Soap!

We have soap boys and girls! I finally got it together enough to make some awesome soy milk soap, some really pretty and creamy lye soap, some skunk smelling Goat Milk Soap (More on that in a moment) and some honey oh honey soap! YUMM!

Ok, I will admit that I nearly pitched the GM soap. It was truly disgusting for about 3 days and now it is a very nice, heady lavender patchouli blend. And everything they say about GM soap seems to be true. It is so moisturizing, my hands feel great! Tree said the bathroom smells like a head shop so I'm thinking I may have gone heavy on the Patchoulli but...oh well! Anything is better than skunk. I wish it had turned out a little bit lighter but them's the breaks!

The honey soap is at the request of the neatest lady I recently met. She is the honey lady of lakeview and she sells lots of honey. We are trading honey for soap! Good trade.

The soy milk soap is pretty cool. I made it with some kikkoman pearl soymilk called tropical delight and the milk itself contains 7 fruit and veggie juices so that's the double whammy of antioxidants. i scented with green apple fragrance oil. Very nice. I will make another batch of this.

Well, the GM soap was a new one on me and next time I am going to cook it at a lower temp to try to tame the brown a little. A lighter tan would be nice, I'll let you know how it goes!

My life on the D-list

Ok, it's a different list then the one Kathy Griffin is on...It's the diabetic list and I'm truly disappointed. I don't know why I thought I would be different then all of my other family members but I am not. We are predominently native american and that goes hand in hand with diabetes, and other health problems. And even tho I'm overweight and addicted to Coke, I thought I could dodge that particular bullet and I was wrong! So, I have spent hours online the last few days and I've revamped my kitchen. Wish me luck (and willpower)...a coke sounds really good about now...really cold, with lots of ice! UGH!!!





Here is what I made for dinner





Chicken on the rotisserie. It was beautiful outside on my little deck and I enjoyed being out there. Fall is definately in the air!


Mashed potatoes....I only had a very small portion of that thank you very much






Broccoli Salad. This was awesome and since I made it up, I thought I would share the recipe with you.

2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 med or 2 small jonothan apples, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 sliced yellow or red onion (I used a sweet yellow onion)
Toss above with

1/3 cup mayo reduced fat
1 tblspoon lemongrass and terragon vinegar(yummo)
1 tsp. sugar


p.s. that vinegar is my new favorite thing. Infuse rice vinegar(in the asian cooking section) with fresh lemongrass and terragon from your herb garden. Perfect for salads, I don't even use oil or dressings now. so fresh!

Enjoy! I will keep you all posted on my diabetic adventures and share more recipes with you as I find them...or make them up! Please excuse the picture, my good digital camera quit working on my last week and I'm still slightly pissed! Ta Ta !

Still no Soap!

Ok, I know that I'm slipping now because I have gone 2 whole weeks without making a single bar of soap. I spent all last week getting ready for the hillbilly chili cookoff and made more jewelry than anything else. It was a great day! Not extremely successful with sells but I did ok and I also got to talk to alot of people. I shared a booth with my friend Cindy and it is always fun to spend the day with her. And of course, it also rained!!! for about an hour. We got pretty wet but it was still fun. I love that down home atmosphere of small town fairs and festivals.

Speaking of fairs, tonight was the start of the Baxter county fair and I have to say that I believe that Caleb has lost his innocense. He came home and announced that the fair was a waste of money because everything was so expensive. I guess when you have to cut grass and haul trash for fair money, you have a different perspective! I have to say tho, I reluctantly have to agree. 40.00 for 4 rides, a burger and two drinks seems somewhat steep to me. We should all be getting used to the rising cost of EVERYTHING! but somehow it is still disappointing and worrisome.

I spoke to Tanner today on the phone. His vocabulary now includes, ma ma, da da, ahh choo, a social cough and now Hey Hey Hey! He is, of course, without a doubt the cutest baby ever! At least until my new grandbaby gets here in January. It's a boy and his name is Cooper. At that point, Cooper and Tanner may have to share that title! I am truly blessed!

Sooo Sleepy...zzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzzz

Well, another week behind me and I can hardly hold my eyes open to write this. Good day at market! Sold some shampoo bars, some lye soap, lip balms and jewelry, jewelry jewelry! My alter ego Gigi better get busy! The hillbilly chili cookoff is next Saturday and there needs to be LOTS of jewelry. I think it goes by seasons and trends. 3 weeks ago the jewelry sat on the displays and I couldn't keep enough soap made up. Now, with just the slightest hint of fall in the air, I am selling jewelry and not much soap! it's something you really can't predict.

On another note, Hooch the boxer has been banished from my daughters house! :( I am sad. He was such a spoiled rotten baby and I miss him...I know he loves it in the backyard but I was so happy to think about him sleeping in the house. i don't blame them at all though and he has a nice big doggy house. I miss you Hoochster! Here he is in all his puppy glory. I gave custody to my daughter and her husband because they adore him and he has so much more space there.

What a dog! Ok kids! I'm off to bed, where I can sleep until I wake up..no alram in the A.M. Hooray!

I need a clone!

Well, it's Thursday night, I've already gone to one farmer's market this week and I still have 2 to go. I have to say tho, it is starting to slow down, and sales are not quite what they were either

:( oh well.....probably just as well because I have some shows and some classes that I am teaching, all coming up in the next few weeks. I'm getting really excited about the hot soap class. The other two are jewelry and polymer clay beads and buttons. The buttons will be fun and exciting but Im a little concerned because I'm teaching quilters and I haven't quilted for years. I'm sure they can teach me something while I'm there! And this is why I need a clone because in addition to the shows and classes, I'm trying to prepare my house for company. My mom and AuntB are going to attend the soap class in October. I need to finish up some painting that somehow never got done from when we moved in here a year ago. I'm also hopeing to refurb my garden and get some of the summer stuff out of there. Out with the old, in the with new. Hoping to get some nice fall onions and lettuce. We'll see. The weather has been extremely strange here, cool nights and lots of rain.

Not much going on in the way of soap this week. How about a soap recipe?

Pumpkin Spice Bars

12 ounces canola oil

8 ounces olive oil

6 ounces coconut oil

3 ounces castor oil

10 ounces rainwater

4.5 ounces lye

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

cinnnamon leaf essential oil

cinnamon, 3/4 tsp

cloves, 1/2 tsp

Warm oils, add to crock pot. Turn crock pot to high. Carefully add lye to rainwater, stir to dissolve. Stir rainwater/lye mixture into oils. Stick blend to trace. At trace add pumpkin. Turn crockpot to low or warm. Watch soap, stir down as needed, cook for approximately 45 minutes. When soap looks like translucent apple sauce, it's done. To test, take small amount on spoon, let cool, rub between fingers. If it's smooth, you can taste it for Zap. When you know it's done, carefully stir in cinnamon, cloves, and essential oil. Spoon into mold, let cool.

Pumpkin is full of antioxidants and is very good for your skin. Happy Soaping!

Yard Sales and other crap I hate...

I just got off the phone with my amazingly smart and beautiful daughter and mom to Tanner and I think somewhere in the conversation I agreed to go to her house and help her have a ...OMG!! A YARD SALE!! What was I thinking? I hate yard sales, I hate having them and I always end up closing them early and throwing everything away. I'm so ashamed to admit that last part, since I am an advocate of recycling but come on...you can admit it. Sometimes we all slip a little. And when you have those last boxes of junk sitting in your living room for days or even weeks!!! that stuff has got to go. Worse yet is when the boxes sitting in your living room for days or weeks are full of stuff you need to keep but don't have anywhere to put. We are a small family of three people living in a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with a storage shed and I still have a storage rental unit across town. WOW! That is some serious stuff.

ON another note...I am going to get out my soap box for just a short speech about other things I hate.

1.People who drive when they shouldn't, for whatever reason. We live in a smallish (20,000+) community that is predominently retirees. Most of them should not drive, some of them shouldn't even drive a buggy in walmart and I have seriously been ran over with the cart in walmart at least twice. And they are not even nice about it!

2. Another thing I hate is judgemental people. You know who you are!!!...Why can't we all just get along?

3.Christmas. Ok. This one is hard. I actually think I have more of a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I think Christmas would be so cool if we could recognize it for what it really is and not how much money we spend on each other. I hate that!! I would love to see my family and friends, give everyone something nice that I made or wanted to share with them and not just hand out presents only ot hear them all complain about what you got them. The video games, the dvd's, perfume,aftershave....etc.etc. Make a homemade christmas! I encourage it~!

Hmm..I told you it would be short. If you count yard sales, that's only 4 things I hate today...gonna be a good day!:)

Cinnamon Apple Soap...hmmm

Wow, does it smell good! Only trouble is, it's waaay too soft. I tried a new mix of oils and I think I'm going to have to rebatch. On the good side, the lemon verbena shaving soap came out awesome! It smells so good and lather's nice and slippery, good for shaving. I put it in these cute little pudding cups. That is also another passion of mine, recycling. I love to take things that I would normally throw out and repurpose them. Plus, they're really cute. I'm going to order some shaving brushes and tie them to the package with some nice ribbon. I also have plans for the little sunny d bottles that Tree takes in her lunch. Sample of laundry soap??? I think it will hold about 3 loads worth. I always sanitize and reseal everything with shrinkwrap so I know it's safe.

I also made lime and sage and peppermint shampoo bars. A good productive day!

I wanted to post pictures of the cars I painted on my grandson's wall. We went for a few days last week and I have to say that he is the cutest thing ever! Muscle cars in his bedroom...I think a crib set and curtains are next...maybe a few more cars on his walls.