• Blog - Kitchen

    Breakfast tea

    …actually coffee. Kimmie is nice that way…she doesn’t mind if we join without the proper beverage. Thanks Kimmie!
    I have yet another busy Tuesday. Although I feel much better that I have a few things crossed off the list already.
    Tomorrow, I’m sending my oldest off on his 6th grade school trip. They will be gone 3 days and 2 nights.  This is a huge step!! For both of us. 🙂
    He is super excited. I’m nervous because it’s 4 hours away.
    I have the packing list at hand and am checking and rechecking it.
    What are you doing today??
  • Blog - Crafts

    Soap Making

    So I took a drive today out to my friend Patty’s house so she could show me how to make soap.
    I’ve admired and used her awesome soap for quite a while,
    so when she said she’d show me…
    I knew I had to find a time to do it.
    That day was today…
    As I found out later what we made today was cold process soap. It used lye but wasn’t cooked on the stove as I thought it would be.
    She explained that this soap has a “curing time” of about a month which if I’m understanding correctly, hot process soap is ready pretty much
    right away.
    This photo is showing the mixing process after
    the lye dissolved in water has been added to the oils.
    She is using a deep pot and a stick blender.
    I was really shocked how quickly the saponification
    happened.
    This was actually the second batch we made but I had forgotten that I had my little pocket camera with me. I was too busy learning.
    For this batch, Patty wanted to try out some new pigments she had purchased. We decided on ultramarine blue and titanium white going for a marbled effect. The scent we used was called “rise and shine”. It smelled divine!!
    Her hubby stepped in to lend an extra hand while filling the mold.
    Now I have to wait for a month until I see the finished product!! AHH!! I’m not known for my patience. If it didn’t take the better part of an hour to drive to her house, I’d be there on Tuesday when she un-molds it. I’m pretty sure she cuts it at that time as well. Yet another question I’ll have to ask.

     

  • Blog

    Bottle cap magnets

    After working out and running errands this morning, I spent a good chunk of this afternoon putting together all these bottle cap magnets.  I think I’m a little loopy from the glue…need more ventilation in the basement!
    You may remember a long time ago I had them strewn across my work surface.
    I bagged them up and stuck them away…promptly forgetting they existed.
    Well, no more.
    They are heading to Texas along with all the other items I’ve been busy creating plus some oldies but goodies.
    I still have a list of things I want to make but am running out of time.
    I hope I remember to take a picture of everything before sending it off.