The other day, I set out to make a great loaf of multi-layered soap. I carefully melted, scented, colored, and poured each layer. I gently textured the top as it hardened. I patiently waited until the next day so the soap would be fully set before I unmolded it.

And here’s what happened to my bars of soap:

The reason was that the soap I used for the yellow and green layers was remelted from another project and the soap I used for the pink and white layers was a freshly opened 1 lb. bar.

Let this be a lesson: Always use the same base for multi-layer pours to ensure better adhesion.

Not the type to give up (or waste three pounds of soap!), I came up with another idea.

First, I melted a pound of clear glycerin soap in my handy crock pot.

Then, I cut my split loaf into cubes.

Next, I scented the clear soap (with the same fragrance oil as the other soap).

I poured a small layer of clear into a silicone loaf pan, sprayed it with alcohol, took a handful of cubes, sprayed them with alcohol, and put them into the loaf pan, adding more clear soap over the top and spraying with more alcohol.

(The alcohol helps the solid soap adhere and it pops the air bubbles on the top of the melted soap.)

After that set, I repeated the process, first spraying the set layer with alcohol.

Here is my final loaf.

I cut it into large 4 oz. body bars and half-sized 2 oz. hand soap bars.

This recipe uses equal parts beeswax, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil.  Because coconut oil is solid at room temperature, it helps the lip gloss stay firm in the container, but because it turns liquid as it heats up, it is very wet and glossy on your lips – perfect for summer!

I used Watermelon flavor oil and Rose Pearl mica, both from Bramble Berry, but you can use any flavor and color combination that reminds you of summer fun.

You will need:

2 teaspoons (lightly packed) of grated beeswax
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons sweet almond oil
Lip safe flavor oil, such as watermelon
Lip safe colorant, such as Rose Pearl Mica
Double boiler, or pot and a metal or glass bowl that fits on top of it
Spoons (also place one or two in the freezer, for testing)
Twist-up lip balm tubes or other containers
Droppers

Melt the wax and oils in your double boiler or a bowl set atop a pot with a small amount of simmering water in it.

Stir in 10-15 drops of flavor oil and a couple of heaping .15 cc mini scoops of mica.  Test color and flavor by dipping a frozen spoon in quickly.  Adjust color or flavor, as needed.

Using a dropper, fill your containers.  This recipe should make 4 twist-up tubes of lip gloss.

Allow to fully set.

Enjoy your sweet and juicy summer lip gloss!

The thing about this loaf is that it is free form.  You can place the lemon slices any way you want.  You can make the meringue layer taller or shorter.  I hate to pin down numbers, but a tutorial needs numbers, so here are the numbers from my latest batch, along with some other things you’ll need.

35 oz (weight) clear melt and pour base

16 oz (weight) white melt and pour base, such as goat milk

Six cavity silicon muffin pan

Loaf mold (40 oz. size)

Hello Sweet Thang! fragrance oil or other sweet lemon fragrance

Yellow mica

Spray bottle filled with alcohol

Basic soap-making gear

Melt 5 oz. of clear base and color with two heaping .15 cc mini scoops of yellow mica (~1/8 teaspoon).  Evenly divide into the 6 cavities of the silicone muffin pan and spray with alcohol to remove any bubbles.  Set aside to fully harden.

Once the lemons are hard, melt 14 oz. of clear base and add fragrance.  You do not need to color this soap because the yellow from the lemon slices will bleed into it, giving it a touch of color.  (The amount of fragrance you use is a personal preference.  I don’t like a strong fragrance, so I am not listing the amounts I used.  Your fragrance oil vendor should have a recommended usage rate.)  Pour a thin layer of soap into the loaf mold and spray with alcohol to remove the bubbles.  Cool long enough to allow a skin to form.  While you are waiting, cut your yellow circles in half to make your lemon wedges.

You are now going to place 6 lemon slices in the loaf.  Spray the clear soap layer and the slices liberally with alcohol and push the lemon slices into the soap, as pictured.  Do not worry about the wrinkles in the soap.

Once the slices are arranged, spray again and pour the remaining melted soap into your loaf mold, being careful not to knock the slices over.  If you do, try to stand them back up.  If they don’t stand up, that’s okay too.  Your soap will look fine.  Spray the top with alcohol to remove any bubbles.  Allow to cool.

(See, no more wrinkles!)

Melt the remaining 16 oz of clear base and fragrance it.  Allow to cool slightly.  (Too hot soap will melt the lemon slices.)  Position the remaining 6 slices in the loaf, this time with the flat side up.  Remember to spray all soap surfaces with alcohol for good adhesion of layers.  Pour the melted soap into the mold.  Spray the top to get rid of any bubbles.

After the loaf has hardened enough to hold the layer of white soap (it can still be soft in the middle), melt the 16 oz of white soap base and add fragrance.  Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, until it starts to get thick.  Spray the loaf with alcohol and pour the white soap on top.  Continue to stir, swirl, or pat the soap with the back of a spoon, until meringue-like peaks form.

Allow to harden completely.  Remove from mold.  Slice and enjoy!

I do, however, have some tasty Cinco de Mayo recipe links.  Cinco de Mayo is this coming Wednesday.  Even though it is not a holiday most of us have any reason to celebrate, it is a great excuse to go all out with a tasty Mexican meal.

I am going to make these Easy Chicken Fajitas, from Food & Wine, and my favorite Vegetable Enchiladas, from Everyday Food.  I love that enchiladas recipe!

For dessert, how about some homemade Churros or Mexican Brownies, both from Food Network?  Or, if you prefer, Joy the Baker has a recipe for Tres Leches Cake and a few words about falling in love.

Let’s not forget the drinks!  Pick your poison: Classic Margaritas or Frozen Strawberry Margaritas.

Enjoy the fiesta!

For each flower, you will need:

5 rectangles of tissue paper, 2.5 x 5 inches each
a foam ball, approx. 1.25 inch diameter
1 LED, any color (I used a T1 3/4 size)
a 2032 3v lithium button battery
floral tape
regular tape
a wire stem (optional)

Wrap one piece of tissue paper around the ball, and twist the ends like a candy wrapper.

Remove the ball and trim one end of the tissue just past the twist.  Repeat with the other four sheets of tissue.

Assemble the LED and battery.  The longer wire goes on the + side of the battery, the shorter one on the other side.  Secure in place with tape.  The LED should be lit.

Gather the long ends of the five petals and group them around the LED, cups opening in toward the LED, and secure with tape.  I found it easiest to put the ends of tissue side by side on the piece of tape, cups facing up.  Then, I wrapped the tape around the LED, surrounding it with petals, making sure the first and last petal were next to each other.  Spread the petals out from the LED.

Wrap the ends of tissue, LED, and battery with floral tape for a finished look.  You can also attach a wire stem and wrap the entire thing with floral tape.

Now your flower is finished.  You can make an arrangement in a wine glass or a basket, using all LED flowers or combining them with non-lit flowers.

Or you can wear one in your hair when you go to the science fair or Comic-Con. =)

I prefer a simple recipe that uses only beeswax and a liquid oil, such as olive or sunflower.  I also like to add a few drops of vitamin E oil and sometimes an essential oil, such as peppermint.

Your lip balm can go into any container, but I love to use twist-up tubes that you can find at a soap making supply company.

Melt 1 part beeswax and 1 to 2 parts* oil in a bowl set on top of a pan with an inch or so of simmering water.

When the wax is melted, carefully remove the bowl from the heat and add a few drops of vitamin E oil and a few drops of peppermint essential oil.  Then, for a colored lip tint, add a little bit of lip safe mica.

Using a dropper, fill the tubes or other containers.

Then, allow it to set until fully cooled and hardened.

Enjoy your lip balm!

* If this is your first time making lip balm you might want to start with the least amount of oil and test the consistency.  Then you can add more oil, if needed.  To test, take a spoon that has been in the freezer and dip it in your lip balm mixture.  The lip balm will harden on the cold spoon.  Try it out on your lips!  Adjust oil, as needed.  (I got the spoon idea from this Soap Queen TV episode about making candles, which is a similar process to making lip balm.)

My Easter started out with me remembering that I forgot to boil the eggs for coloring, so I got right out of bed and got to work.  While I was in the kitchen, I made a batch of rolls, which came out perfect, like little fluffy pillows of buttery, bready goodness.

After the eggs and rolls were done, I put the finishing touches on my desserts and prepared the platter for lunch.

Last night, I was looking up how long I needed to cook the ham for, so I could plan a preparation schedule, and I found the best ham recipe ever.  No, I mean ever.  It was so amazing.  And, I had fresh syrup from the sugar house we visited last weekend, which made it all the more so.

The rest of the dinner consisted of mashed red potatoes (with skins), asparagus, corn, sauteed peas and red onions, and of course, those amazing rolls.

Then, the desserts.  I told you before what I was making for desserts, but then I realized that I had nothing chocolate, so I added these  Baker’s Mousse Bars.

Here is the torte that I made with the strawberry and mango sorbets.  The icing is made with whipping cream, powdered sugar, lime juice, and lime zest.  I did not like the icing.  Also, the mango sorbet was too tart for me.  I will make this again, but I will use two layers of the strawberry sorbet and normal whipped cream icing (ie vanilla instead of lime).  Still, it was pretty.

The Vanilla-Almond Fruit Tart, via Kraft, was so delicious.  The crust is made from crushed Nilla wafers and toasted almonds.  The cream is made from instant vanilla pudding, whipped cream (the recipe calls for Cool Whip – yuk), and almond extract.  It was delicious.  (I said that already, but it bears repeating.)

Last, but not least, the Carrot Cake Cupcakes, via Martha.  Oh.  My.  God.  They were so amazingly good.  I cannot even tell you.

But, what’s better than amazing, moist, supremely delicious carrot cake cupcakes?  Amazing, moist, supremely delicious carrot cake cupcakes displayed on my new Martha Stewart cupcake tree from Macy’s.

The photos just can’t do it justice.  (Although, the photo at the Macy’s link above does a good job.)

And here’s a close-up of the star of this little show.

Yum!

So, tell me, what goodies did you have this Easter?

I wanted to tell you about this before the special $12 price ends. Friday is the last day, then it goes up to $15.

Head on over and check out the new issue. While you’re there, poke around her site – it’s really something!

First, make sure you get out there and buy all the good Easter candy before it’s gone.  I’ve already bought all of mine.

Now, I am planning the Easter dinner.  The first place to start: dessert.  Of course.  Really, it’s the most important part.

So far, I have the following:

Vanilla-Almond Tart, by Kraft.  This recipe looks so simple and good.  It uses Jello instant pudding and Cool Whip for the filling.  I know it might seem like cheating, but it is just so darn good.  I use real whipped cream in place of the Cool Whip in every recipe like this I have ever made.  It makes all the difference.

Fruit and Cream Cake, by Betty Crocker.  The one I am making is basically like this, but it’s made from a sheet cake, cut into thirds and filled with mango and raspberry sorbets or sherbets, or whatever.  The recipe is in a free calendar I got from Betty Crocker and I don’t want to dig it out right now.  The recipe at the link is the basic concept, though.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, by Martha Stewart.  I love carrot cake.  So do the kids.  It’s an Easter staple around here.  This year, I am going cupcake, using some adorable Easter cupcake liners by Wilton, with cute chick and bunny picks.  I will not be doing the fancy-pants toppers that Martha made, but only because I don’t have the springerle mold.

I do not need to do a trial run of any of these desserts (I don’t miss those days), so I won’t have pictures until the day or two before Easter.  There are, however, pictures at the links, which are far better than any I could take.

What desserts are you making for Easter?  Or, if you aren’t making dessert, what is your favorite Easter dessert?

Cold process soap making involves mixing oils with a lye and water solution. The resulting chemical reaction, called saponification, creates soap.  There is no lye left in the soap when the saponification is complete.

Lye is a caustic substance – ie it can burn you – so there are some safety rules you should follow.

Before you start making soap, watch this video from about.com on lye solution safety.

About.com Candle & Soap Making is an excellent resource for beginner soap makers.

Also check out their step-by-step photo tutorial on making cold process soap and the basic soap making video.

Another good resource is Teach Soap and the Teach Soap forum, created by the owner of Bramble Berry Soapmaking Supplies, Anne-Marie Faiola.  Anne-Marie’s blog, The Soap Queen, is loaded with lots of fun tutorials and other information for the soap maker.

Anne-Marie also has a YouTube channel, called Soap Queen TV.  Coming in April is a series of Soap Queen TV episodes on cold process soap making basics.

A wonderful book for beginning soapers is The Everything Soapmaking Book, by Alicia Grosso.  That is what I used when I started cold process soap making and it is great.

You can use many different things as a mold to make cold process soap.  I prefer a wooden mold, but when I first started out, I didn’t want to invest that much money, so I used a silicone bread pan.  They make great soap molds, but they are floppy, so if you use one, make sure you support it.  I use a shoebox.

A good starter recipe that does not require any fancy oils is a good place to start.  You can find all of the ingredients at the grocery store (except maybe the lye, but you can usually find that at the hardware store in the plumbing section – make sure it is 100% lye!).  Hold off on buying a bunch of fancy supplies until you decide that you like soap making.

Below is the first recipe I ever made, as recorded in my soap making notebook.  It uses olive, coconut and castor oils.  You can find castor oil in the pharmacy section of your supermarket, with the laxatives.  The castor oil gives the soap a very creamy feeling.  I personally don’t like it very much, so I don’t normally use castor oil anymore, but a lot of people like it.

Olive, Coconut, and Castor Oil Soap, 3-Pound Loaf

6.8 oz lye
16.2 oz water

31.5 oz olive oil
16 oz coconut oil
1.5 oz castor oil

All measurements are in weight ounces.

A few more tips:

• Always run your recipe through a lye calculator to make sure you use the correct amount of lye.  I have found mistakes in the recipes in soap making books!
• Make sure you have enough time to devote to making your soap, without any distractions.
• Have all of your materials ready ahead of time, before you mix anything.
• Be safe!
• Raw soap will hurt like the dickens if you get it on a paper cut!!
• Record everything you do in a notebook, for future reference and to see how far you’ve come.
• Have fun!