Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Over at the Homestead Notes blog, they made the Soap Queen project: Celebration Soaps! I like the patriotic color scheme that they devised, especially with Flag Day coming up on June 14.
If you miss this project, click here to review the instructions.
The Soap Queen blog will be doing a multi-part tutorial on making these fun Pinwheel Soaps, starting tomorrow.
If you missed the article on how to make these soaps, here is the how-to tutorial. Click here to see how to make this very easy, Celebration soap.
All commenters to the Soap Queen blog for the next 7 days will be entered to win the kit to make this soap. It’s the exact same soap mold and products that I used on air. Hopefully it will bring another soaper “Good Press” luck too.
PS – Mori on TeachSoap Forum, the second bar of soap is what happens when you use a “bleeding” color in melt and pour soap.
This is a short video showing the final layer being poured in the loaf soap. Notice that a very thin layer has formed on the top of the soap. The loaf soap has been cooling for approximately 2 minutes. The teal soap is very viscous and thick. It is within a minute from setting up completely.
The thicker the melt and pour soap is, the better it keeps a distinct swirl.
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Happy Sunday!
I’ve had a busy day perfecting/ruining chocolate lip balm. This week of The Soap Queen blog will focus on chocolate lip creams. Yummy. I gained a few pounds (strategically placed on my thighs, I’m sure) eating the lip balm samples.
The lovely (improbable) cupcake is a freshly made pink cherry cream amigurumi cupcake, shaped like a bear.
To learn more about the artist or to visit her etsy shop, click here: amigurumikingdom.etsy.com/
I am sorry to report that The Soap Queen blog is still locked down from posting new articles. I have lots to report on too – finishing up the 3-D soap mold tutorial, visiting Open Sundaes in Vancouver and more cupcakes. And this week, assuming the blog gets unlocked, I will be able to post on cream soap experiments too! My fingers are crossed that Monday will be the day that Blogger is able to review the site and determine that it’s not a link-farming, spam site. =)
Anne-Marie
Some disturbing information came out recently from the American Institute for Research. Apparently, more than half of the students that were nearing graduation at a four-year college were found lacking in basic literacy skills to handle “complex tasks.” Some examples of “complex tasks” were things like analyzing arguments in newspaper editorials or understanding credit card offers.
In a study by the Pew Charitable Trust, 50% of college grads were found lacking in simple life skills. Simple life skills were defined as having the math skills to balance your checkbook, figuring out restaurant tips and understanding news stories.
All of these findings bode badly for the continuing threat of India and China as the world’s superpowers.
It also isn’t good for young upcoming entrepreneurs in general; if you can’t balance a check book, how will you figure out your basic profit & loss every month, let alone figure out if you’re making money on a single product?
One of their beautiful little finishing touches here is hand made soap that they make at the resort. I was so thrilled that I literally slipped and practically fell on the marble floor because I was running so fast to see, touch and smell the soap.
I used the Lemongrass one in our outdoor shower this morning. It was amazing. I desperately want the recipe. I’ve tried explaining to our adorable butler boy that I’m a soap queen and simply must have the el secreto recipe but so far, no recipe has been forthcoming. I’m not giving up though. I’m going to send him a signed copy of our soapmaking DVD and maybe that will loosen some lips!
It takes a lot of work to set up a soapmaking studio. My first one was in the guest bedroom of my old house. It was about 400 square feet and even that wasn’t enough room. I still exploded out into other part of the house with my growing soap business. The living room had a dining room table made out of soap and 5 gallon buckets and there was an entire area that a kitchen table should have been that turned into a very comprehensive little wrapping line. Plus, the storage of all the soap? It ended up in bathroom cabinets! I really liked seeing both of these set ups. They are both way more organized than mine ever was!
Here’s a fun look at someones (even smaller!) soap studio.
This is an impressively designed soap studio in a garage.
It’s official. We are now watching more t.v. than ever as a nation. The numbers are astonishing. The average US household watched eight hours and 14 minutes (what, only half of a show?!) PER DAY last official t.v. season according to Nielsen Media Research. Not to worry, each individual American only watched four hours and 35 minutes a day. Both figures are the *highest ever* in Neilsen Media history of tracking t.v. (some 50-plus years).
This is disturbing on so many levels, and not just for cottage industry start-ups (such as myself) that are constantly looking for more time in the day to do our ever-increasing task list. Aren’t we supposedly lagging as a nation in the competitiveness scale against India and China? I’m betting they don’t watch as much t.v. as we do.
But, I digress… This blog is all about soap, the finer things in life and running a small business. Each of the average Americans cited in the study could actually run a small business fairly efficiently if they turned off their t.v. It takes about 30 minutes to make melt and pour soap and about 60 minutes to make a batch of cold or hot process soap. That leaves you a full three hours and thirty-five more minutes to package your soap, market your soap and work on having a small, cottage industry that provides a nice savings account for your family or perhaps a very nice vacation every couple of years.
Do something nice for you and your family. Turn the t.v. off. Go make some soap and start saving for that great family vacation today.
