Happy Birthday Oreo Cookie

The 100 Years Birthday of the Oreo Cookie almost got past me.  How does that happen?  After all, chocolate is an integral part of my daily life.  Ask me the last time I went a day without chocolate.  You'll probably get a blank stare followed by nervous laughter.

Did you hear that March 6^th was the 100^th birthday of the Oreo Cookie?  I found it kind of funny that the Oreo’s birthday is on the same day as Dentist’s Day (see March 6^th post).  Smile!

Remember the chocolate sandwich cookies (almost Oreos) I made during my recent chocolate frenzy?  Well, here’s a picture of some of them all packaged up and ready to go.  The plastic bag makes getting a good picture very challenging, but use your imagination and I'm sure you can see the cuteness of the set of 4 cookies in a bag.

Happy Belated Birthday, Oreo!

Thanks for reading!  Please note: I'm thanking you for reading.  I know Oreos don't read.

Baskets for a Benefit for Hunter Erb

Yesterday I spent part of the day putting some gift baskets together.  My daughter and son-in-law bought them to donate to a silent auction to benefit their little nephew Hunter Erb.  Thank you, Shannon and Jon. 

Hunter was born prematurely in November 2011.  After spending a month in the hospital, he got to come home.  He is still on oxygen and will have open heart surgery soon.  And did I mention that he is completely adorable?  He is such a cutie pie.  The benefit is to raise money to help the family with the many expenses associated with the surgery.

Here are some of the baskets I put together:

These are two of the soaps tucked in the basket for Mom, Dad and baby. Isn’t the Onsie soap cute? The mold is from Bramble Berry.  The bottom one is Feel Good Spa Soap.  It has essential oils that are said to be uplifting and balancing.  I thought that might be something the parents can use.

This is a shaving set.  The washcloth is a 100% cotton knit cloth made by the mother of a dear friend of mine.

Oatmeal cold process soap is one of my best sellers.  So is the Oatmeal, Milk and Honey lotion bar.  The oatmeal cookie wax waffle makes my mouth water!  And the oatmeal cookie lip balm is delicious.  Using it keeps me from eating the wax waffle.

 

The birthday gift set has a birthday cupcake candle in a mason jar, a birthday cupcake soap (it's in a plastic box), a cupcake lotion bar and a buttercream frosting wax waffle.  Oh, and the lip balm is vanilla ice cream.

My thoughts and prayers will be with Hunter and his family now in the coming months as they walk through this challenging time in their lives.  If you are interested in donating money to help Hunter’s family, please email me at SoapArtOnline@gmail.com.  I’ll let you know the name and address of the bank that is handling donations.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Dentist's Day!!

March 6^th is Dentist’s Day

Do you have a dentist?  Do you know a dentist?  Maybe you can celebrate Dentist’s Day (March 6^th) by thanking your dentist for taking such good care of your pearly whites.

This molar soap would also be a good thank you gift that your dentist would likely appreciate.  I have considered making them with cavities included, but haven’t taken that step yet.  What do you think?  Should I offer them with black cavity-like holes in them?  Your dentist might get a good chuckle out of it.  Or he/she might just get grossed out.  Nah.  That won't happen.

                                  

You can see more about or buy molar soap at SoapArtOnline

This molar does not smell like halitosis.  I don't make any promises like that about my very own molars.  The molar soap has a nice minty fragrance.  I haven’t found a halitosis fragrance yet.  Maybe by next year I will.

Thank you to my dentist, Dr. Merritt Jones. He has a sign in his office about painless dentistry.  I look at it while I wait my turn and have confidence that the day's appointment will be exactly that.  Painless.

Thanks for reading!

French Green Clay Spa Soap Cold Process Soap for Body and Face

This French Green Clay Spa soap is all natural.  By that I mean that no synthetic fragrances or colors are added.  I love color; I love fragrance.  I usually add synthetic colors and fragrances to my all natural cold process soap in order to get the results I desire.  But this one needs nothing more than the French Green Clay and the beneficial essential oils of tea tree and lavender.

During this photo shoot I felt like a little kid again.  But instead of playing with blocks, I was playing with soap.  In this photo the French Green Clay soaps are gymnasts making a pyramid. Welcome to my world of random and sometimes odd thoughts.  I will spare you the other four shots of the soaps making geometric patterns.

This French Green Clay soap is full of ingredients that pamper skin.  It’s a wonderful all-over body soap, but also makes a superb facial soap.   Here’s why.

It contains French Green Clay which is an excellent detoxifier and has up to 19 minerals that are believed to help prevent the appearance of premature aging.  Hmmm.  Maybe that’s why I felt like a kid during the photo shoot!  Anyway, the French Green Clay gives the bar a wonderful gentle exfoliating quality.  I love a little scrub in my facial cleanser.  But I don’t want to walk away with scratches on my face.  Hence the gentle exfoliation.

The soap also contains Tea Tree Essential Oil, which is well known for its various properties of treating problem skin.  Some things that tea tree is said to do:

Serve as an anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory agent. 

Provide relief from insect bites.

Soothe and clear rashes.

Reduce acne. 

Tea Tree Essential oil is also said to help relieve athlete’s foot and soften corns.  Those aren’t qualities I need in a soap I plan to use on my face.  But they can be quite beneficial when the soap is used as an all-over body soap.  Tea Tree Essential Oil even gets credit for improving dandruff, so this soap is also a wonderful head-to-toe soap.

If you want to read more about this soap, or if you would like to purchase your own bar, they are now available at the SoapArtOnline website. 

Don't forget to get your name entered as many times as you'd like in the Sweepstakes giveaway of some sets I made using the Bramble Berry S.O.A.P. Panel Test Fragrances.
You can earn entries by commenting on this blog post, commenting on SoapArt Facebook posts, Sharing SoapArt Facebook Posts, Pinning SoapArt products, and signing up for the SoapArt e-newsletter.  Complete rules are available here.  The sweepstakes ends March 20th, with a random drawing of three winners on March 21st.

Thanks for reading! 

Chocolate Frenzy

I read in Reader’s Digest a while back that pies are out and donuts are in.  That made me hungry for pie.  And donuts. 

I addressed that craving by making chocolate fudge donut soaps.  As long as I was making chocolate donuts, I also made ice cream sandwich soaps and chocolate sandwich cookie soaps.  My kitchen smelled chocolicious!

Here are the results of my chocolate frenzy. 

Thanks for reading!

Orchid Soap

Isn’t it beautiful? 

A friend of mine who recently returned from Hawaii presented this orchid soap to me as a gift.  When she first gave it to me I thought, “What a cute little corsage!”   When I looked more closely and saw that it was soap, I was blown away.

I love the way it is packaged.  I’m impressed that it made the trip from Hawaii to Iowa without any decrease in quality.  It is so pretty, and it smells wonderful too.  I appreciate the craftsmanship that went into it and will enjoy looking at it and displaying it. 

Will I use it?  Now way!  Instead, I will continue to enjoy its beauty and fragrance for years to come.  And I will think of my friend every time I look at it and stick my nose near it for a little sniff of floral luxury.

Thank you so much, Pamm, for the wonderful soap gift!  I will treasure it.

Goat Milk Soap

Have you ever used goat milk soap?  Goat milk soap is very creamy and moisturizing.  Here’s a picture of the last one I made.  It was made from scratch using the cold process method.  That means that I combine warm oils and a lye mixture then let the chemical process of saponification (chemical reaction that occurs when oils and lye are mixed, resulting in soap) do the rest.  In this batch I added the goat milk at trace, just as the saponification process was beginning.

I scented it with Bramble Berry’s Jasmine Dreams.  The Jasmine has stayed very strong in the soap.  I wish you could smell it through the computer.

I love using this soap.  If it sits in the shower it gets a little soft, making the outsides of it almost like cream soap.  It’s really hard to describe, but it feels good, bubbles nicely, and makes my skin feel moisturized and pampered.  And the fragrance and color make me smile.

The batch made just enough to partially fill an 8x8 inch pan.  I didn’t share very much of this small batch of soap; I kept most of it for myself.  I need to make more goat milk soap so I don’t run out.  Maybe I’ll be a little more generous with the next batch.  Have you used goat milk soap made from scratch by the cold process method?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?  If you have not used it, would you like to try it?

I’m having trouble deciding what fragrance to use in the next batch of goat milk soap.  Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading!