So, after nearly 6 months of being workshop-less, I have finally transformed by "junk room" into it's intended workshop status. Being me, I made two batches of soap today, and being the universe (and April Fools Day?), they both gave me grief! The first batch I went in with the intention of finally winning the salt bar battle...I used the regular amount of Coconut Oil, but I changed the second oil. I gave it several hours to set up, and then I went about my cutting it into bars, without really looking at it. Halfway into it, I realized it hadn't finished gelling in the center yet :( We'll see how that turns out!

My other loving creation was a test to see how a mainly Coconut Oil bath bar would work. Oh, and I used some Lanolin for the first time. I got it to a very thin trace, added the Coconut Milk, stirred a teensy bit then left the stick blender in there for just long enough to open my bottle of smellies. I poured in the fragrance oil and tried to stir some more. I couldn't even move the stick blender! I have NEVER had a batch seize so quickly! Luckily I just read yesterday that if that happens, to try pouring in some boiling water. Of course I didn't have any boiling water handy (mainly because I've only had... now 2... batches seize on me), so I used some scalding hot water from the tap. I'm not sure how its gonna turn out, but it definately looked much better than I could have hoped for if I had just stood there and cried (which I was about ready to do). So, I'm not sure what actually made it seize, seeing as how I badly broke the rules and not only used Lanolin for the first time, but also a fragrance oil that I have never used before, AND the extremely high percentage of Coconut Oil. So...... next time I may just do as I've been taught and change only ONE variable at a time.

Or not.

HAHAHAHA - APRIL FOOLS TO ME!

It's still winter...

It's been months, literally, and my excuses are lame, but between the holidays, the snow, and then moving I've been fairly distracted. I haven't made any soaps since mid November and I'm feeling very uncreative :(
I moved into a two bedroom place specifically to have a "studio" in my house, but since I haven't been able to wrangle my workbench down here, it's more like the junk room at this moment. I was just looking at some other blogs and the pictures of soap "porn" they've put up and it makes me want to run in my kitchen and throw everything off the counters just so I can make a loaf (or two).
So I guess after three months, that's about all I have to say... and yes, I was partying with my family on January 20th!