Grandma and Me Soaps

Companion Birds

2011-05-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

The main purpose of my blog is blogging about making soap and the things I’m doing in my little business, but sometimes I leap off the beaten path and discuss something different such as stuffing for Thanksgiving, trips to see my kids, etc.

I'm leaping off the path today to talk about birds. I never had a bird while growing up. Charlie (my husband) had a Timneh Gray several years ago, but it went to his wife when they divorced. I had always wanted finches and eventually had an indoor aviary built. I bought four different pairs of finches to live in my aviary, and loved to watch them raise their little families. Finding good homes for their babies when they fledged was easy. Several months after setting up the finches we bought an African Gray parrot and named her Logan.

When we started thinking about adopting a parrot, we did our homework first. We researched all different breeds of birds in order to determine which breed/personality would fit into our lives. We knew this would be a lifelong commitment. By lifelong commitment I mean possibly 60+ years. There are so many breeds of birds and each breed has its good points and not so good points. We finally decided on the African Gray due to their intelligence and personality.

We knew a breeder in Oldsmar, Florida, and on a June afternoon he brought Logan to us. Logan was 5 weeks old and still being hand fed formula 3 times a day. We had never hand fed a baby bird before so we had arranged for our friend Dennis who also raised birds to take care of her until she was down to 2 feedings a day. Although Dennis was providing the care, we were constantly over at his house interacting with Logan and learning how to correctly syringe feed her.

Not everyone is cut out to formula feed a baby bird. You cannot be in a hurry, you have to be very careful with the temperature of the formula or you can burn the crop, which leads to all kinds of problems and very often death not to mention the possibility of aspiration, which since birds cannot cough will lead to pneumonia or a lung infection.

The day came when we were able to bring Logan home. She was down to 2 feedings a day. Even though we had been formula feeding her several times a week for many weeks we had Dennis. Preparing the formula and feeding Logan ourselves was nerve racking. She was easy to feed and soon it became second nature to us. Dennis had started to introduce Logan to diced veggies and fruit, so we were able to continue and finally weaned her onto pellets at 16 weeks of age.

Logan

Logan was DNA tested when she came home and we found out we had a little girl. She bonded to me, but would go to my husband too. If Charlie was holding her and she saw me, she would g

o around any obstacle to get to me. But Charlie was the only one who could actually take her out of her cage. If I put my hand in her cage to have her step up onto my fingers, she'd bite the fire out of me. I don't know why, but she just didn't like me to invade her cage. Other than that she was the most loving creature. She started talking early at 6 months of age and talked up a storm.

African Gray's are usually superb talkers. Not only do they talk, they know what they are talking about. Logan's first word was Logan. She knew her name. She called me mama and Charlie Daddy. She knew our dog’s names and called them correctly. When she wanted a walnut she'd ask for a walnut, not grape, corn or anything else. Dr. Pepperberg's book "Alex and Me" is a wonderful book to read.

Dr. Pepperberg wrote the book, which details her life with Alex an African Gray parrot, which was the center of a research project that spanned 30 years.

Logan loved nutriberries, avi-cakes and tacos, but would eat just about anything we gave her. Often birds become picky eaters and their caregivers have to become pretty inventive to get them to eat the things they need, such as pellets. Logan was not a picky eater, although she had her favorites.

There are several no no's that a caregiver of a bird or birds must follow. Teflon is out the door, any Teflon product. Teflon heated at high temperatures emits a toxic gas that is deadly for birds. Unfortunately I didn’t know self-cleaning ovens were coated with Teflon. Candles with led wicks, cleaning detergents such as bleach, Pine-sol, etc. The chemicals are poison for birds. Their bones are hollow to allow for flight, so anything that can be breathed in will circulate through their bodies quickly.

Birds view their human companions as flock members and really enjoy sharing food. Logan would eat whatever we were eating for breakfast, lunch if we were home and dinner. She could not have onions, avocados, and the pits from fruit, tea, coffee or chocolate. She loved tacos and would eat a good share of mine. Actually anything I was eating was exactly what she wanted, and if possible got.

Logan had a large cage in our living room. First thing in the morning I would open her door and she would come out onto her porch perch and eat her breakfast. I put her back into her cage when we left for work and the minute we returned home she was out again. She stayed out until we went to bed. She had several toys in her cage to occupy her time alone and we always left the radio on. She took her showers when I did, sitting on her shower perch attached to the shower wall by suction cups. We always told Logan where we were going and that we’d be back.

Because birds are flock animals like dogs are pack animals, they thrive with company. They do not do good alone and love to be where the action is. Birds, especially parrots are highly intelligent and require interaction on a daily basis with their human flock members. Some breeds of birds are very nervous and although they like to be included in the action, they don't necessarily want to be in the middle of it. Watching from a safe distance is just fine with them.

By “included in the action”, I do not mean that 2-year-old Susie or Tommy should be allowed to have physical contact with the bird unless the caregiver is closely supervising and I mean closely. Any bird can bite, all birds will bite at some time or other, but large birds bite hard. They can draw blood in a heartbeat and if the bird is really large such as a Macaw or Cockatoo, can take off a small finger. So supervision is mandatory.

Parrots and Cockatoos can become neurotic if left alone without entertainment. They need toys to entertain them and foraging toys to keep their mind stimulated. If they don't have these things they may start to screech or over preen until they have plucked all their feathers out. The neurotic behavior can get worse until they mutilate their own bodies, become sick and die.

I can't count all the stories I have read and heard from people who have taken on what we call “rescue” birds. Birds that have been neglected and therefore started biting, screaming or plucking. These birds had been regulated to the back bedroom, out of sight, mind and hearing. When a bird gets put out of sight and mind, then most of the time they are not fed, watered or interacted with daily. I have seen pictures of cages full of filth, green water and little if any food. The bird in poor health and slowly dying.

Parrots and Cockatoos can live upward to 60+ years. The smaller cousins such as Cockatiels, Quakers, etc., can live 30+ years. Could you imagine living out your life in a cage put into a back room without any companionship for 60 years? Never getting out of your cage, maybe or maybe not getting fresh water and food daily? Just the four walls to look at. What a terrible way to exist.

For a minute, let’s talk about the intelligence of a parrot or cockatoo. These birds can over the years develop the intelligence comparable anywhere from a two-year-old to a seven or eight-year-old and some much further. So therefore, you would not put a two-year-old in a crib or playpen in a back room or bedroom 24/7 without any toys, food or water, so why would anyone treat a bird in such a way?

Unfortunately, many birds live this way because their owners are too selfish to give the bird to a good home, but would rather hold out for money. Money they may never get, so the bird suffers. Jumping off my soap box…………

In November 2008, Logan began acting different. She would hold one wing lower than the other and just didn't talk as much as she usually did. We immediately took her to her avian vet. After several tests she was diagnosed with an infection and put on antibiotics for 7 days.

Birds usually don't immediately show when they are sick. In the wild being sick means death, so they mask it for as long as possible. After the first course of antibiotics she improved and was talking, singing and acting normal. Within a couple weeks we were at the vets again. When this continued, I contacted another avian vet in Tampa.

He immediately ordered X-Rays and the results were not good. Her right lung was cloudy, she had pneumonia. He started her on a different antibiotic, again she showed improvement. After the course of antibiotics he took another X-Ray, the pneumonia was still present. He now thought she may have aspergillosis, an infection caused by mold, and very deadly in birds. We agreed to a biopsy. Dr. Halmer called us after he finished the biopsy and Logan had woke up. He said it looked like a cesspool in her lung. He suctioned out the fluid and sent it along with some biopsies of her lung to be analyzed.

Birds don't just lye still on an X-Ray table, they have to be anesthetized. So with two X-Rays and one biopsy, she had been put under three times in just as many weeks. The pathology report showed no mold spores, which puzzled Dr. Halmer. He put her on a new antibiotic, which was injected into her leg. We took her to his office every morning for seven days. Her little legs were so sore; she would slowly step up onto my finger.

By this time I was supplementing her meals twice a day with formula mixed with baby food to help her gain weight. The treatments continued, one after another with the hope that the infection would be cured. But, early on a Monday morning in February, when I uncovered her, she was balancing on her perch by holding onto the cage bar with her beak. She let me take her out of her cage without any problem. I held her to me and knew she was not going to win her battle. I called into work and told them I'd not be in because I was taking my baby to the vet.

When we got there she was unable to keep her breakfast down and even though they put her in an oxygen tank, it was clear she was suffering. She wanted to be out and held by me. I will never forget having to make that impossible decision to have her put to sleep nor will I ever forget walking out of the room with her running back and forth in the oxygen tank watching us leave, like she was saying "Hey, where are you going, don't leave me." She had been left so many times before and she knew it was never good.

They brought her to us after she had passed and we took her home and after Charlie built her a little box and I lined it with satin, we buried her in the yard. I have never felt so much pain and sadness in my life. Still today three years later while typing this, I can't help but cry.

We now know why the pathologist could not find mold spores. Logan died of Teflon poisoning not Aspergillosis. I had cleaned my oven twice before she showed signs of sickness. Although I thought I was taking the correct precautions by moving her cage outside while the self cleaning cycle was on, and then leaving her outside until the house no longer smelled. I didn't know then that the Teflon particles stay in the air for hours after the oven has cooled and we humans can no longer smell the fumes. In fact, at that time I didn't even know the oven was coated with Teflon, but knew the fumes gave me a headache.

Logan's treatments were expensive. We spent over $4,000.00, but we would have spent any amount because we loved her that much.

Now when people ask me questions about adopting a bird, I always tell them that they need to have the financial ability to care for it. Birds are exotic animals and need avian vets to care for them. As I mentioned above, birds hide any symptoms of illness until they are so sick they can no longer "act" well. In the wild sick birds are pray to other birds and animals. Survival depends on being healthy and able to stay up with the flock.

The first thing a person should do when they adopt a bird or any animal really is get it vet checked. Simple routine test can determine if they have certain diseases or conditions that could possibly cause problems in the future. Some health issues can be treated, but some are deadly such as beak and feather disease in babies. Once the avian vet has a baseline on the bird any future problems will be easier to take care of and diagnosis.

After Logan's passing I didn't want another bird. I just couldn't experience that kind of pain again, but eventually the hole in our hearts left by Logan's passing would only heal through giving love to another Gray. We contacted a breeder who lives down the road from us, which we didn't even know existed at the time we adopted Logan. I called her and told her about Logan and how much we had loved her and how much we missed her.

Renee' and Reba

We talked for a little bit and she invited us over to see her place and her babies. Beverly breeds several types of birds. Their flights are clean and built on stilts to protect them from wild animals. Everything about her place was clean and neat. She brought several baby grays out for us to see. We decided on one that was just hatched two days previously and which she thought was a little girl. We named her Renee' which means renew. Hopefully she would take away the sadness and renew our happiness.

When she was a few weeks older we began going to visit her in the evenings two or three times a week. While there we fed her formula. It had been a couple years since we last fed a baby, so we needed a refresher course and also to let Renee' become used to us. Sharing a container with Renee' was her sibling hatched two days after Renee'. This little one was supposed to go to a customer in New York with several other babies when they were old enough. Through the weeks of feeding Renee' and her sibling, we became good friends with Beverly and her family. As the time was approaching for us to take Renee' home we realized how attached we had become to her sibling too. Well we ended up adopting both. And as Beverly predicted the DNA came back and both were girls. So now we have Renee' and Reba.

After beating myself up over the oven cleaning mistake time and time again, I talked to Beverly about it. She told me she too had made the same mistake a couple years before. She needed to clean her oven, so she turned on the self cleaning feature and let it go. Her husband converted their 4-car garage into a nursery for her baby birds. The nursery is on the other side of the house, a very large house I might add and through a door. While the oven was cleaning she went to the nursery and found her babies dying. She opened the large nursery door, which was once the garage door to air out the nursery and took the babies outside, but they were still dying. She lost eleven babies that day. She too thought her nursery was far enough away from the kitchen and since the door to the house was always closed, her babies would be protected.

Renee' and Reba

It has been a little over two years since we adopted the girls. Their baby check up's were fine and they have remained healthy. They have one large cage they share and a play stand. They too started talking early and can carry on a conversation in English with each other and with us. Renee' is the bossy one. She tells Reba to "Stop screeching, can you sing a song?" or "It's OK, mama is right here." They call each other Poo Poo Head and announce that same function when they complete it. They make us laugh everyday with the things they say and do. They worry our poor dog Dalton all the time by telling him to go outside or come in, stop barking, lay down, quit begging, eat your dinner, go to bed, etc. They are currently learning the song "How much is that doggie in the window?" except they like to use birdie instead of doggie.

Katie Scarlett

Whereas Logan was my baby and bonded to me, the girls have both bonded to Charlie and treat him as Logan used to treat me. So, I adopted a Rose Breasted Cockatoo who has bonded to me and I named her Katie Scarlett.

We are fortunate that we can enjoy our companion birds and dog. We made arrangements with one of our daughters to provide their care along with Dalton's if something should happen to us. And most likely they will outlive us.

Birds need a lot of care, especially the larger breeds. Fresh veggies and fruit daily along with pellets and clean water. Their cage needs to be washed completely at least twice a month, but wiped down daily and fresh newspaper laid on the bottom. We spread the newspaper around their cages as they are not tidy. Birds do not like to soil their home, but have no problem pooping off the edge of the cage onto the floor or an unsuspecting dog looking for discarded bits of food. Some birds are picky eaters and require imagination to get them to eat a well rounded variety of foods. A diet consisting of just seeds is the worst thing you could do to a bird. They need the nutrients found in fruits, veggies and pellets, which seeds do not supply. Especially SUNFLOWER seeds.

They can become screechers and as sure as I am breathing will bite. They want to be a part of the "flock" and that means plenty of quality time outside of their cage in a safe environment. If they will not be flight trained then they need to have their flight feathers trimmed by an avian vet or breeder because trimming the wrong feathers or too many feathers can create health problems. If they are not trimmed and get outside, they will fly away out of fright. They have no way to take care of themselves. They are domesticated and have never had to "Find" their food, so they will starve. They cannot protect themselves against other birds or animals. So it is our responsibility to keep them safe. The description for any domesticated animal that is “Set free” or flies away is “Food” and that is what they will become.

Some birds like to wander around on the floor. Reba is one of these birds. She loves to climb down from her cage and investigate. She will walk by Dalton like he is a statue, and explore everywhere, going back to her cage and climbing to the top when she is through. Providing a safe environment is essential to their well being, this means watching other pets, poison plants, small children, electric cords and open doors or windows.

Birds are chewers, they will chew anything. That is the nesting instinct they are born with, besides it’s always fun to tear something up.

Last but not least, if you have a bird that is secluded in another room for whatever reason, please, please find a new home for it or give it to a rescue group. These wonderful intelligent animals deserve so much more out of life than loneliness and solitude. They think and feel just as we do. Treat your companion the way you want to be treated at all times and you will have a companion that will love you unconditionally for many years to come.

Home From Ohio

2011-05-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I drove to North East Ohio to visit my kids and grand-kids. I spent the night in West Virginia and as I was driving toward Ohio the next morning, I could not believe how beautiful everything was. The trees were all leafed out, sun shinning, little farms dotting the meadows and a nice breeze blowing. I thought to myself "Wow, what a beautiful State." As soon as I crossed into Ohio it was like I crossed into Modor (Lord of the Rings). The sky was overcast, the drops of rain started coming down, the trees had no leaves and everything looked gray and dismal. When I stopped for gas it was raining hard and very cold.

I lived in Ohio for 8-years from 1993 to 2001. Every time I returned to Ohio from a trip, it was raining or snowing. Not once have I ever entered into Ohio that it was bright and sunny.

Another thing I have noticed is road construction. It seems that every major highway is under construction when I visit. Route 2 was torn up, same with large stretches of I-90. When my kids start with "When are you coming back here to live" it is easy for me to say "Never."

I finally got to my oldest daughters house around 9:30 am on Sunday, which was Easter, so while my daughter and her children were at church, I started making Easter Lunch. First I needed to go to Walmart for a few things.

I can remember running all over Mentor without thinking about it, but in the two years since my last visit, new houses have gone up, roads have been made where woods used to be, and frankly Mentor didn't look like Mentor. Needless to say, I had a hard time finding Walmart and was glad to return to the house.

Almost everything was done when they came back from Church and when the others arrived, plus a couple friends of my daughters we had lunch. I had made up their Easter baskets and added a soap cupcake to each one, which were a big hit. Afterward the kids hunted Easter eggs in the house because it was still raining outside.

My oldest daughter has four kids. A 15-year-old son, 11-year-old daughter, 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old daughter.

The 15-year-old is a typical boy, glued to the Play Station except to forage for food off and on throughout the day. While foraging for food he contrives to upset at least one of his sisters about something and then runs back upstairs to his lair leaving them whining or yelling.

The 11-year-old is the little mother. She makes sure the younger ones are taken care of. She knows what they like and dislike and lets me know in her "Don't you know?" voice when I have made a grave error in judgment such as giving Sarah milk instead of juice.

The 7-year-old is precocious. Although she looks like her father (Bless her heart) the similarities end there due to the fact that she is intelligent. She is very funny and like my African Gray parrots, I never know what is going to come out of her mouth. She's the type of kid that doesn't care if her socks match her outfit or if she brushed her teeth or hair(a trait from her father too).

Ms. Goth sharing her glasses with Madison

The youngest one is very similar to her oldest sister. Don't get me wrong, she can whine with the best of them, but is easy going for the most part and a cuddle bug. She thinks the dog is her personnel couch and playmate. Their dog is very big and lets her lay all over her without any fuss. Staying at my oldest daughters house was very entertaining. Her friend is the one I wrote the Enzine article about who only uses antibacterial soap. By the way, he didn't find my article enlightening.

My other daughter brought her two daughters and my son brought his girlfriend so there was a full house for sure.

On Tuesday I drove to Cleveland to see my sons newly remodeled store. He sells women's clothing and shoes. Clothes normal women cannot wear because our body parts are no longer where they were intended to be. The young ladies that buy clothes from his store are dancers, with bodies that make me want to throw up. I'm sure a long time ago I too had a body like theirs, yea right. After looking at his store and admiring clothes and shoes I could never wear, we go to a nice Greek restaurant for lunch. His girlfriend is Greek and very beautiful. She can wear the clothes he sells in his store and she too makes me want to throw up. Just kidding, she is very sweet and I really like her.

After lunch we head off to the zoo. I have no idea why my son wanted us to go to the zoo, but there we were. Have you ever been to the zoo after it has rained for several days? It's like unpacking your sons damp dirty laundry that he brought home after a week at summer camp. We had a good time hanging out together and seeing the animals especially the babies.

After the zoo we went back to the store where I dropped them off and headed back to my daughters.

Wednesday my daughter and I drove to Conneaut to have lunch with my youngest son. He was not able to come for Easter.

The Taz

She has a 6-year-old sister who is very active and can throw a temper tantrum that would earn the admiration of the Tasmanian Devil. The last time I visited them I got a front row seat to one of her shows. It didn't last long because as with my own children I don't do tantrums.

Thursday was my day with the Taz. It was her Spring break from Kindergarten. We went to the Nature Center down the road from her house and stayed for a couple hours, then ate lunch at McDonald's before I got lost trying to find her house again. She is well traveled and following her pointing finger in the review mirror we made it back home. She points left or right or straight ahead. Later when we went to pick up her sister, she pointed the way. A very good pointer.

I knew after her mom got home from work that we were going to a place called "Melts" for dinner and with the Taz's history of temper tantrums in public places, I made it a point of discussing this possible event with her. I told her that I didn't play and that if she were to have a melt down we'd simply go home. She agreed that she wouldn't have one and kept her word.

Friday night my kids had made plans for us to go to Hilarities comedy club down in Cleveland. I took my 15-year-old granddaughter to my oldest daughters house to hang out with her cousins for the night and brought my oldest daughter back with me. The Taz was staying the night at her other grandma's house. We had a great time. The comedians were so funny and didn't drop the F bomb very much, which made me pretty happy. As a whole the show was semi clean and very funny.

After the show was over we said our good byes because I was leaving early the next morning to drive back to Florida. My oldest daughter and I drove back to her house and after talking for a while I went to bed.

Early Saturday morning I left for home. I can say that this is the first time I really felt sad about leaving. Maybe it is because my kids are older and we are more like friends or I realize that I am getting older and seeing them only a couple times a year is no longer enough. When I left Ohio in 2001 there were only 3 grand- babies, now there are 7 and they are growing up without really knowing me or Charlie.

I plan to go back for Thanksgiving this year. My youngest son who could not make it for Easter will be there for Thanksgiving and hopefully his little boy too.

Antibacterial Soap Versus Soap and Hot Water

2011-04-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is a condensed version of the article I wrote for Enzine.

I was visiting my daughter when her friend came over to meet me. He told Roxanne that he had forgot to buy more antibacterial soap while he was shopping and asked her if she had any. I told her to give him a bar of soap that I had brought with me from my supply of homemade soap. He thanked me, but said he only used antibacterial soap. Out of curiosity I asked him why he used antibacterial soap? He replied "Because it kills bacteria and germs."

Okey Dokey, I couldn't argue with that statement.

I have been making homemade soap for years, but, never understood how soap cleans. I just took it for granted that because I bathe with soap, I am clean. His statement made me curious.

Searching the Internet I found an article by "Discovery Fit & Health" that explains how soap cleans. One part of a soap molecule is called hydrophilic (binds to water) and the other is hydrophobic (repels water). The hydrophilic part lets the hydrophobic fatty acids come into contact with other hydrophobic substances, such as dirt or grime. When the dirt or grime attaches to the soap's fatty acids, they become encapsulated in droplets of water. When you rinse off, the dirt and grime that have been encapsulated are rinsed off too.

We know that regular soap and hot water will cleanse our skin, but is antibacterial soap more efficient in killing bacteria and germs than soap and hot water, or is this a claim made by commercial companies to sell their product?

What exactly is in antibacterial soap that makes it antibacterial? Searching the Internet, I found that Triclosan, a powder, is the most common ingredient used by commercial companies to make antibacterial soap.

I personally don't know any soap makers that make antibacterial soap, so I researched how commercial companies make their soap. I have read many blogs, articles and posts on forums, that commercial companies make detergent not soap. Well that is true in some cases, but not all. There is a very well written article on Chandler's Soaps Website, which explains several different processes commercial soap companies may use to make soap.

One of the methods discussed is the Hot Process Method. Using this process, the oils, liquid and lye are mixed together and cooked (for want of a better word), at 80-100 degrees until the mixture had completed the saponification process (turned into soap). Some companies use chemicals to create "soap", but because oil, lye and liquid are not the main ingredients the finished product is considered a "detergent".

I was very interested in knowing at which point during the soap making process did commercial companies add Triclosan since lye is caustic and could easily destroy most additives, especially fragile ones. I searched the Internet reading through many articles, but could not find this answer. I can only guess that the Triclosan would be added when the mixture began saponification at which point the molecular structure of the lye would be changing and therefore no longer caustic, which could have destroyed or weakened the Triclosan.

Commercials tout that if you really want to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria, then you should use antibacterial soap. Those commercials do not tell you that in order for the antibacterial soap to work effectively the lather needs to stay on your skin for at least 2 minutes. I don't know about you, but I lather and immediately rinse off, so antibacterial soap would not have a chance to kill very many germs or bacteria on my skin.

His statement: "Because it has ingredients that kill bacteria and germs" is completely right. One thing he did not know, and neither did I, was that Triclosan kills all bacteria. It does not differentiate between good and bad and good bacteria is essential for our bodies to remain healthy.

In all the articles I read, I found no documentation that stated through research that antibacterial soap cleaned better than regular soap and hot water. In fact I found numerous articles that stated Triclosan is bad for the environment, our pets, and that many people develop allergies to it. Another point made in various articles is that with constant use, bacteria and germs can become resistant to Triclosan.

I've discussed killing the germs and bacteria on our bodies by washing, but what about the germs and bacteria that live on the surfaces in the bathroom? I mean if you are going to go through the expense of using only antibacterial soap, doesn't it matter that the one room you bathe in also contains the largest amount of germs and bacteria?

In my mind the toilet is pretty germy given its reason for use. Even when sparkling clean, the toilet emits an invisible gas full of germs and bacteria after each flush, which permeates the air for up to two hours. OK, that is pretty nasty, but what I didn't know is the sink is the most germ laden surface in the bathroom. It makes sense though because that is where we brush our hair, wash our faces, hands, shave and brush our teeth. The drain also stays moist all the time.

Antibacterial soap does not leave a protective barrier on your body to ward against the new bacteria and germs you will encounter as soon as you step out of the shower. So having read all this information, I then wondered where my daughter's friend put his towel while showering. Maybe the towel holder above the toilet?

In closing, I believe there are places were washing with antibacterial soap is beneficial, such as in medical facilities or when preparing food, etc. However, I have not found sound evidence that washing with antibacterial soap is more beneficial than washing with soap and hot water.

Update

2011-04-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Strawberry

Apple

It's been awhile since I last posted. I have been busy making soap cupcakes, soap mini bundt cakes and filling orders and teaching my girls the song "How much is that doggie in the window". The newest soap cupcake scents are Strawberry , Apple, Coconut Lemon and Pumpkin Pie.

Mini Bundt Cake

The mini bundt cakes are also Apple scented. I have been experimenting with the frosting. On the mini bundt cakes the frosting thickened before I could get all the cakes frosted. I wanted to dribble the frosting over the tops and let it drip down the sides, but by the time I had half done, the frosting was pretty thick and needed coaxing down the sides. Oh well it was my first try, next time I will know when to stop stirring and start frosting.

I've been blessed with some awesome orders, which I appreciate so very much. Some ladies at church have ordered the soap cupcakes for their kids Easter baskets, which is really a great idea.

The girls are doing pretty well with the new song. They sing "How much is that doggie in the woof woof" and "I hope that doggie is for sale". I'm still working on "Window", which seems to be a word they are not interested in. I play the song by Patty Page on U-tube for them a lot and also sing it to them. Sooner or later they will get it. We are probably the only couple in the US who doesn't have a camcorder or something to make a video with. I'd love to have a web cam to watch the girls while I am at work, just to see what they do while we are gone.

I've also been working on an Enzine article about antibacterial soap. My daughters boyfriend only uses antibacterial soap. It started me thinking about how it is made and the active ingredients used. I will post a similar version when I am finished with it.

This weekend we are supposed to build planter boxes for the back yard. Even though we live in Florida, our soil is terrible for growing vegetables. The plants put on beautiful leaves and flowers, but that is really it. The vegetables never get nice and big and are very sparse even though the plants are loaded down with flowers. I've even used a feather duster to help pollinate since I don't see very many bees anymore. With planter boxes we hope to be able to grow several types of vegetables. That is what I really miss about Arkansas, having a great garden every year.

I am hoping to make a trip to see my kids and grand-kids in Ohio in a few weeks. Finally warmed up enough for me to survive there for a week. I lived in the Cleveland area for 8-years and froze every winter. I've lived in cold places before such as Amarillo, Texas, Gardner, Kansas and Norfolk,Virginia, but Ohio takes the prize. The seasons there are winter, almost spring, barely summer, autumn and winter. I've seen it snow in June while I lived there. No State that God created gets snow in June.

Chocolate Soap Cupcakes with Pink Coconut Icing

2011-03-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Cupcakes

Here are the latest cupcakes, chocolate brownie with pink coconut scented frosting. One is plain, one has coconut sprinkled on the top and one has little soap shavings on the top. Kind of looks like corn chips, but not. The frosting took several minutes to make, but finally it turned out very nice. I just used a spoon instead of an icing tip. I did order a kit with 50 icing tips to get creative with later on. I used the silicone muffin forms instead of using real cupcake papers as I did with the first batch. I had some soap left over so I poured that into my smaller loaf pan and then topped it off with the whipped soap. That will look nice when it is sliced. I just took it out of the mold this afternoon, so it was too soft to slice. Will get a pic of the sliced soap tomorrow.

These look a lot nicer than my first ones.

I had so much fun making the cupcakes that I also ordered a silicone bundt pan to make a soap bundt cake this weekend since Charlie is working Saturday.
Soap Cupcakes

Making Soap Cupcakes

2011-03-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

I started cooking when I was 14-years-old. Though I can make just about anything, I cannot bake. No matter what kind of cake I bake, it turns out to be a pound cake. My dog will eat anything except my cookies. I could package them as clays to use when skeet shooting.

This last Thanksgiving I was going to be real creative and show my family and friends that I too could make fluffy homemade rolls. I followed the instructions to the T, watching them rise and then punched them down to rise again. Just like planned they looked so pretty and smelled real good. I was busy going back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room, but never heard anyone comment on the rolls. Finally I sat down and reached for one, slathering it with fresh butter I took a bite. It was then that I understood why no one had made any comments about my rolls; there was nothing nice to say. They were terrible, just baked dough, no fluff. Thank goodness I bought some brown and serve rolls before my grand idea was formulated in my no bake brain.

So as I was looking at the blogs and websites I normally visit on a daily basis, I saw the neatest thing, soap cupcakes. These lovely little guys looked just like cupcakes and some were so frilly with fluffy icing and pretty sprinkles I wanted to eat them all. Michelle Rhoades makes some beautiful cupcakes. Visit her site http://www.mossycreeksoap.com/ to see these delightful creations.

I thought they were so great that I wanted to try and make these pretty little cakes. At least they couldn’t fall.

So while my husband was at the Mustang show and drag race this Saturday, I made them. I wanted to use a scent that would be strong enough, but good enough to eat so I decided on Lemon Poppy Seed. I made a batch of soap the way I always make it and added the scent and poppy seeds. I poured the soap into 24 cupcake wrappers that I had placed in cupcake tins. I had some soap left over so I poured that into my loaf mold lined with my new handy dandy liner.

Basic Cupcakes

While the soap cupcakes were setting up, I made the frosting using another technique. I mixed my lye water and placed in the fridge to get cold. I then measured out my palm and coconut oils and whipped them up in my mixing bowl to a nice fluffy consistency. When the oils were fluffy, I added the lye water very slowly and continued to whip and mix adding violet color and almond fragrance oil. Finally when I thought the soap was stiff enough I put some into my pastry bag and started frosting the cupcakes. I frosted all of them.

The frosting didn’t stay as fluffy as I thought it would, so I was a little unhappy about that. I sat them aside to cure. All evening I pondered how to make the frosting fluffier like those I had seen on the blogs and websites. Finally I decided to scrape off the frosting and re-batch it the next day.

Kind of looks like a very large bird flew by

On Sunday afternoon, I cut off the frosting as it was too hard to scrape off, and placed all of it into a small pot with a little water on low heat. It never fully melted, but turned into soft dough. I put the frosting dough into my mixer bowl and adding hot water in small amounts, mixed and whipped until the soap turned back into fluffy frosting. I also added a little corn starch this time. All of a sudden the frosting began to expand like cotton candy, coming out of the bowl and off the whisk. Kind of made me think of the movie the Blob. I grabbed another pastry bag and inserted the tip into the end and loaded the bag up with frosting. It was so light and fluffy I had the cupcakes frosted in no time. I am not sure why the frosting reacted the way it did, but it was a mistake that turned out very nice.

I am going to take a little paint brush and dust the tops with iridescent mica powder to doll them up a bit. I think the next time I make them I will use larger tips to apply the frosting with. I also ordered silicone cupcake forms instead of using the papers.

I didn’t take pictures during this whole frosting thing, but I have the finished product. When they cure I will either place them on my site or include them as Thank You gifts with orders.

Lining Wooden Molds

2011-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

Large Slab Mold

When I began making soap, the first mold I used was the lid of a copier paper box inserted into a kitchen trash bag. I smoothed the bag flat inside the lid and over the sides, taping to keep in place. This worked, but the corners were not straight, and due to the dimensions of the box top, a lot of excess soap was left after the bars were cut.

Large Soap Cutter

My husband is real handy at woodworking, so I asked him to build some wooden molds that would produce exactly 30 bars of soap in the size and weight I wanted. He made 8 molds, which I line with wax paper. I then needed a soap cutter for those molds. Using the miter box idea, he built a soap cutter. Now I can cut 30 perfect bars of soap in less than a minute.

Lined with new liner

When I decided to make loaves of soap, I needed new molds. Charlie built me 4 wooden loaf molds. Now lining these was trickier as the dimensions are unique. I tried several ways, but none really did the trick until I made a template. I used some light poster board and folded it to fit inside the loaf mold perfectly. I then used a sheet of wax paper and leaving the top open folded the wax paper around the template like I was wrapping a present. I then insert the liner into the mold and secure with tape. Still the corners were not straight and crisp like I wanted them.

Loaf Cutter

And again, Charlie made me a different soap cutter for the loaf mold. It looks very similar to the miter box. The actual cutter is a piece of thin sheet metal with a handle made of PVC pipe and attached lengthwise on the blade.

I really wanted an easier way to line my loaf mold, so I turned to the Internet. Immediately I found several sites that offered instructions for folding liners. One in particular How to Line a Mold was really great. I rounded up all the supplies I needed and began to make a liner. Now, I am not the engineering type at all and did poorly on that section of the ASVAB test, but I was dogged determined to figure it out. Finally I was rewarded with a properly folded liner. It fit nice and neat into the mold as shown above.

JUST A NOTE: I bought a gallon of silicone to make liners with, but my husband will need to make new molds which would be 1/4 inch larger to accommodate the thickness of the silicone and still produce the 30 bars of 3.5 ounce soap. Maybe next weekend. Until then I will continue to use my wax paper for the slab molds and the new liners for the loaf molds.

Our Little Girls

2011-03-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

I've never introduced our three little girls. Our girls are not the same as most little girls. Two wear gray velvet with a vivid scarlett bustle and the third wears a beautiful combination of bright pink and dove gray. They could care less about piano or ballet lessons, but love to shred paper, and like most children, they love to get into things they shouldn't.

Reba

We have two African Gray parrots, who are sisters from the same clutch. Renee' and Reba and Katie Scarlett, a Rose Breasted Cockatoo. Renee' and Reba have just turned 2 and Katie is 8 months.

Renee'

We brought all three home when they went to two formula feedings a day and weaned them on small pieces of veggies and fruit. Now they eat what we eat along with their pellets and nutriberries. Oh, there are some foods they can't eat like avocados, onions and chocolate, but anything else is fine. They love chicken and I tell them they are eating their cousins, but that doesn't seem to bother them. They love soy beans in the hull and corn. Katie is the least finicky eater, in fact we have to really watch how much she eats so she doesn't get unhealthy.

Katie

Reba and Renee' have bonded to Charlie and love him dearly. When he is home I am chopped liver, but when he is gone we are friends. Katie is bonded to me.

Reba and Renee' started talking at around 6 months, pretty early for Grays. They say complete sentences and know what they are saying or asking for. They know what corn, water, berries and walnuts are and will ask for those by name. Reba can get screechy sometimes and Renee' will say "Reba, stop screeching, can you sing a song". If Reba doesn't stop Renee' will say "Girlfriend, you want to go to bed?"

Renee' will ask Reba what does a bird dog say and Reba will reply "Woof woof". They order our dog Dalton around all day long. They tell him to go outside, knock it off, quit barking, go poop, come in now, no your not going outside right now and call him Dalton Poop Head.

When we get ready to go to work in the morning, they say "Momma and Daddy going to work" or Church if it is Sunday. They talk to each other in English and Renee' being the smart mouth will argue back to me. If she is bothering her sister and I tell her to stop, she will look at me and say "You stop", and I say "You are being bad" she will reply with "You go away", back and forth we go, her matching me statement by statement until I walk away.

Katie does not speak yet, but they will look at her and say "Can you sing a song?", "Can you say walnut?" and continue with "Can you ..." for several minutes until they tire of her not answering them.

If we are in the living room and they want to come sit on their play stand, they will say "I see you right there, want to go to play stand". One of us will go get them. The sisters stay in a large cage together and Katie in her own cage just a few feet from the living room. We can see them and they can see us. Birds are flock animals and need to be in the same area as their human flock members.

We clip their wings so they cannot accidentally fly away. It is not what every bird owner agrees to, but we love them too much to take the chance. Domesticated birds whether they are finches or parrots cannot survive on their own. They have never learned to forage for their food nor to protect their selves from hawks, eagles, etc.

Reba hanging upside down

Parrots can live up to 65-70 years or more, so this is a lifetime commitment on our part. Our granddaughter Piper will take care of them when we no longer can. And they require a lot of care. We cut up fresh veggies and fruit everyday to feed along with their pellets. And since they are considered exotic animals their vet bills are higher than a dog or cats normally would be. The girls have an avian vet who they see to get their wings and nails trimmed and so far they have had no emergency visits.

We have so much fun with our girls. Everyday they surprise us by saying something new. I belong to an African Gray forum. http://africangreyparrot.info/forum/index.php Its a great site for people who have birds or are just interested in reading about them.

Hmmmm

Thrift Store's

2011-03-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

I've been actively updating the pictures on my website. I bought this little saucer at a thrift store and it has been the perfect setting for my soap pictures.

I love going into thrift stores. When I was young, I never gave a thought to the dishes my mother or grandmother used, or to the special trinket that had a honored place in the center of the coffee table. But now that I am older and my childhood in the past, I realize that many of those special items found a place in my heart without me being aware.

In 1996 as I was browsing through a huge antique mall in Medina, Ohio, I ran across a set of three nesting bowls made by Hall Dinnerware. Instantly I felt a warm and cozy feeling as I looked at those bowls. My grandma, who is 98-years-old, has had a set for as long as I can remember, although of a different pattern. In my minds eye I could see my sister and I rolling out sugar cookie dough that grandma had mixed in the largest of the bowls. That day I bought those bowls and have added several other pieces to my collection. When I use them, I can clearly see grandma in her kitchen mixing up something good to eat. The pattern I have is Autumn Leaf.

Along with the Hall Dinnerware, I have collected a variety of china pieces, to use when we have company. It doesn't bother me a bit that they don't match. I think about the women who once owned them and how proud they were to use them on special occasions too.

Handmade Soap

My Day At The Flea Market

2011-02-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I was so busy this last week and through the weekend cleaning and labeling soap. As I stated on my last blog, I reserved a booth at the Webster Westside flea market in Webster, Florida last Monday, Presidents Day. I took 25 types of soap, 5-6 bars of each. My booth was on the corner of the main walkway through the pavilion, so I had traffic coming in three directions. I usually have a booth closer to the front of the pavilion, so being near the end was a new experience.

I immediately started unloading the soap from my car. It was while I was setting up my displays that I took a look around. I was a little un-nerved as I noticed the vendors unpacking and setting up their wares. Each booth starting at the one across the isle from me and continuing around the corner to the right of my booth, a total of 5 booths in all, were loaded down with all types of guns, rifles, shotguns and knives. I believe one guy had a rocket launcher. I was surrounded by a sea of cami's and army boots, and yes, the Stars and Bars were hanging from the door of a storage unit.

It was very comical if you think about it, here were my tables covered by white sheets, a rainbow of colorful fragrant bars of soap sitting on small plates covered by bright yellow doilies and all around me milled specimens of the South. Some were checking sights on rifles, aiming at invisible targets, jerking the muzzle up into the air like they bagged a 15 point stag. Others were checking the balance and sharpness of blades on bowie knives. I knew if I was very still and listened carefully, I'd hear dueling banjo's playing softly in the background.

Sorry for running on, as I was saying. I have a routine inventory that I always take to flea markets, those soaps which always sell well and I can count on. This is where Murphy's Law comes into play. Those old faithfuls, the ones that always sell, well they sat patiently on their yellow doilies until I packed them up to take back home. Instead, my milk soaps and aromatherapy soaps were the star sellers. One woman loved my musk scented soap so much that she bought all I had (wish they were all like that). The grab bags sold real well as usual too. Grab bags contain six soaps that have lost their scents or are irregulars. It's a bargain and people love them.

Other then the routine inventory, I also take a nice variety of soap that would entice potential customers to stop and look. Everything is going fine, lots of customers looking and buying, then here SHE comes. She is the one who never walks quickly, just meanders along and finally reaches my booth. I smile and say "Hello". She acknowledges my greeting with a small smile and starts to slowly look over all of my soap. She picks up a bar of Lavender, and gingerly brings it to her nose. She wrinkles her nose and sets the bar back down. I ask her if there is a certain scent or type of soap she is interested in, but she just smiles and says "No, I'm just looking". She continues to go through all of my soap, smelling each one, some get a wrinkled nose and others a nod. Finally when she has smelled every soap on the tables she asks "Do you carry Pine Tar soap?" At first I wonder if my ears have heard correctly, but when I realize they have, I smile and say "No mam, I don't". She replies "Oh, that's too bad, I really like Pine Tar soap, Thank you" and walks away.

What was really going through my mind was, You spent 30-minutes smelling every soap on these two tables and all you wanted was Pine Tar soap?

Around lunch time when it slowed down a little, I began people watching. The Home Boys had a BBQ set up across the way on the grass. I was trying to imagine what could possibly be cooking under that lid. Possibly a fat possum or a couple squirrels turning slowly on a spit. You could just feel my disappointment when one of the hommies started piling food on plates, no possum or squirrel, just ribs and chicken, potato salad and some unidentifiable other stuff. Oh and course Budweiser long necks.

Really they were nice guys, even offered me some of their road kill, but my earlier imagination kind of snuffed out my appetite. Several did venture over throughout the day inquiring as to whether I was doing well or not. One congenial warrior with three teeth, dressed in a green T-shirt tucked into cami pants which were wrapped tightly around his ankles and kept in place by tightly laced up army boots, told me he had done real well so far. He had sold 5 knives at 900.00 each. Hello folks, that is $4,500 dollars.

Not long after the rich toothless warrior went back to his booth, a lady and her husband came by. She asked some questions about making soap. Now I love to talk soap. Give me an opening and I will tell you all you never wanted to know about soap and soap making. So we had a nice conversation while she was picking up bars and smelling them, every once in a while handing one to me to add to those in her bag. She bought 8 bars of soap and one grab bag.

Within a few minutes she was back with a new friend who also bought soap. She came back a total of three times bringing someone different. She's the type of person I need selling my soap.

Actually I really enjoyed my day at the flea market and look forward to going back. Maybe I too will wear Cami's and push my Anise and Hunters soap. Better yet, I might be able to figure out an attractive way to display some of those knives along with my soap.

Webster Flea Market, Webster, Florida

2011-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted my whoa is me blog. I have since taken it off because sometimes just writing down what you are feeling is a way to work things out and refocus. In the short time it was posted, I received a few replies via email that put a little fire under my backside. I know that almost all soapers and craft makers attend flea markets, farmers markets and craft shows. I was reminded how important the face to face time with customers really is to a business and especially ours where we have the opportunity to educate. Through the emails I realized that mine was not the only Internet business that has slowed down after the Holidays. I just assumed that with all the beautiful sites out there that they were flush with orders. So Thank you for your replies to my blog, it really helped me get back on track. And you are right, I started this business because I love to make soap. If I make a couple dollars in the process that is a bonus, but the truth is I'd still be making soap anyhow.

It's been like two-years since I last attended a flea market or craft show, but taking the advise given to me, I reserved a booth at the Webster flea market in Webster, Florida for Monday, February 21. The booth is Aqua 34. My husband usually goes with me, but he has to work. I have a good friend who is going to pop in and give me a break later in the day. The booth size is a normal 10x10, but they provide two long tables and the parking is right at the booth. That is great when you have boxes of soap to unpack.

I really like to interact with customers, even though sales is not my strong point. Some people can attract customers because of their outgoing personalities and the "Never met a stranger" attitude. I don't possess that personality, but I love to talk soap and explain the process of making soap and what types are good for certain skin conditions, etc. I also love to hear stories of yesteryear when their grandmother made soap. Living in Florida we have the Snow Birds who are here until around April or May. They have some good stories.

You also meet so many different types of people. It can be quite entertaining on occasion. I love the customers who come into the booth and look over the soap, each bar at a time. Then look at you and state that they can only use Dove or Ivory. For the longest time I kept both types of soap at hand for these customers. I would show them the Dove and Ivory labels then I would show them my ingredient label. It was interesting to see their reactions when they realized that both bars of soap contained ingredients that they couldn't read or identify. People assume that because the advertisements say they are pure and natural that they really are. Okey Dokey.

Or the comments like "I don't use lye soap because it burns your skin", "My grandma's soap took the hide off of me", "I only use soap that is made without lye". I could go on and on because I have heard it all. I have also found that uneducated people are afraid of lye. They have this picture in their heads of the mad scientist with the glass container boiling over with some concoction that is eating everything in it's path. The easiest way I have found to explain lye in soap is with this analogy. You put raw eggs into cake batter, but when the cake is baked there is no evidence of raw eggs. The structure of the eggs has changed completely, but fulfilled it's purpose in the process. Same with lye. You mix the lye with a liquid and combine with oils, but when the soap is cured, there is no evidence of lye left.

I do appreciate the nice comments on the presentation of my soap. I have tried all kinds of ways to present my soap, but with limited space and over 100 bars, you are limited. I used to use small baskets, but the rough material the baskets are made of wasn't kind to the edges of the soap. Now I take small paper plates in a nice color, place a paper doily in the middle and arrange my soap on the doilies. You can use the plates over and over, but the doilies usually need replacing after a couple uses. It's an inexpensive way to go.

The real time consumer is in cleaning and labeling the soap. I normally use cigar bands around my soap, but that takes too much time so I created a simple label. It is about the size of a business card with my Logo and the name of the soap on the front and the ingredients on the back. I place these on the front of my soap and secure with those little gold elastic bands with bows. Just slipping the elastic band around two opposite corners keeps the label nice and smooth and looks pretty. I can print 10 on a piece of stationary that I use for my labels. I will post a picture this evening.

So every evening for the rest of the week, I will be working on cleaning and labeling bars of soap. Monday morning I will be out the door around 6:30 for the 45 minute drive to Webster. Hopefully this will be a good day as it is Presidents Day. A lot of businesses closed and people out and about.

Adding a "Tell a Friend" Button to website

2011-02-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I decided to add a "Tell a Friend" button to my Grandma's Website . Now everything I have done to my site has been by trial and error and some naughty words thrown in, but I am getting better. Last night was an exception to my rule about saying bad words. I think the girls (two African Gray parrots) picked up the word "Damn" when I was working on my site.

I have logged a lot of hours talking to and have become very acquainted with some of the techs at yahoo technical support over the years.

Getting back to the reason for this post. I had been looking at several free "Tell a Friend" scripts over the last few days and decided on one from http://www.tamingthebeast.net/aarec/tafttb.php. I am using the 1.3 version, which is the easiest one. Once I get this down I will go to the more advanced one, which allows URL and uses php.

OK, so I sit at my computer and open the Tell a Friend site page to read and re-read the directions. I realize this is going to be one of those trial and error nights, mostly error. As directed, I copied the 1st section and pasted into Notepad, making the changes requested, such as adding my website and business e-mail where specified. I had a little trouble with the business e-mail. I was not sure what my business e-mail was, but put my main one in and saved as a php file in my Sitebuilder folder in the C drive. Next I read the 2nd part and copied and pasted onto another Notepad, making the simple change needed, which was basically adding my URL and saved as a html file in my Sitebuilder folder too. I didn't need to save this one as a php file. I wanted to add a pop-up for the Tell a Friend form so I copied and pasted the html code into a code box, making the small change to tell the pop-up what page the form was located on and inserted onto my Home page.

These steps were completed so next I went into my web hosting site and uploaded the two files to my root directory. Everything should have been working right? Wrong.

At first I couldn't get the pop-up box to pop-up. I looked at the html code again and realized I didn't put a 2 after the file name such as /Contact_Us2.html. OK, made that change, it popped up, great. I filled out the information on the form, and hit "Send". No message arrived to the specified e-mail. I went back into my file folder and changed the e-mail address to another one. Again I uploaded it to my root directory. I tried again, no go. I was pulling out my hair trying to figure out what in the world was wrong.

I went into my web hosting site (which I should have done at first) and found that my business e-mail was admin@grandmaandmesoaps.com, so I made this change to the code, saving and uploading to my root directory. I go to the form page and fill out the form again. Still no e-mail message telling me someone has referred my site. I am totally lost at this point. It is after 10:00 pm and I am tired and frustrated. I go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

Today: First thing this morning I go to my site and guess what? The pop-up is not working correctly. When you click on it, it opens a small window, which cannot be expanded. Go figure. Last night I added the form to my "Contact Us" page because I didn't want to create a new page just for one form, but it appears that I will have to. I will also need to adjust the margins so that the form fits just right into the pop-up screen where no expansion will be needed. Homework assignment for tonight. Also I wrote the technical support team at Yahoo asking what to do about the e-mail situation. It may be that Sitebuilder does not support this function by a 3rd party, although the "help" topics said they do.

At this point my "Tell a Friend" may or may not work as I can't test it to see if someone can send my site to a friend or not. They may be able to fill out the form and hit "Send" and it work, but I am not being notified.

As soon as I find the answers to my questions and get this button working properly I will update this blog. Meanwhile if anyone out there who reads this knows a solution, let me know at grandmaandmesoaps@yahoo.com please.

Ok Folks, I could never get that html script to work on my Sitebuilder website. But! Good News, I found this wonderful post that explained another "Tell-a-Friend" html script that was so easy I couldn't believe it. Here it is in case you would like a Tell-a-Friend widget on your site. http://luisgalarza.blogspot.com/2008/09
/free-tell-friend-html-script.html

Goat's Milk and Honey Soap

2011-02-03T15:57:00.000-08:00

I learned to make homemade soap from my grandmother who is now 98-years-old. Way back when I was a young girl this was a monthly process I helped with.

Six-years ago, I started the tradition of making homemade soap, but I have expanded to several types of soap and where grandma used grease drippings such as lard or tallow, I use vegetable oils of several types.

My favorite soap to make is goat's milk and honey. Thank goodness for the Internet, so many recipes and directions to choose from. The first try at making goat's milk and honey soap was mixing the goat's milk and lye together as grandma used to mix water and lye together. It bubbled up and turned a pumpkin colored orange. I thought "Oh, my goodness, this is going to explode", and backed up a few steps. But it finally settled down. The one thing I didn't like about mixing the lye and milk was that the milk curdled.:

The recipe said it would because the lye made the goat's milk heat up to just under 200 degrees. While the milk and lye was cooling down I began to get my oils together. Again grandma used the grease that her friends had given her; I use a combination of vegetable oils.

I have an old scale that was used in a market to weigh my ingredients on and since I weigh my ingredients in pounds this scale works for me. I put my big stainless steel stock pot onto the scale and measure 5 lbs palm oil, then add 1.5 lb olive oil, 1 lb rice bran oil and last 1 lb coconut oil. It takes quite a bit of oil to make a batch of soap, and I was making a 30 bar batch so that was roughly 7.5 lbs of oil.

Why the different kinds of oils? Well each oil has different qualities, when mixed together make a very moisturizing bar of soap. Palm oil is usually a solid oil and gives texture to the bar along with a mild lather; rice bran is similar to olive oil, very moisturizing and thick, but less expensive; olive oil for the reason already mentioned and coconut oil, which creates loads of lather. Coconut oil by itself can be very drying to the skin, so it needs to be combined with other oils. I also use Shea and mango butters, jojoba and sweet almond oils in some of my soaps.

When the lye/milk and oils cool to around 110 I then very slowly pour the lye/milk into the oils while stirring. After the two have mixed real well I pour the mixture into my stand mixer and turn it on to "stir", which provides the right speed and saves my arm from falling off. I also add about 2 tablespoons of honey while the mixer is stirring. After a couple minutes I start adding the fragrance or essence oils a little at a time until the correct amount has been added, usually about 4 ounces. When the soap mixture "traces" I then pour it into my prepared mold.

After making goat's milk and honey by this recipe and having some problems such as the soap forming honeycomb like places throughout or the oils separating into puddles on top of the soap, I started using another method of making it. I now place 1lb of goat's milk into the freezer to get "slushy". I dissolve 3/4 lb of lye into 1 lb of water and set aside to cool. When the lye/water and oils are the same temperature I slowly pour the lye water into the oils, stirring constantly. To this I then add the slushy goat's milk pouring slowly so that all the mixture is well combined. I pour the mixture into my kitchen aid mixing bowl and set on "Stir". I add the honey and the fragrance oils a little at a time. Same as above when the soap traces I pour into my mold. Since I changed the method of making my goat's milk soap I have not had any bad batches or batches that I have had to "rebatch".

My husband makes the molds from wood and I line them with wax paper before pouring the soap mixture into them. The soap in the mold sets for approximately 24 hours and then can be turned out and cut into bars by my soap cutter that my husband also made for me. Any soap that has milk in it should cure from 3 to 4 weeks before using.

After it is cured the soap goes into the correct storage container.

Where to get Supplies for Soap Making

2011-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Almost every week I receive e-mails asking where I get my supplies to make soap. Actually all over the Internet and in stores and shops. Home Made Soap

If you are making large batches of soap, you need large quantities of the oils you have chosen for your basic recipe. And lye, you will need to find a distributor for sodium hydroxide. Be very careful of any lye product you purchase from a hardware store. The lye you use must be 100% lye. There are several on the shelves that contain other ingredients because they are used to unclog drains. You cannot use those. If you are unsure ask the sales person.

I simply looked through the Yellow Pages under Oils, Restaurant Supplies, etc., until I found a couple companies that sold oils in bulk. I knew I wanted Coconut, Palm and Rice Bran oils, which were the hardest to find. Sterling's in Ocala, Florida had all three. I ordered several 35 lb containers of each. Well after a couple years Sterling's stopped supplying Coconut and Palm oils, but retained the rice bran, so again, I was looking for these oils and contacting distributors. I Googled "Wholesale oils" and found several companies to call.

I made a list and started calling each of the companies, keeping notes next to each distributor. If the company is not in your area shipping or freight charges are important to know. Will they deliver to your place of business or home or do they deliver to a warehouse or their distributor? You may need to make arrangements to have the oil delivered from a warehouse or pick it up yourself.

I live in Florida, so I needed a company no further then Georgia. I found one place in Miami that sold the Palm oil, but in blocks and I would have to buy a pallet of 75 35 lb blocks and pick it up. I can't remember the company name, but I do have the phone number: 305-688-5400. Well the cost of a truck that could carry that heavy of a load, plus the travel time from Tampa to Miami was going to be expensive. I put that company on the "Desperate" list. I finally contacted a company out of Gainsville, Georgia, called Cargill. 770-718-2642. They had great prices on 55 gal drums of organic palm and coconut oils.

Now remember if you buy drums of oil you will need a method of getting the oils out. I would suggest building stands where the drums can lay on their side with the opening pointing down and fit a spigot to the opening so you can pour the oils out into a smaller container. These oils will solidify if the temperature is below 76 degrees. We bought two water bed heaters and two insulators for water heaters.

My husband wrapped the water bed heater around the drums and then the insulator around the heaters. We also bought two pumps to pump the liquefied oils out.

For the lye, I again looked in the Yellow Pages under "Chemical Companies" and found two in my area. Usually chemical companies have lye because it's used for unclogging drains. Remember you may have to show a business license due to lye being used to manufacture street drugs. I have to show mine every year.

My husband makes my molds, but there are plenty of on-line stores that you can buy from. I don't have a favorite.

Fragrance oils can be found all over the Internet. The companies I use most often are: http://www.naturesgardencandles.com, http://www.wfmed.com (great for essential oils)
http://www.saveonscents.com, http://www.bolekscrafts.com/fragrance_oils.htm, http://www.houstoncandlesupply.com, http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com, http://forums.wholesalesuppliesplus.com, www.candlesandsupplies.com

I buy my PET jars and such at:
http://www.specialtybottle.com/ and www.sks.com

I buy my mica's and emulsifying wax from: www.brambleberry.com

For bulk herbs I always use www.mountainroseherbs.com.

I buy most of my paper products from: www.uline.com, and www.nashvillewraps.com

I buy my all natural sea sponges and loofah sponges at: http://www.spongedocks.net/thespongefactory/thespongefactory.htm

I buy my bees wax online also from: www.stakich.com

http://www.candlewic.com/ is a great place to get melt and pour at real decent prices.

I hope this helps those who are looking for new avenues to purchase supplies from and for those who are new to the soap making business.

Traffic Bug and Amazon

2011-01-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

I designed my first site 6-years ago using Yahoo's Site Builder. Web Site I have made many changes throughout the years, but am satisfied with this latest one and the great technical support from Yahoo. Building a site is the easy part really, but the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) isn't. It's not that it's hard, it's time consuming. Getting your site ranked high on Google or any well used search engine is the blood of your website business. If you are ranked real low then no one will find your site unless they love to search hundreds of pages. So in the beginning I didn't really pay attention to SEO work, after all I was receiving plenty of orders using Yahoo and Google paid advertisements.

At first the pay per clicks (anytime someone clicks on your advertised site you are charged a fee that is deducted from your prepaid account) was pretty low about ten cents per click. Over the years it has increased to over 3.00 on some keywords. I'm not made of money and there is a fair amount of fraud committed with pay per click. Your competition can click on your site over and over to delete your funds, and they do.

Before I learned how to choose my keywords and write my content, I fell for a SEO scam that promised my site would be at the top of the first page of Google within 3 months. I didn't know any different, so I paid my first installment and waited. Well it didn't take me long to realize that the $300.00 they were receiving every month was not putting me on top. The Better Business Bureau helped me get my money back. What else do you do? I started joining SEO forums to ask questions and get advice. These guys are great, they live for web sites and SEO and will bend over backwards to help you. The term "Back Links" kept popping up in almost all conversations. What in the world were back links?

I googled the words and up popped Squidoo.com and a great article on back links. The author wrote a very interesting article which showed you how to create these amazing back links. She also discussed where to put them and how. She provided a link to hundreds of directories to submit your url to. I was a back linking fool. I put back links on blogs, started writing articles and reviews adding my back links, creating blogs and joining several forums that pertained to crafts and soap making. Everything received a back link. I also invested in three books; Search Engine Optimization for Dummies, Web Marketing for Dummies and a HTML book to learn what all that funny website lingo was about.

Recently on a new visit to Squidoo, I was re-reading that back link article and found where the author had put in a couple paragraphs about http://www.traffic-bug.com/. Traffic Bug is a software that allows you to easily submit your url's pertaining to articles, reviews, blogs, etc., for submission to search engines and directories. You type in the requested information and Traffic Bug does the rest by submitting your url to hundreds of directories and such.

I signed up today and submitted a few url's to just get an idea of what Traffic Bug could really do. There is an 11 day trial period and then if I like it I pay $29.97 for the software. I received notification from 28 different directories in just 15 minutes, with more that I have not had a chance to read yet in my e-mail. Somethings going on.

Another thing I did today was to list a few different types of soap on Amazon.com. Grandma's Handmade Soap If they sell well, I may open a merchant account, but if they don't do well, I am not obligated to continue selling. I love Amazon. I buy books, clothes, etc. all the time through that site.

This year I am taking an online course from Penn Foster; Basic Web Design. I want to learn how to develop my own websites. I will keep you updated as to my experiences with Traffic Bug and with Amazon. Who knows you may see me on Fortune magazine someday.

Mentoring Emily

2011-01-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a very busy time for me. I received a record number of orders and phone calls, even up to the 21st. I was in overdrive to get them all out. And then I had my family's gifts to send out. Everything went out on time except for a gift set that was to go to a woman who samples items and writes reviews on her blog. I was not able to get her gift set out before I went in for surgery on the 29 of December. I will get it out soon though. Along with all this I was finishing a scarf I was knitting for my son who lives in Ohio.

Emily

Another exciting thing that happened was the opportunity to mentor a young lady. Emily is the daughter of a friend and customer of mine. She is a senior in high school and had a project which was worth 15% of her class grade. The project was to find someone who manufactures something and learn how it is made. Her mother suggested me since I have a business and I manufacture soap. I love to teach others to make soap, it's fun and I appreciate the help.

Emily came over on Saturday, December11. We started with me explaining the basics of making soap, what she would be doing and the outcome we were looking for, which was a nice soap without any problems. I explained the safety aspects of making soap and also basic first aid if the need should arise. I'm an organized person and being organized is a must when making soap. You simply don't have time to find that spatula when the soap is starting to trace. I'm one of those people who have never worn gloves, mask, goggles,etc. I don't even own any of those things. I respect the lye by taking my time and being careful when measuring and pouring it into the liquid and also when pouring the dissolved lye/liquid into the oils. I have had lye splash onto my hand in small droplets, it burns, but that is what cold water is for. It just washes off, burning stops immediately and you are as good as before.

After this little commentary Emily started making the first two batches of buttermilk soap. All measurements are done on an old vegetable scale I use.

She used a basic recipe, which makes a beautiful soap and contains organic palm and coconut oils, rice bran and olive oils, buttermilk, clover honey and fragrances. She measured the buttermilk into a container and put it into the freezer to turn slushy. She then measured out the right amount of cold water into a thick glass measuring cup and added the lye. She stirred the lye/water until the lye was dissolved and set aside to cool down. Next she measured the oils into the stainless steel stock pot and put the pot on a burner set on low. While the oils were melting and the lye/liquid was cooling down, she learned how to line the molds with wax paper.

Fragrance oils

The next step was deciding what fragrances to use. I have over 100 fragrances, so selecting the scents was a little overwhelming, but she decided on Jasmine and Magnolia. When the lye/liquid and oils cooled down to 110, Emily combined them slowly by pouring the lye water into the oils. Then she poured the slushy buttermilk in and stirred well. Next she transferred the mixture into the two mixer bowls and added honey to each. She set the mixers on "Stir" and let them do the work. She slowly added Jasmine fragrance and oatmeal to one and Magnolia fragrance to the other. Since she had the molds lined and ready, when the soap started to trace she poured the mixtures into the molds. That finished our first two batches. We washed the equipment and completed the paperwork to outline our first lesson.

Our second session was on December 19. Emily took the previous two batches of soap out of their molds and set aside to cure. Since she had already made a milk soap, I suggested two different types of soap such as aromatherapy and a regular kind of soap. She used the same method, but left out the milk and honey.

Herbal Lavender and Lemon

For the aromatherapy she used the Herbal Lavender and Lemon fragrance which also called for lavender essence oil. This soap is a two layered soap with the lighter soap on the bottom and a lavender colored soap on the top. The lavender soap was also scented with lavender essence oil and contained lavender buds. After the soap started to trace, Emily poured 3/4 of the soap into a mold and then returned the bowl to the mixer. She then added lavender colorant, lavender essence oils and lavender buds to the remaining mixture and set the mixer on "High" speed. When the soap was traced and fluffy she turned off the mixer and spooned the soap over the first layer in the mold.

The second batch was scented with Plumeria and Emily added oatmeal and a coral colorant. This batch was poured into the second mold. After the soap was poured into the molds they were covered to insulate them while they went through the gel process. Milk soap heats up by itself so it does not need to be insulated. Regular soap does not heat up and therefore needs insulation to keep the heat in the mixture until it has completed the gel process and has cooled down. We washed up the bowels and equipment and then filled out the paperwork for the 2nd session.

Emily was going out of town for Christmas so I encouraged her to think of the names she wanted for her soap and a logo while she was gone.

Emily came over on Saturday, January 08, and unmolded the two remaining batches of soap. It had been two weeks since making the last two batches of soap, so they basically were through the curing process. Using the soap cutter, she cut four bars of soap from each loaf. She had created a logo and we scanned it into my computer to add to her labels. Using my label format, she then created her labels and incorporated her logo and the names she had chosen for her soaps. The cut bars needed a couple days to finish drying so she was to return on Monday, January 10, to wrap and label her soap.

Wrapped and labeled soap

Emily came over on January 10, and wrapped and labeled her soap. I gave her three baskets to use and explained how she could put shredded paper into the small baskets arranging the soap and tying with a nice ribbon. Each judge will receive one basket with four individually wrapped and labeled bars of soap.

All the types of soap Emily made

All batches of soap turned out nicely. The buttermilk soaps were very creamy and smooth without any flaws. They smelt so nice and fragrant, just like we wanted them to. Milk soaps can be tricky and Murphy's Law "Anything that can go wrong will", usually applies when you really need something to turn out right the first time, but in this case Murphy was wrong.

Two layered Herbal Lavender Soap

The two layered Herbal Lavender and Lemon was beautiful and smelled very fragrant. You can't go wrong with Plumeria. It is always such as beautiful soap and this batch was no exception. The color was nice and the fragrance just right. The soap sliced very easy.

I had a great time teaching Emily and sharing with her my skills at making soap, whether she ever uses them again or not, she will know how real handmade soap is made. Unlike melt and pour, handmade lye soap takes time and patience to create a nice thick lathering soap that will not dry out your skin, but add moisturize to it.

While the Cats away the Mouse will work her Butt off

2010-11-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

While the Cats Away.....

As I mentioned on the last blog, my husband has been in Arkansas. Well of course with the regular housework that needs to be done there is always the special projects that wives do while their husbands are gone. Going through closets, junk drawers, shelves in the garage, etc., throwing away broken objects, magazines, junk, trash and those things he can not live without, but will never know is gone. Along with these little projects I have been filling soap orders.

This morning I got a big order packed and ready to be mailed. Because it weighed so much I thought UPS would be the better choice. I live in a small town about 23 miles from Tampa and the closest UPS is on the way to Tampa, about 15 minutes away. I got all the way to the UPS store around 9:00 am and saw the sign said it didn't open until 10:00. I thought I'd get a manicure while I was waiting, but even though the salon said it opened at 9:00 that wasn't the case as there was not a soul in sight. I finally decided to go to the post office near my house. So feeling a little frustrated because I wasted so much time, I went back to where I started 30 minutes earlier.

I get to the post office and there were a couple people ahead of me at the little kiosk so while I was waiting my turn, out steps Sandy from the side door. Sandy is a friend and customer who works at the post office. We chatted a little while about soap and the new Saturday hours at the post office (it didn't open until 10:00 either). As usual Sandy was very helpful explaining to the first time kioskers how to work the machine. Finally my turn and after weighing the package I decided to just send it through the post office. I was not making that trip back to the USPS store again.

When I got back home it was time to start making soap. A regular customer had ordered two loaves of soap, a buttermilk and honey soap and a goats milk and honey; black ginger and bamboo. They turned out very nice. After curing I will send them to Marge along with her Acne soap.

The loaves of soap are really the way to go if you like a certain scent. You get 15-17 bars of regular sized soap per loaf. The great thing is that you can slice the bars as thin or thick as you like.

But why stop with two loaves of soap? I was now in the soap making mood and decided to make four 30 bar batches of soap. I started with Chocolate Brownie Exfoliating soap then went on to make Green Tea and Cucumber, LemonBerry Kitchen soap and Autumn Evenings.

The Chocolate Brownie exfoliating soap smells just like fresh baked brownies. I usually add coffee grounds, but this time added poppy seeds instead. It is great for taking off callus's on your feet or elbows, cellulite from your hips and thighs or dirt and grease from your hands. The Green Tea and Cucumber is a BB fragrance, very clean and fresh. I added green tea to act as a gentle exfoliate. The LemonBerry is another like the Chocolate Brownie, but a delightful lemon scent with a nice undertone of berry fragrance. The
Autumn Evenings is a combination of spiced apples, oranges and cinnamon that my husband came up with when I first started this business. A favorite with my customers and great for this time of year.

This evening I have one more order to fill and then I will work on the scarf I am knitting for my granddaughter. I have knitted 7 scarves so far for Christmas presents.

So I've been pretty busy while that cat's been away and now I'd really love a nap.

Thanksgiving Dinner and Stuffing Recipe

2010-11-26T08:51:00.000-08:00

My husband went to Arkansas this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with his mother and sister. His mother lives in Pine Bluff and his sister lives in Benton. His mothers health has been fragile recently and we felt this would cheer her up.

So I have used this time to fill the many soap orders I have received through my web site. When you work full-time and have a business also, these moments of down time (when you are alone) are a life saver.

I can't say I am completely alone. We have a mixed dog named Dalton, two African Gray parrots (sisters from the same clutch) named Reba and Renee' and a Rose Breasted Cockatoo named Katie Scarlett. Yes I love Gone With the Wind.

Reba and Renee' are almost two years old, which is very young for parrots since they can live to be 65 or so, sometimes even longer. Their vocabulary is huge and they boss Dalton around all the time. They tell him when to eat, go outside and when to potty. They tattle tale on him too when he is eating the bird pellets they have dropped off the side of their cage, and they argue with me and each other. So the house sounds like it is full of people all talking at the same time all day long. Katie is only a baby, 5 months old, so she doesn't talk yet.

They are in the Florida room away from my soap and my soap making area. So my customers never find little feathers in their soap order. Smile.

For those of you who have birds or know someone that does, know they like to eat what we eat and can except for those few No no's, that all animals experience. Anyway, I fixed a small version of a Thanksgiving dinner. I bought a half turkey breast and smoked it in the smoker. I made the usual green bean casserole, 2 sweet potatoes sliced and baked with brown sugar and marshmallows, stuffing (my own recipe below), 2 regular potatoes mashed, 1 can of corn, handmade turkey gravy ( I just boiled 3 turkey necks), 2 brown and serve rolls, 1 bunch asparagus and 5 deviled eggs. The girls and I had enjoyed every bite.

After dinner the girls went to their play stand and I went back to wrapping soap and making up the gift sets which a customer had ordered. Gift Sets
This must be the year for gift sets because I have sold at least 15 so far. Instead of using the grass basket I usually use, I am using holiday tins. I put the tin box inside it's lid and tie a nice bow around the whole gift set to keep the soap in place. The picture at the right is a simpler version of what I am sending out. These gift sets come with 5 bars of soap each individually wrapped and labeled as shown in the picture. You can either choose the soap you want in the gift set or you can order a preselected gift set like Milk and Honey, Aromatherapy, Woodsy Spicy, etc., Each bar of soap is approximately 3.5 to 4 ounces each.

My stuffing recipe:

I don't like cornbread. My family is from Arkansas and I don't like cornbread, what a black sheep I have turned out to be. I came up with my own recipe for stuffing about 30+ years ago. This is very simple and really good.

1 box Stove Top turkey stuffing
1 box chicken Rice a Roni
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Chicken broth
Cook the rice a roni as the directions call for adding broth instead of water. Add the pecans and dried cranberries before the broth is completely absorbed. In another pot add the chicken broth and cook the stuffing as directed, adding a little more broth then called for. When the rice a roni is done mix it with the stuffing and put into a baking pan. Heat in the oven. You can do this the day before and just keep it in the fridge until ready for the oven. My family loves this stuffing and my daughters now make their stuffing this way. In fact I don't know of anyone who hasn't loved it.

Happy Holidays from Grandma and Me Soaps

Homemade Acne Soap

2010-11-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

My youngest son, Christopher, suffers from cystic acne. I too had the problem when younger. When he was a teenager I was constantly taking him to the dermatologist trying to find that miracle medicine that would "Cure" his acne. The different medications worked for a short time, but over the long period they quit being effective.

When I began making soap for my business, I started studying herbal and aromatherapy books, looking for the right combination's of herbs and essence oils to create a soap that would help my son. I was also looking for basic acne recipes to form a starting point. One in particular caught my attention and is located at http://millersoap.com/soapallveg.html and is called Acne/Oily Skin Soap. As I said, this recipe was a starting point to develop my recipe from.

Making soap is easy if you are organized with all your supplies at arms length. Completing one step at a time will ensure that your soap turns out wonderfully. I use a large stainless steel soap pot to melt my oils, rubber spatula's, wooden spoons to stir with, an 8 cup heavy glass measuring cup for the lye/liquid mixture and a Kitchen Aid mixer to mix my soap.

My recipe which makes 30 3.5 oz bars of soap:
10 oz cold Witch Hazel
6 oz distilled water
3.4 lb lye
1 lb distilled water (to seep herbs in)
2 tablespoons each: red clover, chamomile (I use buds), slippery elm bark, comfrey leaves, peppermint leaves and lavender buds.
1 oz stearic acid
1 lb coconut oil
3 lbs palm oil
1 lb olive oil
3 oz tea tree oil
1 oz peppermint oil
1 oz lavender oil
1 oz patchouli oil
1 oz rosemary oil

Using 1 lb distilled water, seep the red clover, chamomile, slippery elm, peppermint , lavender, stearic acid and comfrey on very low heat for 2 hours. After seeping for 2 hours strain into a bowl and set liquid aside. Throw the herbs away.

In an enamel pot or heavy glass measuring cup, mix the Witch Hazel and 6 ounces of water, add the lye and mix well. DO NOT GET SCARED, THE MIXTURE WILL TURN YELLOW AND BOIL. Stirring will dissolve the lye and the boiling will stop. Set aside to cool. This will take some time approximately 1 -1 1/2 hours. When the lye mixture has cooled to around 130 degrees, combine the coconut, palm and olive oils into a pot and set on low heat to melt. Measure the essence oils into a glass container and set aside.

The key to good soap is making sure that the lye mixture and oils are about the same temperature. So when both have cooled to approximately 100-102 degrees I combine the two. Using the stainless steel pot with the melted oils, I slowly add the lye mixture, constantly stirring. Immediately after the lye mixture is added to the oils, add the liquid strained from the seeped herbs, stirring constantly. I then transfer this soap mixture to my Kitchen Aid mixing bowel and turn onto "stir". When the soap has been mixing for about 5 minutes, I very slowly add the essence oils and continue to mix until the soap gently traces. Pour into your prepared mold using the spatula to get all the soap out of the bowl. Insulate well and let set for at least 24 hours before cutting into bars.

I buy my herbs in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs, very affordable prices and although I buy my essential oils all over, WFMED.com has great prices. You may have other avenues you purchase from. I use a flat mold lined with wax paper, which makes 30 bars of soap, but what ever works for you.

If you read the original recipe on Millers Soap site, you will see that she had a difficult time with her soap and was unsure that it would turn out fit to use. I never experienced the problems she did, but the more I make this recipe the nicer the soap comes out. You will also notice I omitted the bees wax. At first I seeped the herbs in a small amount of oil, but it seemed that I wasted a lot of oil as the herbs absorbed it. Making a tea with the herbs works better for me.

My son has been using this soap for years and I have sold hundreds of bars to repeat customers. Since it is all natural there should be nothing in it to aggravate the acne. If redness or swelling occurs than I would discontinue the use immediately. One thing to remember, and I always remind my son, is to drink lots of water. It really is important to wash out your system. No matter how many times a day you wash your face, if you only drink soda's, etc., then you will continue to have problems.

Dried herbs

8 cup measuring cup

Essential oils

Herb liquid


Soap mixing

Soap in mold

NOTE: 11/26/10

This batch turned out to be the best batch of Acne soap I've made so far. Very smooth and creamy texture. I think it is because I seeped the herbs in the water instead of seeping in the oils as I had been doing. You can really smell the tea tree and lavender.

Castille Soap

2010-11-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

When I first started selling my soap at flea markets and craft shows, I was asked numerous times if I carried Castille soap. I knew that castille soap was generally a soap made in Italy, but I have since learned that many countries make and sell castille soap to include Greece.

I live in Zephryhills, Florida, not very far from the beautiful and historic town of Tarpon Springs, which was once a major supplier of real sea sponges. The town is full of little shops that sell all kinds of sponges, clothes, specialty items, souvenirs and soap. Two that I know of sell handmade soap, mainly melt and pour, but one in particular also sells handmade lye soap. All of these shops sell imported castille soap.

As hard as I have looked, I have yet to see a castille bar of soap with a label written in English, so their ingredients are still a mystery to me.

Because so many of my customers or potential customers wanted castille soap, I decided to make and stock a small quantity. Since I could not read Greek, the Internet was my world of information and recipes to choose from. After looking high and low, I decided to make my own recipe, which has worked for me.

The recipe is:
3 1/2 lbs of olive oil
1 lb of coconut oil
2 lbs of cold distilled water
3/4 lb of lye
3 oz of fragrance or essence oils

I mix the lye into the cold water and set aside to start cooling. When the lye water is about 110 degrees, I measure the olive and coconut oils into my pot and put on very low heat to warm. I like to mix the oils and lye water at about 100 degrees. I have to admit that I don't use a thermometer, I put my hand on the side of the containers and when they are warm, but not hot, I mix the two together. Knock on wood this works for me 99.9 % of the time.

I pour the mixture into my mixing bowl and set on stir. When the soap starts to trace I add my fragrance and then pour into my prepared mold. With my mold, this recipe makes about 30 3.5 oz bars of soap.

Castille soap is very hard when it is finished curing. The coconut oil helps to create a very nice lather, but the real joy is the amount of olive oil used. Another thing about this recipe is that it is easy to make. You could half the recipe and make two different scented soaps if 30 bars of one kind is too much.

My husband makes my molds for me and therefore I have several sizes to choose from. My small loaf molds make 15-17 bars of soap. So this recipe halved would be great for two of those molds.

Cost wise, it is really not bad. At least not compared to Shea or mango butters or some of the more exotic soaps that you can make using a variety of the specialty butters and oils.

I currently have a Jasmine castille soap on my site. I sell my Jasmine castille for 5.00 per bar, but depending on where you live you could sell it for much more.

Homemade Soap to Wash that Dog

2010-11-04T05:59:00.000-07:00

We have a mixed breed dog that we bought at the animal shelter. He is part Chow and part Shepard. He has the beautiful red color of the Chow along with the fluffy tail that flips over his back, but the facial markings of the Shepard. His name is Dalton.

Being part Chow, Dalton has the long strands of hair,which is very silky, but also the thick undercoat. In the Spring he sheds so bad it looks like it could be raining cotton. Many hours of combing are racked up as my husband has allergies.

Once in a while we treat ourselves and Dalton by taking him to be professionally groomed. When he comes back home he is so neat, clean and brushed out nicely. My daughter is a groomer, but lives in Ohio so that only helps when she visits.

Needless to say we are his main groomers, which is about as close to a groomer as a seven-year-old making pancakes compared to Rachel Ray making pancakes. Thank goodness Dalton is easy going, usually, and doesn't mind being tortured, I mean bathed. This process is done outside because of his size and the amount of hair that continues to multiply while washing and rinsing. Have you ever wondered how an animal can loose so much fur and not be bald? Must be one of Murphy's Laws.

We use my homemade soap to wash Dalton. Unlike regular store bought soap, handmade soap is natural and does not contain all the additives that store bought soap has. Therefore, the soap does not leave a residue on the fur to make it gummy and gross. If you've ever used Dial or Zest, etc., as a shampoo you know what I mean.

First of all I get him real wet and then using a bar of my soap work the lather into his fur, all over, making sure to really saturate his undercoat. When he resembles a porcupine, I put the soap down and start scrubbing his fur and skin. He loves this part. If he can, he gets that leg to going, but he has a hard time balancing on three legs with the forth going ninety to nothing.

When I am finished scrubbing him real good from top to bottom, I start rinsing him off. Now in the past this was an absolute nightmare because it took so long to rinse all the store bought shampoo out. With handmade soap the lather rinses out with no problem, leaving his fur shinny and squeaky clean and his skin moisturized.

Of course since I make my own soap I can pick and choose what kind I want to use. I usually pick one with oatmeal in the winter when the weather can really dry out the skin. Now in the Spring and Summer I use Peppermint soap Why peppermint? Because fleas and ticks don't like peppermint and as I bathe Dalton the peppermint oil is absorbed into his skin. So that takes care of the bug problem. Lavender Mint is great for those four legged companions that also suffer from skin allergies as the lavender is a natural healer of skin problems.

I used to make a shampoo bar for people and animals, but any bar of handmade soap works just as well. In the shampoo bar I added Castor oil as it is supposed to lift the dirt and oils without drying out the hair or fur. Again, I didn't see any difference when using either one, so I quit making the shampoo bar. Another great soap to use to wash your four legged companions, is goat's milk and honey. This is especially great for those little guys who have allergies to grass or are prone to yeast, as the goat's milk and honey soap is extremely moisturizing. Goats Milk and Honey Lavender is great.

So anyway don't keep that handmade soap just to yourself, get an extra bar to share with your buddy. I know he or she will appreciate the "Spa" treatment too. And one other thing, you will notice that the fur stays cleaner longer and that he/she will not smell ripe so quickly.

Rebatching That Soap

2010-11-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

In the years since I started my business I have created many many types of Soap. Sometimes for whatever reason a certain scent does not sell well and the soap just sits in it's container hoping that someone will want to try it. You change the name and description in hopes that these changes will make a difference. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't.

What smells so wonderful in a cologne or in the bottle may smell completely different in a soap after curing. You just don't know at first. Fragrances may continue to remain strong and full scented after being added to the soap, but others may start to become faint after a short while.

No one wants to use a soap that doesn't smell great, especially those made with a purpose in mind such as aromatherapy.

What do you do when these things happen? If it is a small batch of soap you can bag them up and sell them in Grab Bags or you can re-batch. Grab Bags I started putting together Grab Bags about a year after I started selling soap. These Grab Bags have 6 bars of soap that is perfectly fine, except that they may not be the most popular fragrance on the block or the scent has become faint. Many are irregulars, which mean that they may have rounded corners or the soap settled uneven and some of the bars are thinner than the rest.

Re-batching is a wonderful way to renew the life of a bar of soap. And anyone who is in their own business knows that a product that doesn't sell is useless wasted money.

For my soap that is to be re-batched, I cut up the bars into small pieces and pop them into the crock-pot. I add a little water and turn on high for a couple hours. This is not a fast process, so sit tight and plan your day accordingly. As the soap melts back down I add small amounts of fragrance oil. When the soap is completely melted I pour it into a prepared mold and let it sit a couple days. When you add liquid to re-batched soap is is thinner than the regular batch of soap and may take a couple days to harden. After it is hardened pop it out of the mold and cut. There is no curing with re-batched soap as it is really "Hot Process" soap. Soap that has been cooked, which cures it at the same time.

Even the novice can melt down the ends and pieces of their soap to add oatmeal or additional fragrance, making a totally new soap. You can roll the soap into balls or pour into small containers and cut into bars. Your imagination is the limit to what you can do.

Even after all these years, I still have the occasional "What in the world happened" batch of soap. You know the soap that separates or creates little craters of liquid, etc. But because I believe in re-batching, I cut the soap up and into the crock-pot with a little liquid it goes and is melted back down.

New batches usually have the right strength of fragrance, but something went wrong in the curing process. I've only had one batch of soap that had to be thrown away in all the years of making soap. It was a chocolate mint that was such as mess nothing could be done for it. I don't think Moses could have helped this batch of soap it was so bad. A real runny mess.

If you collect small slivers of soap to "Do" something with. Cut them up into small pieces and put into a microwavable bowl. Add a little water just to moisten the soap and help it to melt, use common sense you do not want a watery mess. And put the bowl into the microwave on high for a few seconds. Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir real well. Continue until the soap is melted and then add a little fragrance or essence oils, maybe some exfoliate such as oatmeal or cornmeal and then pour into a little mold. It could be a plastic container, small box lined with wax paper or a trash bag, or one of the Melt and Pour molds you can buy at Michael's or Joannes. Let the soap set until it is hardened a day or two and pop out of the mold.

Now you have some homemade soap.

I'm Back

2010-08-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it has been quite a while since I wrote on my blog. I have been very busy with a lot of things, and of course making soap.

I was going to close my website, Website but decided to just carry the soap and quit making the other products except for special orders. It is only me and I am still working full-time, so that didn't leave a lot of time for lotions, body butters, etc. But again, if you want something special just e-mail me from my website and I can make it.

I've been making a lot of soap loaves. I've decided to change the pictures on my site to include the loaves instead of just single bars. I've just begun so I have 5 loaves made and about 70 more to go. Should be done by Christmas, actually it will take some time as I can only make 4 loaves at a time. Soap Loaves

The other things that have kept me so busy are our two African Gray parrots, which are sisters from the same clutch. They turned 1 year in February and talk up a storm. Their names are Reba and Renee'. I also have a 14 week old Rose Breasted Cockatoo named Katie Scarlett, for those who love "Gone with the Wind". She is still being hand fed twice a day, but is weaning. She eats pellets and fresh food great.

Another project that has kept me busy is knitting. My children and grandchildren live in the very cold State of Ohio. So I am knitting all of them scarves and the girls Shaw's to wrap up in this winter. There are 4 kids and 7 grandchildren, so when I mean busy, I really mean busy.

I have also been busy putting beautiful puzzles together and framing them. I couldn't find any prints or pictures I wanted so I decided to buy some puzzles and just frame them when I was done. I have two more ocean scenes to frame and then 3 Thomas Kinkade's to frame. Keeps your mind sharp and helps the hand eye coordination.

But this weekend I will be back to making soap. I am making some that have gotten pretty low. The Shea butter and olive oil is one I will be making, maybe a rose too and what ever else I see needs to be made.

Well good to be back and will post the pictures after I am finished.

Back to the Basics; Making Soap

2010-05-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Me will be going back to the original roots, making soap. With a full-time job it has become difficult to stay ahead of the orders for lotions, butters, salts, etc. Handmade Soap

I love to make soap and to create new and exciting fragrance blends. Making soap is relaxing to me. I enjoyed making the other products, but being a sole owner and operator of such a business can become overwhelming at times.

You will also notice I have reduced the prices on my soap and while my site is in working order, I am making adjustments to remove the body products.

If you don't see what you'd like to order, please contact me directly by e-mail at http://www.grandmaandmesoaps.com/.

Loyce

Lavender and Peppermint

2010-03-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

When my 97-year-old grandmother was young, doctors in rural areas were few and far between. Depending on the size of the town there may have been one doctor who treated patient’s living miles apart. Therefore, people depended on home remedies passed down through generations to treat injuries and cure illnesses. Home remedies continue to be used today.

I make homemade soap and body products and love to use dried herbs and essential oils. Two of my favorites are peppermint and lavender.

Peppermint contains calcium antagonism a natural pain reliever. It not only relieves headaches and migraines, but aches and pains caused by stress or physical activity. It also helps to relieve nausea, depression, anxiety and other discomforts, and is beneficial in relieving upper respiratory problems. Peppermint Soap

My mother believed in the healing benefits of menthol, which comes from mint. It is responsible for the strong scent in Vicks. When I was sick, she would get out the Vicks vapor rub and go to town. I looked like a greased pig with tuffs of hair sticking up all around my head. Then she’d tie a warm rag around my throat and make me stay in bed.

A hot shower using peppermint soap can give immediate relief from migraines, headaches and sinus problems. After you have bathed with the peppermint soap, rinse the lather from the cloth and gently place it over your face. Breathe deeply several times. The hot moist cloth saturated with peppermint oil will open your sinuses and loosen the tightness in your chest. If you don’t have peppermint soap, place a couple drops of peppermint oil onto your wash cloth instead.

Peppermint soap or shampoo is great for dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, body or head lice. If you either of these, add 20 drops of peppermint essential oil into your existing shampoo bottle and shake well. To add peppermint oil directly to your scalp it must be diluted or it can burn and irritate your skin. 1 part of peppermint oil to 2 parts carrier oil and shake well to mix. Carrier oil is any liquid oil.

Shampooing your pet with peppermint shampoo or soap will kill ticks, fleas and their eggs, and repel those waiting outside for a chance to join the party.

Peppermint tea provides relaxation and the steam will open your sinus’s relieving any pressure. Peppermint tea: infuse a handful of crushed peppermint leaves in a small pot of boiling water. Let the tea steep for 7 to 10 minutes. Then strain and drink. You could add a small amount of dried lemon or orange rind and some honey if you’d like.

Lavender has been cultivated and used for centuries to treat many ailments. Research studies are beginning to support what healers of yesterday have known for centuries; that lavender contains healing properties. These are called esters, which are aromatic molecules. Esters provide anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties. They also help to kill germs that cause infection. Add a little drop of lavender oil onto a cut or bug bite before applying a band aid and the spot will heal quicker.

Lavender essential oil can help to overcome alopecia areata, psoriasis, eczema, scabies, shingles, and dermatitis. In the shower you can apply a few drops of lavender oil directly to your wet scalp or skin, massage a few minutes and rinse. Or use a shampoo or shampoo bar infused with lavender oil. Like peppermint, lavender will kill head lice and kill their nits.

Bathing with handmade soap infused with lavender oil Lavender Soap will relax tired and strained muscles erase tension and minor aches and pains associated with stress.

Lavender bath soak: cut the foot off a stocking. Pour 3 tbl of fresh or dried lavender buds, 1 tsp of fresh or dried orange rind and 1 tsp of fresh or dried crushed peppermint leaves into the stocking and tie the open end. Fill the bath tub with the hottest water you can tolerate and put the bath soak in to seep for at least five minutes. Now climb in and enjoy your homemade aromatherapy spa.

Lavender tea helps to settle an upset stomach, reduce flatulence and stop colic. It can be used as a mouthwash to combat halitosis. Drinking a hot cup of lavender tea before bedtime or placing a drop of lavender oil on your pillow will help to relieve insomnia. To make lavender tea, infuse a handful of dried lavender blossoms in a pot of boiling water. Steep 7 to 10 minutes, then strain and enjoy.

Lavender combined with other herbs or essential oils create a variety of first aid treatments. Patchouli also contains anti-inflammatory properties, so mixed with lavender you have a first aid treatment for bug bites, small burns, cuts, scrapes and minor skin irritations, which will relieve pain, itching and swelling. Lavender combined with peppermint oil relieves headaches, while relaxing your body and mind for a peaceful night’s sleep. Lavender, patchouli and bergamot cure athlete’s foot and other types of fungus.

You can find essential oils and Homemade Soap on the Internet.

Layering Soap or Bust

2010-02-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

It’s only 7:30 am on Saturday morning. What kind of nut am I for getting up so early on the only day I have to sleep in? Last week I had read several blogs and articles about making layered soap, so I am anxious to get started. I am trying the Lavender and Orange Blossom soap again. Lavender and Orange Soap

I started the lye water after I made my cup of tea and turned on the oven. I am dieting again, and that means I can eat only one lonely little biscuit. Oh to be young and skinny again.

I then lined four of my smaller wooden molds that stand upright since I will be using them instead of a large rectangle mold. The big molds are good for making 30 bars of soap, but not deep enough to make layered soap.

After baking and eating my one and only biscuit, and drinking my tea, I measured the oils into my stock pot and put it on the stove over low heat. Cutting 17 bars of Jasmine soap into chunks, I put them into my crock-pot with a little water to melt.

I have a wonderful customer who has a great nose, sometimes too great because he kindly let me know the last batch of Jasmine was not strong enough for him. Can't let him be disappointed so I am re-batching half of that Jasmine soap in order to add more fragrance.

So, the lye water is cooling, the oils are melting, the crock-pot is going and I need another cup of tea. Tea Forte’ has the most wonderful herbal teas in the cutest little bags. You can order them online. I love the Flora.

When the lye water and oils cooled to near the same temperature, I combined them and poured the mixture into my mixing bowl. I added lavender mica, lavender buds, lavender and orange essence oils and turned the mixer onto “stir” until it traced. I then poured the soap into two of the lined molds and sprinkled lavender buds on top. These buds will actually be in the middle of the bar of soap when it is finished, hopefully. I could be wrong, but this is the plan.

I now have to wait until the soap has set enough to stand another batch of soap being poured on top without the two mixing instead of layering, as planned.

Meanwhile, I added the Jasmine oil into the re-batched soap and poured that into one of the prepared small molds. Jasmine Soap

The lavender soap has hardened enough that I can began the second batch of soap that will form the top layer of the lavender and orange blossom soap. As the lye water is cooling, I cut up 17 bars of Rosemary Spearmint soap to re-batch. I want to make the rosemary stronger than the spearmint. I added a little water to the soap and turned on the crock-pot again.

It may sound like I have numerous mixers, bowls and crock-pots like Rachael Ray has pots and pans, but I don't. I just wash them after each use so that they are always ready. I can’t stand a sink full of dirty dishes much to my kids dismay when they were younger.

Ok the lye water and oils have cooled down and this time I am going to get creative. This should worry anyone who knows me, it certainly does my husband. When I use the word "creative" he practically backs away while making the sign of the cross with his fingers. What a scardy cat.

Using two mixers, I only have three, I halved the batch of soap into the bowls. In one I added sweet orange essential oil and a dash of lavender essential oil along with orange colorant. In the second bowl I added lemon essential oil and a dash of lavender essential oil along with yellow colorant. When they started to trace I poured the orange over one lavender base and the lemon over the other. I then set the molds aside and covered.

When the Rosemary and Spearmint soap was melted, I added more rosemary essential oil and poured the soap into the last mold. With all the soap batches put into their perspective molds, I am done for the night.
Rosemary Spearmint
Sunday:

After church and feeding Reba and Renee’ our two African Gray Parrots, I went into my work area in a corner of the garage where the soap was placed to set.

This part is kind of like Christmas, you never really know what you have until you unmold it.

First I took the lavender lemon layered soap out of its mold and cut into bars, then did the same to the lavender orange, the Jasmine and lastly the Rosemary Spearmint. They all smelled great and looked good too.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday. I had a little from each batch of soap left over so I poured up some specialty molds.They turned out fine. I am not sure what I will do with them when they are cured. Maybe put them into a basket or something.

Lavender Orange Blossom

Grandma's Soap Took a Trip to Arizona

2010-02-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

I grew up in the Valley outside of Los Angeles, in Southern California, during the late 50's, 60's and early 70's. Back then you could walk to the dime store without anyone bothering you. There were acres of orange groves as far as the eye could see where you could play hide and seek. We would go to Malibu beach and you could see the whole ocean from the mountain pass coming down from Topanga Canyon. There were no houses blocking the view or "Keep Out-Private Property" signs posted on the entrance to the beach. It was a wonderful time for a kid to grow up in.

The one thing my grandmother did, which other mothers and grandmothers in our neighborhood didn't do was make homemade lye soap. Of course she also tended a vegetable garden, canned and made quilts.

My grandparents moved from Searcy, Arkansas to California in 1942 or there about. My grandfather was a general contractor and built many of the hospitals, malls and tracks of houses in the San Fernando Valley, he also belonged to the San Fernando Elks Lodge. My grandmother was a quiet lady and an introvert, while my grandfather was the total opposite. The Lodge was his life. He loved the activities and any reason to dress in one of his Tuxedos was a good reason. I must say he was very handsome in his tux. Through the years with the Elks, he occupied all the chairs including Exalted Ruler. I called him the Grand Pubah. He was also a Free Mason and Shriner.

Even though grandma was shy and uncomfortable around large groups of people, she always looked forward to the trips to Arizona, which happened twice a year. My grandparent's house was a drop off for donated items such as clothes, books, shoes, and anything else that people no longer wanted, which would be taken to the Hopi and Navajo Indians on the reservations outside of Flagstaff.

Grandma's contribution was handmade soap, lots of soap. I mean 30 gallon trash bags full of soap. All her friends in the Lodge, Church, Quilting Bee and the neighbors on our street would save their grease drippings from cooking, pouring them into empty coffee cans until they were full and then gave them to grandma to make soap. Grandpa built her a cupboard to keep the cans of grease until she was ready to make soap.

You see, soap is made using three ingredients; oil, a liquid and lye (Sodium Hydroxide). So several times a year when grandma had enough cans of grease accumulated, she would announce that it was time to make soap.

Most of grandma's friends gave her pre-strained grease that was very clean and ready to use, but there were a few who just poured whatever was in the frying pan into the can. So for these, she would get out her clean pieces of cheese cloth and after heating the grease would strain it until it was a clear golden color. Used grease is never completely clear again, but takes on a golden tint after being used.

After the grease was clean and clear enough to satisfy her, she was ready to get started. This entailed pulling out a medium enamel wash tub for the lye and water to be mixed in, a large stock pot to heat the oils, a huge metal spoon, a meat thermometer, hand mixer and about 25 small margarine containers to use as soap molds.

Using her enamel tub, she would pour the measured Red Devil lye into the water and stir until the lye was dissolved and then set this aside to cool. Boy, the lye water would make you go into a coughing fit if you were anywhere around, which I always was. As the lye water was cooling down, she would start warming the grease she had measured out. In making soap the oils and lye water need to be around the same temperature before mixing together, about 100 degrees or so, thus the meat thermometer.

When both were cool enough, I'd watch grandma carefully pour the oils into the lye water stirring the spoon in big circles around the enamel tub. Around and around then in a figure 8, then around and around again. After she was satisfied that the two were combined, she would take out her old hand mixer and on low she would start mixing. After a few minutes she would turn off the mixer and let the soap rest for a few minutes while she did something else. She would return and start mixing again. When I was older grandma allowed me to take over mixing the soap. It was then that I realized why she let the soap sit for a few minutes in between mixing, her arm got tired.

It would take about 15 or 20 minutes of mixing before the soap would get to the trace stage. Trace is when the soap begins to get thick. It's like when your stirring melted chocolate and you take the spoon out and let the chocolate dribble back into the bowl, the little designs the dribble creates on the chocolate is tracing. As you continue to mix, the soap becomes the consistency of pudding, which is a hard trace. At this stage it is ready to pour or scoop into molds.

As I said earlier, grandma used small margarine containers for her soap molds. When the soap was ready I would ladle big spoonfuls into the containers. Even though filling all those containers took quite a bit of time, I had to work quickly before the soap became too thick always being careful so as not to spill the precious soap and make a big mess.

When all the containers were filled, grandma and I would put them on a table in the enclosed patio to set. This meant that the soap was not to be bothered for at least 24 hours so that it could harden. Grandma never insulated the containers and they always turned out fine. After the soap hardened, I'd pop out the ivory colored bars into 30 gallon trash bags to be set aside to cure until the next trip to Arizona.

Another thing grandma very seldom did, was add fragrance to her soap. She said the Indian families would use the soap to bathe with and to wash their clothes and dishes. It was hard to believe that the Hopi and Navajo Indians didn't have Palmolive for their dishes, Tide for their clothes or even Herbal Essence shampoo for their hair like we did, only grandma's handmade lye soap.

As I got older, grandma allowed me to take on more of the soap making responsibilities until I could make soap by myself, but we always enjoyed making it together.

The biggest surprise of my young life was when my grandpa told me that it was my turn to go to Arizona with them. My older sisters had made trips before, but I was too young or was in school when the trips were planned. This time it would be summer and I would be out of school. I was so excited.

Days before we were to leave, I helped my grandma gather and separate the donated items into big bags. She knew so many families and what these families needed. The size of clothes the children and parents wore, shoe sizes, toys for the right ages, etc. Once the items were gathered, we would label the bags with their names. There were also many bags without labels and these would be taken to Shine Smith's Church to be given to many other families in need.

Not only was this my first trip to Arizona to visit the Hopi and Navajo families I had heard so much about through the years, but we would be bringing something extra special, the handmade soap that I helped to make.

I will always remember that trip as one of the most exciting experiences in my life.

After we girls grew up, married and had families of our own, grandma and grandpa retired and moved back to Searcy, Arkansas. Grandpa passed away several years ago and grandma who is now 97 lives in an apartment across the hall from her sister who is 99.

When I decided to start a small business, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, make and sell handmade soap. Because my grandma was so patient when teaching me to make soap, I wanted to include her in some way so I named my business "Grandma and Me Soaps." About Grandmas Soap

I have modified some of the steps grandma used to make her soap such as only using vegetable oils instead of grease, tallow or lard. I use Kitchen Aide mixers instead of a hand mixer and best of all I use all kinds of fragrance and essence oils to scent my soap.

Every now and then, while the mixers are humming softly while stirring their batch of soap, I am taken back to those precious times with my grandparents and helping my grandma make lye soap in her kitchen.

Soap for All Ages

Lavender Orange Soap

2010-02-20T06:19:00.000-08:00

Update on the Lavender and Orange layered soap. Well the soap smells wonderful, but did not turn out like I wanted it to. I will try again today because I am out of Lavender and Orange Blossoms soap.

The batch, which was divided into two bowls so that I could add the colorants, lavender to the one bowl and orange to the other, was more than my smaller mold could hold. So I ended up with more lavender on the bottom than orange on the top. The orange went down into the lavender instead of creating another layer as I wanted. Also I didn't realize that the mold should have only been filled 3/4 of the way to make regular sized bars of soap. When I went to use my small soap cutter, the loaf was to tall, and I had to slice the soap free hand. Which is not a good thing for me to try.

The spots in the soap are lavender buds with a little oatmeal. My sister Nancy who live in Nebraska, grows lavender so I am very lucky to get fresh lavender in the summertime.

I put the left over orange colored soap into plastic shaped molds and they turned out real nice.

Now I realize that if I had of sliced the bottom off the loaf, it would have fit into my cutter nicely and I would have the size bars I wanted even if the colored layers weren't perfect. I'm not usually this scatter brained.

Oh well one more batch for the clearance page and I'll know what to do next time.

Again, a Little Help with Soap

2010-02-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

This is the soap that Elder Pace created. He combined Musk, Eucalyptus, Teakwood and Peach Blossom. He added red clay oxide for the dark brick color. To define the scent is difficult because you can smell the woodsy Teakwood, but the Peach adds an undercurrent of sweet fragrance. A very nice scent, not overpowering.
Isaiah Soap

He named it Isaiah and the scripture he found to go with it is: Isaiah 52:11, Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be yea clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Another soap that we made, and has not finished curing, is the Goat's Milk and Honey Coconut Lemon Verbena. I added oatmeal to this soap and it smells really nice. As you can see I have not cleaned it up and the edges are rough.
I have already cleaned the soap, cut the tissue paper and printed the labels, so everything was ready for this little project when they got to the house. The ages of the Elders are 19-22, so these are really kids in suites with knowledge of scriptures, not wrapping soap. They sat at the table looking at the small bars of soap as if they were some very difficult calculus problem to solve. Then the confession came, they had never wrapped presents before, and therefore didn't know the basic concept of folding paper over a box. There was a diffident learning curve which had to be overcome, but after several bars they became pro's. Now they can wrap gifts on their own and not have to give them to mom or sis to do. Anyway, 50 half bars of soap is a lot of soap and would have taken me quite a while to wrap on my own. I really appreciate their good natures and willingness to help, and the ladies loved their soap.

Last night I made the Orange Blossoms and Lavender soap a different way. I divided the batch into two mixing bowls. In one I added orange coloring and a little extra sweet orange essence oil, lavender buds and a little oatmeal. In the other I added lavender color and a little extra lavender essence oil and oatmeal. So I have two different colors. I used my smaller mold that is similar to the shape of a bread pan. When the soap was ready to pour into the mold, I poured the lavender in first, then sprinkled lavender buds and oatmeal on top. I then added the orange colored soap on top. It should have distinct lavender and orange colors. I don't know how it is going to turn out, but it will smell real nice and just like it has always smelled. I will post pictures when the soap is cured in two weeks.

I would like to experiment with layering colors with my soap. I know of several sites where the soapers have done this, so I will contact one through the soap forums I visit and read how they do it.

So anyway, the Elders came back this weekend for more abuse. I needed to wrap and label 50 half bars of soap for the ladies in the Relief Society. These are the same size I put in my Soap Sampler and send to the Bed and Breakfast establishments.

Cleaning up the Soap Room

2010-02-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Over the Holidays my soap room became an absolute disaster. I was so busy filling orders and in the midst of this Carolyn Brundage an editor with Pretty City contacted me to offer a free booth at a Tampa expo that was being put on by Pretty City and Shape magazine. I was thrilled with this opportunity, but that meant preparing 200 sample packets, making lotions and wrapping and labeling dozens of bars of soap.

My soap room suffered tremendously. It really looked like Santa's workshop. I had containers of soap everywhere and supplies stacked in boxes. Bows in with lids, containers with just a couple bars of soap left in them, florist tissue paper with basket bags, what a mess. I had soap curing that needed to be placed in containers and labeled. You get the picture.

When I am not organized I feel fragmented and frustrated.

So I went to the local discount store and bought several stacking containers with three to seven drawers each. I then started reorganizing my soap and supplies.

After I rearranged the soap containers, I had several that needed washing to reuse with fresh batches of soap. So I washed about 7 or 8 of these and dried them. I used some to use for storing supplies and stacked them neatly on top of each other.

Now, I still have some old products to get rid of that are not in any shape to sell, but I am at least feeling more organized and put back together.

I don't want to hear the trash man on Monday morning though, he will not be happy at the amount of trash I have placed near the street for pick-up.

Here is a picture of m y soap room.

Soap Making with the Missionaries

2010-01-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Today the missionaries from my church came over to make soap. Elder Bagley had helped me before a while back and he was the one that came up with the strawberry and lemon combination and named it Nephi. It is on my site and smells really nice too.

Both missionaries were pretty excited to do something different for a change as they are usually busy on Saturday's getting doors slammed in their face.

The first batch was goat's milk and honey. To get down to business, I had explained about the importance of correctly measuring the lye, liquid and oils needed for the batches of soap we were going to make and explained as well the concept behind putting the goat's milk in the freezer to get "slushy". They looked like they might have understood, but again that is the expression I think they use quite often in listening to people talk about stuff they have no idea about. Real good poker faces.

Anyway, while the lye water was cooling down and the oils were melting, I got all the necessary things together to use when we actually combined the two and made soap. I lined the molds with wax paper and put the bowels on the mixers ( I use Kitchen Aid mixers set on stir) gathered the spatulas, fragrances, and colores.They were in the living room talking Mustang cars with my husband while I was gathering. Hmmm, funny how that happened.

So everything is ready and we go into my soap room to get started with the fun part. Elder Bagley slowly poured the lye water into the oils I was stirring and then Elder Pace poured the fresh slushy goat' s milk in. I want to stop for a minute and explain the water in the goat's milk soap. I use 1 lb of water to dissolve the lye in and then add the 3 lbs of goat's milk later.

Ok, back on track. As I stirred the mixture for a couple minutes after combining the ingredients to include the clover honey, I explained that the lye water, oils and goat's milk needed to be mixed well before pouring into the mixing bowels. I then poured the soap mixture into the two mixing bowels and set the mixers on "stir". Elder Pace then added the first fragrance oil which was Coconut Lemon Verbena a little at a time while the mixer was stirring and then I told him to put a little oatmeal into the mixture. He added the fragrance oil until the scent was strong enough to live through the curring process. About 4 ounces to 7 lbs of soap. This was a 14 pound batch of soap divided into two. I didn't add any fragrance to the second mixing bowel of soap because I needed goat's milk and honey unscented without oatmeal.

After the two mixing bowels of soap traced, Elder Pace poured them into the prepared molds and we set them aside on a shelf. He was very happy that he had made his first batch of soap.After duplicating the steps for the second batch, which was made without goat's milk, we made Bay Rum scented soap and a soap that remains to be named. He mixed a few fragrance oils together and came up with a scent that smells in between cotton candy and hard ribbon candy. Very nice and yummy. I think he was hungry since he only had muffins from Sams and milk when he first came in the house.

Oh, yea, he colored the soap with red clay (iron oxide).If you use red clay to color your soap, it will take longer to trace. I don't know why, maybe some of you other soap makers could answer this, but it took quite a bit longer. The soap looked fine and poured nicely into the mold. We will see tomorrow evening when I cut it into bars. I will have to reply as to the outcome of that batch.

I will post pictures also.Anyway, Elder Pace is coming up with a name for his soap and should have it by the time it cures and gets posted onto my site. It will be under the "Good Enough to Eat" page.

The missionaries are coming over again next Saturday to help wrap and label 50 half bars of soap for an order.I think I will order pizza.

Hand Felted Soap

2010-01-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, I finally got the supplies together and felted my first bars of soap. I used two bars of soap, a 1 oz package of wool roving that I bought at a fabric store, the cut off foot of my trouser nylon and a worn cutting board. (note: you should use the toe of a knee high or panty hose, but I didn't have any).

The process was not hard, but getting the wool roving wrapped around the bar completely can be tricky. You wrap it first one way then cut off that piece and using the remaining piece wrap the other way making sure to get the corners well covered. Next you put the wrapped bar into the toe of the nylon and slowly wet with HOT water, gently rubbing to get the water into the roving.

After the bar was wet completely, I started to rub the bar on the cutting board in a circular motion. I started rubbing one side for a few seconds, turning the bar to the edge and rubbing and continued this turning and rubbing until all sides and ends of the soap had been rubbed.

I continued with this routine for about 5 minutes. I then rinsed the suds off and gently squeesed the bar. I started again doing the same routine for another 5 minutes. I then took the bar out of the nylon and looked it over. Since the wool roving should shrink around the bar of soap, I checked for any pockets or areas that were not getting enough attention. I then placed the soap back into the nylon and worked on those areas.

After another 5 minutes I rinsed the bar one last time and placed on a towel to draw the water out.

You really have to be gentle with the rubbing, but firm. The wool roving threads mat together to form felt and the rubbing in a circular motion helps the fibers to cross over each other to mat covering the bar evenly.

I think this was fun and have added a page to my site that offers felting in different colors for the soap I sell. http://www.grandmaandmesoaps.com/Felted_Soap.html

I had orgionally bought my wool roving at Joannes, but it was $3.99 for 1 ounce, which is very expensive. I then went on line and found some very nice and affordable wool roving on Overstock.com. You want to have a variety of colored roving to use.

I have read from other blogs that getting the bar of soap to lather up was difficult after being felted and dried, but I would suggest that you get the bar really wet when using the first time.

Another note for soap makers; increase your coconut oil when making the batch of soap, so that the soap will create more lather when used.

Body Butter or Body Lotion, which one is for you?

2010-01-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

Body Butter or Body Lotion?
Drawing from my experience with making body butters and body lotions, I have come to depend on each one for different purposes. My customers ask what is the difference in the two and when should one be used instead of the other? Should you really care which one you use or just grab whatever is on the shelf?

The body butters I make contain Shea, mango, avocado or coco butters. I also add olive jojoba or sweet almond oils. The one ingredient that not all body butter makers use is beeswax.
I love beeswax. It not only makes the butters rich, thick and creamy, but also adds to the moisturizing qualities of the oils. I buy my beeswax from a bee keeper, but if you could not find a bee keeper the Internet is full of beeswax. I prefer fresh beeswax though.

With fresh beeswax you can smell the sweet scent of the honey. It has not been refined and purified and since it only takes a small amount, it is well worth the time and expense of adding it to your body butters. Beeswax, the type I buy is in a solid block and very very hard. You have to chip off the amount you need, but as I said it is only a very small amount.
Mixing the butters such as mango and shea gives a balance to the body butter. You do not want a greasy mess just sitting on your skin. You want the body butter to soak into your skin and provide the moisturizing benefits and barrier that it is supposed to provide. Not everyone has the same skin type so combining the different butters makes the finished product more beneficial to a larger group of people.

The oils such as olive, jojoba or sweet almond give their own qualities to the butters. You could add coconut oil instead of olive, but again, be very careful with your measurements as coconut oil can be drying to some skin types. Oils are not a solid such as shea or mango butter; so therefore, the finished product will be smooth and creamy and will melt on contact with your fingers or skin.

How do you make body butter? You measure the butters and oils into a small sauce pan, add the beeswax and melt together on a very low setting. You can add a fragrance to the melted butters, oils and beeswax if you desire, but it is not necessary. The sweet beeswax provides a light scent already, but if you have a favorite scent it is easy to stir into the mixture.
Take the pan off the heat and continue to stir off and on until the body butter starts to set, you will notice a change in the color, and it will go from clear amber to opaque amber.

Pour the finished butters into a jar or container and you are done.

So what is the difference between Body Butters and Body Lotion?

Body lotion is made by taking away the beeswax and adding a liquid such as distilled water and emulsifying wax to your melted oils and butters. Ok, this is starting to sound complicated; your taking away one ingredient and adding two. It's not complicated at all.

You melt the oils and butters in a small sauce pan on very low heat. Meanwhile you measure your liquid and add the correct amount of emulsifying wax and heat until the emulsifying wax is melted about 1-2 minutes in the microwave. You may want to add a teaspoon of citric acid or steric acid to preserve the lotion longer. (Remember this is all natural and does not contain all the "stuff" that store bought lotions and butters have to keep them for years).

When the oils and butters are melted slowly pour the liquid with emulsifying wax into the oils, stirring with a whisk until completely combined. At this stage you can add a fragrance if you'd like. About a teaspoon of fragrance or essence oils. Continue to stir until the mixture starts to become thicker and then pour into your jar or container.

Now we see that the body butters and the lotions are made using some same ingredients and some different, but what is the difference really?

Body butters melt onto your skin soaking into it and creating a barrier to help moisturize and protect your skin. You can wash, but the butters have already soaked into your skin, so they won't just wash off immediately. These are really great for people who have to wash their hands continuously such as medical staff, daycare workers, food workers, etc. It is also wonderful for the skin that was overexposed to the sun and may have been burned or chaffed by the wind.
An unscented body butter on your baby's bottom would prevent the ammonia from causing a diaper rash; it would do the same as other diaper rash products, but is totally natural and would not stain the clothes.

Lotions when applied to your skin absorb quickly. Almost a dry moisturizer when compared to body butters. Because of this they are wonderful to use after your shower as they seal the moisture in your skin. However, they do not create that long lasting barrier that body butters provide. They provide immediate relief for dry itchy skin

You wouldn't want to use body butter on your face before applying makeup, it would prevent your makeup from lasting all day, but a lotion would be just right.

A good peppermint lotion after a pedicure would be perfect for your feet, and open up your sinuses also.

The next time you go to buy your favorite body butter or lotion read the label. Can you pronounce all the ingredients and know why they have been used in the product? Both body butters and lotions only need the basic ingredients to make wonderful lasting moisturizers for your skin.

Visit http://www.grandmaandmesoaps/Products.com to see all the wonderful products I make.
Body-Butters-and-Lotions

Peppermint

2010-01-21T07:19:00.001-08:00

Peppermint is the most wonderful herb that exists besides lavender. You can buy peppermint essence oils and peppermint leaves. Grow peppermint in your yard or in a pot in your kitchen. Add it to your food dishes or to your tea; put it in your drawers to keep your clothes fresh and the silver fish out. You can do so much with peppermint.

Peppermint relieves tension, which can contribute to headaches, migraines and regular aches and pains.

We walk all day and abuse our feel without thinking of the weight they carry without fail. We cross our legs and sit on them, we stuff our feet into tight high heels or flop around in sandals and flip flops without any cushion to support our feet. They are probably the most abused part of our bodies and it never crosses our minds, until they start to hurt.

Soaking your feet in hot water using a Dead Sea peppermint foot scrub makes those toes tingle and relaxes the muscles in your feet and legs.

But while you are soaking your feet, your senses are also taking in the peppermint scent, relaxing your whole body.

Peppermint opens up your sinus's and helps you to breath easier. Allowing the air to flow freely into your nose. Breath deeply and enjoy the scent peppermint provides.

Soap is also a wonderful way to enjoy the properties of peppermint. Keeping several bars of peppermint soap in your cabinet will insure that you don't run out. When you've had a stressful day or you just want to enjoy some time to yourself, break out that bar of soap and soak in a tub of hot steamy water.

You can also add a drop of peppermint oil to your hot tea. A nice cup of chamomile peppermint tea is just the medicine before bedtime.

I love making body products using peppermint. I even make a bar of peppermint foot scrub using coffee grounds for those who do not like bath salts.

Anything peppermint will always make you feel fit as a fiddle and take away those small aches and pains and those hard to kill headaches.

New Web Site

2010-01-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

I am currently designing a new web site that will offer only soap, but soap made using more expensive oils and ingredients. I will be offering soaps made exclusivly with Shea, mango and avacodo butters, mixed with olive, jojoba, sweet almond and such oils. I will also offer goat's milk and honey soaps made using olive oil so that they will be a castille goat's milk and honey soap. Several designer fragrances that are popular at this time and a few of the ol favorites. Many herbal soaps, which use herbs and essence oils combined for specific reasons such as to relax, sooth, rejuvinate or help to sleep.

This site will be called L Soaps and will be up and running within 6 months. I need to make the various soaps and complete the final design of the site.

Herbal-Soaps

Cutting and Curing Soap

2010-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

Today I didn't get the batches of soap made that I wanted to, but I did get three batches of soap cut up and ready for curing.

I have had a problem with some of my fragrances holding their scent, so I changed the formula by not adding the ends and peices of soap, which I had called my "calico" soap. It seems that in some cases the ends and peices of these other soap can change the overall scent and that becomes a waste of soap.

I have put them on my clearance page and those are: Lilac, Magnolia, Jasmine and Gardenia Calico soap.

I have made fresh batches of the same soap adding oatmeal instead of those ends and peices.

I have also made a Musk and Sweet Pea soap that should be cured within two weeks and ready to place on my site.

www.grandmaandmesoaps.com

Herbal-Soaps

Soap Making

2010-01-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I made a great Tomatoe Basil soap using tomatoe juice, dried tomatoes and basil.

You'd think it would not smell so great, but it smells like tomatoes on the vine. Very fresh and clean. I also made some Jasmine Oatmeal, Rosemary and Spearmint, Magnolia and Lemongrass and Sage.

Tomorrow I am making Musk, Sweet Pea and Coconut Lime soap.

Lotions

Handmade Soap

2010-01-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

My name is Loyce and I make handmade soap and body products. Currently I make over 70 different types of soap and more body products.

I'd love to hear from other soap makers and trade recipes and ideas.

Handmade-Soap