicking around the idea of making a batch of soap, here are some tips that we hope you will find helpful:

1- Don't be afraid of being confused. The first time I realized I could make soap at home, I filled my head with so much information I couldn't sort it out when I rambled it all back to my Mom that evening! It only took a good set of instructions and a few batches of practice to sort everything out in my mind. If you don't feel like you can make soap because you're not sure of the method, or why/why not to do something, just arm yourself with a clear set of instructions from a seasoned soapmaker, make sure you're following the guidelines for safety, and give it a shot. Our first batch of soap cost so little that even if we had ruined it horribly (as I almost did- more on that later) it would have been nothing to shrug our shoulders and try again. We still had plenty of ingredients to work with because of tip number 2...

2- Try to be a one-stop-shopper. Nowadays the internet has everything, but at times it can feel like what you need is spread around ten different websites (all separately charging you shipping and handling!). If you're trying to make soap, lotion, or any other body product for the first time, or even if you're a seasoned soapmaker, we've found that it's really helpful to try and get everything you need from one or two websites. Fortunately, while looking for a good price for shea butter we stumbled upon thesage.com, and found not only the shea butter we were looking for but also an invaluable resource on everything soap/lotion/lip butter, etc. We found a lye supplier that we trust (certifiedlye.com), and haven't looked back! Two sites were all we needed to get everything going, and we've saved a lot of money on shipping alone.

3- Check your recipes on a soap calculator. The first few recipes we used were from a book on soapmaking that was very helpful in alleviating our apprehension and giving us a great set of instructions, and the author did a great job of telling us why the process of soapmaking worked so that we would be better equipped to formulate our own recipes later on. We were so confident that the book was right that we didn't check the recipes against a soap calculator, even though that was part of her advice. Guess what? Her recipes were wrong! To this day, I haven't been able to make sense out of the recipes that got published in her book. What this taught us is that there are many authors of many recipes for soap- but you should always check them against a good calculator. We like to use soapcalc.com for checking the qualities of the soap and the fragrance calculator at thesage for checking how strong our scent will be.

4- Be safe, but have fun! When you've double checked your recipe, gotten your ingredients measured, and donned your safety goggles and gloves, the hard part is honestly over. You'll have some great stories to tell when you've made a few batches, because little mistakes are inevitable but can always be fixed. Part of soapmaking that's so much fun is that looking like a mad scientist is a must! For some reason, all of a sudden all the men in the house will grab their phones and take pictures, asking you to laugh maniacally for effect!

The first time we made soap I was still a bit nervous- we were careful about everything having to do with lye, but since I didn't know exactly what 'trace' looked like, we went the safe route and kept mixing with our stick blender until it was as thick as pudding. (All the experienced soapmakers are cringing right now- that's pretty heavy trace!) We had prepared sections of PVC pipe with vaseline and carefully tied plastic to the bottom so we'd have nice circular bars of soap. While my mom spooned the soap into the pipe, I gently tapped it down... unfortunately, I wasn't holding the plastic as well as the pipe, and it slipped right off! The soap went *SPLOOT* all over the counter and I screamed so loud that everyone in the house came running! By the time we got it all back into a pan, then back into the pipe, it had nearly set up. Even through all that, the soap turned out nicely and didn't look ugly from multiple trips from pan to mold. (Our kitchen did smell like gardenia for a week though...)

The point is, mistakes become funny stories that you learn from. As long as you're being safe, have fun! Others will see how fun soapmaking is and pretty soon you'll have people asking you to teach them how to make their own soap.

Enjoy soapmaking!

Product Update - Spiced Lime and Vanilla Hazelnut

2009-11-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

Spiced Lime and Vanilla Hazelnut soaps have finished their cure and will be available soon for purchase! Check back here or at our website for pricing information.

Product update - Spiced Lime soap

2009-10-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

A batch of 10% shea butter/10% avocado oil/10% wheat germ oil soap scented with Spiced Lime started the month-long cure today!

Soap will be available for purchase on November 14. :-)

Product update - Vanilla Hazelnut soap

2009-10-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

A batch of 10% shea butter/10% almond oil/10% apricot kernel oil soap scented with Vanilla Hazelnut started the month-long cure today!

Soap will be available for purchase on November 14. :-)

Site update

2009-10-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

Finished with the main website, now all I have to do is add products and descriptions!

I also double checked to see if the links work. Have fun browsing!

Product update - unscented Cocoa Butter soap

2009-10-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

100% Natural Cocoa Butter soap finished month-long cure- read description and place order here!

Product update - Green Tea Zinger soap

2009-10-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Green Tea Zinger soap finished month-long cure- read description and place order here!