Christmas Sugar Cookie

Oh I love this scent so much!  It's the Yankee Candle dup with the same name.  It smells good enough to eat LOL  And the soap is really pretty too!

The base is a creamy white with red and blue swirls.  The loaf is topped with white "icing" soap that is sprinkled with diamond glitter and lots of sprinkles (you can't have sugar cookies without sprinkles!)   Here's some pics:

And now, TA DA... how about pics of the bars?  These are so cool!!!

I had a little extra soap left over so I decided to make some cupcakes too!  They are really pretty - they look good enough to eat (and smell good enough to eat too!). 

These will be ready to use on Nov/28th so I'll be listing them in my Etsy store on Nov/14 (always at least 2 weeks prior to the ready to use date).   I want to offer them in time for Christmas gift giving.  Wouldn't it be so cool to give soap like this for a Christmas present? 

Christmas Sugar Cookie

Yesterday I soaped "Christmas Sugar Cookie" -- this is a dup of the Yankee Candle scent and I absolutely love it!  I had fun with this soap because I was able to use real sugar cookie sprinkles on it LOL 

I got up this morning and checked the loaf and it had finished gelling overnight and was cooled down so I was able to remove the loaf from the mold.  I have the freezer paper peeled off and I'm letting the sides "air" a little bit before I slice the loaf.  Oh my goodness, it smells so good already!  If it were real sugar cookies to eat, I'd be having one right now with my cup of coffee.

The "Christmas Sugar Cookie" soap has swirls of red and blue with a white icing topper that is sprinkled with lots of "sprinkles" and also some glitter.  The soap loaf turned out very pretty!  I'm very happy with the results.  I might go ahead and make another loaf and use red and green swirls too....

I'll take some pics of the soap loaf and get them uploaded on this post a little bit later!

Laundry Soap

Just to let you know what I'm soaping today.... Laundry Soap!

Yes, laundry soap - this is the soap that I personally use to make my homemade laundry detergent. Laundry soap is made from 100% lard and lye... that's it!

There are two different ways to scent your homemade laundry detergent - the first way is to start with scented "laundry soap". So, for this batch (in keeping everything natural) I scented this loaf with peppermint essential oil. This is the first batch that I've made scented with peppermint EO. So, I'm a bit anxious to see how the homemade laundry detergent that I make with it turns out :-)

The 2nd way to scent your homemade laundry detergent is to start out with unscented, plain laundry soap and add essential oil to your completed batch of laundry detergent. I don't prefer this method because it seems to take so much more essential oil than the first method.

Laundry detergent is easy to make from laundry soap, borax and washing soda. And it's a natural product that isn't filled with lots of chemical names that you can't pronounce. I've read that it's safer on septic systems and also better for the environment. An added benefit is that it is low sudsing and great for the new high efficiency washing machines!

I just checked on the laundry soap loaf and it's beginning to heat up and gel. I also poured several small sample sizes that I will be giving away as freebies in my Etsy orders about a month from now (after the soap has had time to cure out). I will also include the appropriate amount of borax and washing soda with the soap samples so that customers can make their own homemade laundry detergent and give it a try in their washing machines.

My plans for the future include offering an unscented, an essential oil scented (like the peppermint or maybe another EO) and a fragrance oil scented laundry soap. I will keep everyone updated on when these will be available in our Etsy soap store.

Tonight I have several soaps to make - first, the Christmas Sugar Cookies. I can't wait to make this soap. It's in the fragrance dup of Yankee Candles "Christmas Sugar Cookies". I LOVE LOVE LOVE that smell!

The next one that I am planning on soaping tonight is the "Iced Cranberry Citrus". I'll be doing the "mantra" swirl which I love doing. I just love how the swirls turn out. Plus, it's a fun swirl to do.

The last one (that I hope I have time to soap) is going to be our Lush "Karma" dup - which I'm calling "Love & Peace". This scent so reminds me of the 60's! I can barely remember the 60's with the "love & peace and not war" thing going on. I can remember the vivid, bright colors, the peace sign... So, I'm going to incorporate hearts and flowers into this soap loaf! I really think it's going to be a fun soap to make and I can't wait to share it with you!