Sometimes we think ahead....

Monday November 3, 2014

Sometimes we think ahead, sometimes we don't. Today (thankfully) we did.  All this week we will be making CP soaps for Christmas.  These soaps won't be on our Etsy page, and they won't be for sale. They will be given to our friends and family.  

So, spoiler alert! 

If you are a friend or family member and want to be surprised on Christmas morning, look away. Don't read anymore. Close that computer.

Ok, you've been warned.

We decided to make soap with a lovely scent from  www.rusticescentuals.com called Green Tea and Willow.

They describe it as   "a fresh, clean, airy spa type.  It has notes of leafy, green tea and wood with hints of fresh ozone air, melon, bergamot, coriander, night blooming jasmine, watercress, earthen moss, peppergrass, white willow, pink cyclamen, cedar amber, sacred datura and white musk." 

Even with all the ingredients they have created a marvelous clean scent that both of us love.

To give our green color a bit of sparkle we are mixing Green Chrome Oxide from +Bramble Berry  with Diamond Dust Mica from +Natures Garden. (In case you might be wondering, we discovered when we mixed these two that the combination looks strikingly like the Enchanted Forest Mica from Rustic Escentuals.)

In a TBSP of Olive oil (taken from the oil we had measured out for the soap recipe) we added 1/2 tsp. of Green Chrome with 1/4 tsp. Diamond Dust.

The mixed green is on the left and the 24 Karat Gold Mica is on the right (it is also mixed in a TBSP of Olive oil from the oil for the base of the recipe).

Last but not least, from www.rusticescentuals.com we incorporated a nice warm brown mica called Toffeelicious.

Here is the Toffeelicious mixed in the olive oil.

After we added the lye to the distilled water (never add water to lye), we added silk, stirring until it was dissolved.  The silk will add a beautiful shine to the soap when it's cured.

Once we added the silk/lye/water to our oils (coconut, palm, castor and olive) we stick blended until we were barely at light trace. We could barely see tracks of the batter on the surface when dripped off the stick blender.

We divided the batter, placing 2 cups into three separate containers, leaving plenty in the mixing bowl for later.

Here you can see the batter after it has been colored, green, toffee, and gold.

We used the log mold, starting with a layer of non colored batter, then spooning in a layer each of the colored batters.

We created three layers each consisting of uncolored batter and all three colors.

When we had all layers more or less in place and had tamped the batter down several times, we grabbed the hanger and began swirling.

We didn't have a design in mind with the hanger swirl, we just wanted it to be pleasing to the eye when we cut it into slices of soap.

Fingers are crossed!

Once we were satisfied with the hanger swirling, we mounded up the remaining soap to give the top a nice look.  Kathy used a plastic spoon to "fix" the top, trying to mound up in the middle and have scooped out swirly sides.

Finished project.

 Now it will cure for 24 hours.

Actually we let it cure for longer.  

There was no particular reason; we just ran out of time, 

so we cut it Thursday.

Here is the cut soap.

 Looks kind of Christmas-y doesn't it?

The Toffeelicious seems dark red to us, not brown, but this is ok. 

After all, the soap is going to be a Christmas gift.  

It smells so good.

So even though we didn't plan on a Christmas bar, it looks like we have one.

Cure date is December 16th.