Thursday, April 22, 2010

My Amazing Husband's Eco-Friendly Post

So, my husband amazes me. I mean, obviously, I think he's already the coolest person ever, but he also is so handy. He washes the dishes, does all the laundry, cleans the majority of the house, does all the yard work, and never forgets to be romantic to me! He really is the best ever! Plus, did you know that he also makes soap and candles? Yep. That's right. And, he's all mine!! :)

Tonight, he took me through a tutorial on how he makes soap. I took pictures!

Here is our cast of characters: glycerine, soap mold, plastic wrap, measuring cups, whisk, colors, moisturizing add-ins, botanicals, and scents.

He puts pieces of glycerine in the mold to see how many he will need to fill up the entire mold.

Then, he puts all of them in the measuring cup.

Very important: He says you MUST cover the glass with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in so it will create suds when used. Then he pops the container in the microwave for 45 seconds at a time.

He whisks every 45 seconds until the glycerine has completely melted (Penelope wanted to help).

Capo helped, too. By looking cute! : )

After the glycerine has melted, he poured a little bit in the bottom of each mold.

He then poured some oats on top of that little part of hot glycerine. He popped the mold in the freezer to let all the soap set up a little bit (he was trying to create a layer for the oats).

With the rest of the glycerine, he added powdered milk, Vitamin E oil, and honey almond scent.

He added some yellow and blue color (to try to make a brown, which didn't QUITE turn out).

And, then he added some oats to the mix.

He got the semi-hard bottom layer of soap out of the freezer and poured the rest of the hot mix on top.

And, there you have it: honey almond soap with oats and Vitamin E.

Here's a finished lavender bar. I was too impatient and wanted to blog before the honey almond had set up, so I took a picture of a bar he had made earlier this week.

Oh, and he makes candles, too! All different scents and colors, but all soy wax with metal-free wicks! I told you he was amazing!



So, that's my green, eco-friendly post for Earth Day: make your own soap and candles. But, if you don't want to/don't have time to/like ours better than you think you could make yourself and are in the Bowling Green area this weekend, come see us at our little table at T C Cherry Elementary School's craft bazaar from 9 - 2 on Saturday, the 24th! We're selling candles, soap, knitted headbands and flower clips, beaded hair pins, crocheted washcloths, and jewelry. We're very excited! Hope you can make it!

3 comments:

Jackie said...

Hope you do well at the craft fair! You can send me some crocheted dish towels and a bill.

Brittany said...

My friend is the one who made the crocheted ones. I will knit you some and send them to you. And, I will not send you a bill! I don't charge family! Love you! Glad you're reading my blog! : )

Shannon said...

this is soooo amazing! you two are just so cool! I've never known anyone IRL to do this. One time I made a candle in VBS :) that's the extent of my candle-making knowledge! Hehe!! This looks so fun!