Handicraft & Art Projects

Here is an article about how fragrance oils can affect your soap. I have bought fragrance oils from naturesgarden.com and brambleberry.com, and they both have helpful information about how each oil works with cold process soap.

https://northwoodcandleandcraft.com/blogs/news/cold-process-soap-fragrance-oils?srsltid=AfmBOorZjsZmxR3zp7BanwcUjXcrHk6H80hly3Rzya7rK-cnyyxhGRex

Also, my daughter, Grace, and I made soap a few days ago. We had to heat the oils in the microwave because they had been in my freezing cold car. She got hers a little warm but still in the correct temperature range, around 90 degrees. Her soap set up really quickly and was so thick she had to scoop it into the mold with a spoon and smoosh it down. She had wanted to make a swirl design but it was difficult. So we learned that temperature makes a big difference.

Originally soap was made from ashes. Here’s someone showing how the ashes were used to produce lye:

https://freshwater-reporter.com/making-soap-with-ashes/

Here are links to where I bought some of our supplies. I just bought exactly what the lady in the videos recommended. Apparently some colors and fragrances are easier to work with than others, and she chose some that would be good for beginners:

https://www.naturesgardencrafts.com

https://www.madmicas.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooRA9IFen6C85Cmcu3-EGRzJXpOWWx_1_KcruEm24oqyJ8k0ukG

Here is the YouTube channel where we are watching soap videos. I have only made soap using this recipe. Remember that if you want to branch out, it’s important to either use a good recipe, or learn the science so you can create your own. You have to know what you are doing and measure carefully, or you could have soap that doesn’t turn out well or that is too harsh for skin. This is a good place to start:

This painting was inspired by a stanza from the poem “The Palace of Art” by Alfred Lord Tennyson:

“Or in a clear-wall'd city on the sea,

Near gilded organ-pipes, her hair

with white roses, slept Saint Cecily;

An angel look'd at her.”

Here is the entire poem if you’d like to read it:

Hi everyone, I’m sorry yesterday was kind of chaotic! I really was prepared, but once I had TV trouble I just became totally flustered. I think next week will be better. If you didn’t get to make lye solution yesterday, don’t worry. You will get a chance next week. Here is the plan going forward:

Next week we will watch a video on how to make our first batch of soap. Then we will divide into groups of 2-3 and make soap, using the lye solution that some of you mixed up yesterday. After we make soap, we will mix up lye solution for the next week’s soap. (The reason we make it in advance is because lye + water is an exothermic reaction—it produces a lot of heat. But it has to cool down before you can use it.) The soap will at at first be runny, kind of…