Local Supply Store: Juniper Tree

For those who have taken classes from me, I have recommend Juniper Tree in Berkeley as a resource for purchasing supplies for making your products. Just to let you know that will ship to your home. But I do recommend going to the location to see what they have so the next time you know what you are ordering. Plus ask what the current pricing is because their website is not always current with the last pricing.

Crazy for Cubes?!?

Often cold process soaps come in a rectangular shape. Want to create a smaller size that resembles more of a guest soap? Then try this Crazy for Cube Cold Process Soap Recipe appears on the blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life from the Soap Queen. This project is for the intermediate cold process maker and should take 45 minutes to make and of course there is curing time. Once completed, this recipe should make 9 pounds of soap.

Hot Process Soap Series: Lovely Lavender

Love making your own soap by the cold process method but you do not like the wait? Well, try this hot process recipe from Lovin's Soap. This Lovely Lavender soap recipe is in a series of hot process recipes. So if you love this recipe, you may want to check out more recipes from Lovin' Soap.

Autumnal Deer Bar Soap

These handsome deer bars are great for the season, and they're scented with a fall fragrance of Vanilla Oak. The scent is popular with both men and women and has notes of Light Camphor, Italian Bergamot, Cassia Root to provide flighty top notes, with strong middle and base notes of Sweet Heliotrope, Soft Amber, Warm Oak, Sandalwood, Patchouli and Creamy Vanilla. Want to learn more on how to create these Autumnal Deer Bar Soaps? Then check out the link to The Soap King's Blog.

Patchouli Cranberry Luxury Bars

This recipe originally appeared on the From Nature with Love Patchouli Cranberry Luxury Bars a while back when a customer requested a mild facial bar for acne prone skin. But, The Soap King saw this recipe and wanted to try it for himself. He found the bar to be a real treat for his skin that he wanted to share it with his readers. So in turn, I wanted to share it with you. I really like the layered look of this soap.

Bath/Body Gift Projects in Holiday Magazines

I was at my local Walmart cruising the craft and magazine aisle and I found two magazines that had some bath, body and candle projects for this holiday season.

The first one was beeswax sheets candle. Tree shaped cookie cutters were used to cut out multiple pieces, then stacked with a wick sandwiched in the middle. This project appears on page 31 in the magazine titled, The Special Edition of Disney Family Fun. The cost of this magazine is $9.99 and should remain on the shelves until 12/27/11.

The second publication entitled The Best of Martha Stewart Living Holiday Handbook, compiles the best of the best holiday ideas from Christmas past. The projects for ideas on bath and body projects include Striped Peppermint melt and pour soap, lip balm and bath fizzy bombs. This issue costs $9.95 and will be on the shelves until 1/2/12.

Check out your local grocery stores, book stores and other places that sell magazines to see these particular holiday issues.

Lemon Cookie Lip Balm

I loved lemon flavored desserts especially lemon cookies and lemon cake. While search for unique recipes that I could share on my blog, I found this recipe Lemon Cookie Lip Balm on Majestic Mountain Sage. What I found interesting in this recipe that the author added laolin which is an ingredient I have never seen in a lip balm recipe. If you are a vegan than this recipe is not for you. Also, the author also added a few drops of black pepper essential oil which gives the flavor alittle kick. If you want to stay on the sweet side you can also leave the black pepper out. It is up to you.

Passion Punch Fizzies Recipe

Is your life hectic that you would like to take a long soak in the bath? Does that sound really good? Why not make it better by making this Passion Punch Fizzies Recipe from DIY Skincare. Treat yourself or save them. Start making a batch today and save them for a rainy day. Or you can spread the wealth and give them to someone special.

Exfoliating Lotion Bar

Love bars? Would you like to take it to the next level by making it an exfoliator? This exfoliating lotion bar recipe from Free Bath Recipe gently removes dry skin while moisturizing. Once this product it is made you should use it on the feet, elbows or knees. The author recommends not using this on sensitive areas like the face, neck or legs.

The ingredients you will need are 1/2 Ounce Beeswax, 1/2 Ounce Jojoba Oil, 1/2 Ounce Shea Butter, 4 Vitamin E Capsules, pop them with a pin and squeeze the oil into the mix and 1 Tablespoon Table Sugar.

The directions are very simple: Mix the Beeswax, Jojoba oil, Shea butter and Vitamin E oil and then melt slowly on low heat on the stove. Do not microwave this recipe. Once melted, let cool until it is a bit thick, then add the sugar. Press the mixture into one cupcake hole in a metal cupcake pan. Let this cool completely, it’ll then pop right out of your cupcake pan. Rub onto skin as needed.

The author makes the suggestion of pouring the melted mixture into a metal cupcake pan. May I suggest purchasing a silicone mini tart pan with 12 cavities. I find the silicone molds alot easier to get products out. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

How to Make Candles From Beeswax Pastilles

According to Grant McKenzie, eHow Contributor, people in the Middle Ages burned tallow candles for light in their homes. Tallow was comparatively cheap and easy to manufacture, but it gives off a lot of smoke and smell bad. Churches, which used a lot of candles, used candles made of beeswax to eliminate these side effects, taking special donations to cover the cost difference. Today, beeswax is still more expensive, but is also still cleaner burning and sweeter smelling. You can buy it natural, which is a honey yellow color, or bleached white and in either blocks or pastilles, or pellets.

I have never made a candle from beeswax pastilles only from beeswax sheets. I am sure it is very similiar to what I do when I make soy candles. So if you would like to learn how like I do, then join me in reading Grant's article How to Make Candles From Beeswax Pastilles.

Snowball – a strawberry-scrunchie-soap on a Rope!

Here is a melt and pour project from Riverlea Soap that celebrates the Best of two worlds - soap and a scrunchie. This Snowball – a strawberry-scrunchie-soap on a rope! project makes taking a bathmore exilerating. If strawberry is not your favorite scent then subsitute it with something that is. Have fun and go for it.

Spooky Wax Tarts

Halloween is approaching really fast, but here is a creepy halloween project that looking like hauntly fun - Spooky Wax Tarts. Aison Kontur of BathBodySupply.com graciously posted this spooky tutorial on her blog DIY Skincare to creep us all out for the upcoming Halloween season.

Hot Process Soap Series: The Great Pumpkin Loaf

Love to make soap by the cold process way but you do not like waiting 4-6 weeks for the soap to cure? How about trying the hot process method? You can make this loving pumpkin loaf recipe by Amanda from Lovin' Soap. This recipe is perfect for this time of year since it is almost halloween and thanksgiving is just around the corner. This would be the perfect gift to give someone if they love pumpkin pie.

DIY Halloween Bubbles

Here is something fun, cute and ghoulish for Halloween. These Halloween Bubbles by Cathie Filian would be a great Halloween Party favor to give out to your party guests or to trick or treaters in your neighborhood.

Marbling aka Hammering Candles

Isn't this candle technique look cool? This marbling technique is called hammering. According to Erica of Bath Alchemy, hammering creates a speckled, textured marble which varies with the shape of the hammering tool. The process is a simple matter of hammering indentations into the candle and overdipping it in a contrasting color of wax. Want to learn how to make a candle with this technique, then I would suggest you take a look at Erica's tutorial on how to make hammering candles. It looks pretty easy to do and it does not require too many supplies.

Candy Corn Soap (M&P) Recipe

I always look forward to this time of year when the bags of candy corn makes it way to the shelves. I even love the bags of pumpkin shaped candy corn. If you love candy corn as much as I do, then you may want to try this melt and pour Candy Corn Soap Recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus.

This project should take you 2 hours and will make (16) 4 oz bars of soap. All supplies can be purchased through WSP. I am thinking of whipping out my Wilton Silicone Mold with the candy corn shape and making these soaps for friends and family.

Pumpkin Butter Bath Melts

Want to add something special to your bath? Why not try this Pumpkin Butter Bath Melts from Wholesale Supplies Plus. As When you use these bath melts fizz under running water, they will release the pumpkin and tucuma butters to moisturize and soften your skin.

Wondering how the author made these look like pumpkins? Well, it is very simple. What they did is took a silicone petite pumpkin mold which probably can be purchased thru WSP or Wilton. It is simple as that. Packaging is just as simple. You can purchase the clear or cellophane bags at Michael's. And use raffia or ribbon to tie at the time. If you want you can purchase the colorful food take out Michaels and place them in there with ribbon and a gift tag.

Foaming Pumpkin Salt Scrub

Love pumpkin pie? Love using a salt scrub in the shower? Why not combine the two and make this Foaming Pumpkin Salt Scrub recipe from Wholesale Supplies Plus. All supplies can be purchase from WSP.

This recipe includes an ingredient called foaming bath whip which may have some artificial ingredients in it. I do not know if you can make in a natural form. So I am going to throw it out to my readers and ask if there is anyway to make foaming bath whip from scratch? And how do I make it?

Hats, Bats and Spiders

Halloween is coming up really fast. Here is a goulish melt and pour technique from The Soap Queen - Hats, Bats and Spiders. This recipe is simple to do and will make 8 bars of soaps. It should take you 45 minutes to complete this project but if you make more of course it will take longer. To liven up your halloween party with spookiness, then you should definately create these soaps.

Soap Curing - why soap needs to cure

Are you wondering why cold and hot process soaps have to cure for so long? According to MakeBathProducts.com there are several reasons why soap has to cure. First of all, it depends on the process but a batch of soap can cook during the process. Hot process will cook each batch of soap over a heat source, speeding up the process of the saponification process (the lye) and continues to evaporate the wax. With cold process soaps nature takes care of the curing process by allowing the soaps sit out in the open. Another reason why some soaps need a longer cure time has to do with their ingredients. If you would like to learn more about the curing process of cold and hot process soap, then I recommend reading the article Soap Curing - why soap needs to cure.

Halloween Applique Candle

Looking for a relatively easy way to decorate your house for halloween? Why not create these Halloween Applique Candles by David Fisher? These very simple instructions appear on the site About.com (Candle and Soap Making). These are not too scary for the young trick or treaters, they are more of the cute halloween.

You are probably scratching your head on where you can purchase black pillar candles? Check your dollar stores or you might want to check out your local Michaels store first. In the past they have they have sold orange and black pillar candles in various sizes for really cheap.

How to Make Moisturizing Bath Melts

The moisturzing bath melts recipe in Tielle Webb's article How to Make Moisturizing Bath Melts is a really interesting recipe for a moisterizing bath melt. I would say that it is a combination of a bath melt and a bath bomb. Why I say that is the ingredients for this recipe include shea butter or cocoa butter, baking soda, corn starch and citric acid. So if you like a bath bomb or a bath melt you may want to try to combine the two and create this recipe.

Dill Pickle Salt Scrub & Lip Gloss

I used to like pickles but when I was in the 6th grade and found out that they were cucumbers my taste changed rather quickly on them. But if you are a pickle fan, then you may just take a fancy to the lip gloss and salt scrub recipes from The Natural Beauty Workshop.

These dill-iciously scented recipes will be sure to thrill pickle lovers. All natural Dill Seed Essential Oil and Cucumber Seed Oil create an aroma reminiscent of that favorite deli treat, the Dill Pickle. Add a little brine to your bath and body routine by exfoliating the skin with this sea green, pickle scented Salt Scrub. Pucker up with the matching Lip Gloss, colored a cheerful shade of green, and scented with a mouthwatering blend of Dill and Cucumber.

If you are wondering the Dill Pickle Salt Scrub Recipe makes about 4 ounces and the Dill Pickle Lip Gloss Makes 4 1/3 oz. Roll-On Bottles. What is really nice is that The Natural Beauty Workshop makes it really convenient for one to print out each recipe so you can put these recipes in your files.

You should know that recipes using Dill Seed Essential Oil should not be used by pregnant women. So if you have any friends that are expecting that they should not uses these.

Black and Tan Beer Soap

Ruth Esteves is teaching a new class at The Nova Studio on how to make cold process soap with Alternative Liquids: Beer, Coffee & Juice. It really looks like an interesting class. But if you cannot make it to her class, you might want to see if an e-handout will be sold in the future or check out this tutorial on how to Black and Tan Beer Soap which appears on the Soap Queen's blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life.

Felted Soap Bars

I was planning to go to The Nova Studio's 8th anniversary party on September 3th, but unfortunately something came up and I was unable to attend. I was so looking forward to one of the demonstrations on how to make felted soap. I have seen felted soap demonstrated on a craft show before but I was really looking forward to seeing it live. But for now, these instructions on how to do Felted Soap Bars from The Soap King will have to do. I am interested in doing this project so to save money on yarn, I will check the next craft swap for any yarn that someone does not want.

Soapy (and spooky) Eyeballs

During Soapylove's (Debbie) visit at The Nova Studio in August 2011, Debbie had taught a class on Sunday which I was unable to attend on how to make halloween & spooky melt and pour projects. And this Soapy (and spooky) Eyeballs was one of them. Since I missed that session it was nice to see this tutorial on The Soap Queen's blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life so that I can try it. But I am going to have to check out if The Nova Studio will be selling an e-handout on this class. If they do I will have purchase a copy. I would say that this soap project would make a creepy table scape for a halloween party and once the party is over, the guests could receive an eyeball as a favor.

Tutorial: Textured Headstone Soap

Here is another melt and pour soap Halloween project from SoapyLove. This Textured Headstone Soap tutorial
appears on The Soap Queen's blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life. This may be alternative to giving out candy to trick or treaters or possibly a party favor if you are having a Halloween party.

Fall Pumpkins Soaps

When I was checking up on some of the recent blog posts I found this really adorable melt and pour soap project that appears on the Soap Queen's blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life. Want to learn how to make these Fall Pumpkin Soaps ? It first starts by making a silicone mold of a mini pumpkin and then continuing through the melt and pour making process. It looks really simple and would be great for Halloween or for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. All supplies for this project can be conveinently purchased through Brambleberry.

Halloween Bath Fizzies

Halloween is just around the corner and I found this really cute Halloween Bath Fizzie tutorial on the blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life by the infamous Soap Queen. If you love using bath fizzies during your bath, you should try these festive holiday bath treats.

Easy and Pretty Stenciled Soap Tutorial

Isn't this something different in a melt and pour bar of soap? This particular bar of soap reminds me of a beautiful snowflake. SoapyLove was inspired by Fancy Flours to create this beautiful bar of soap. Fancy Flours the most amazing baking supplies including beautiful cake and cookie stencils to cute seasonal shapes like pumpkins and snowflakes to modern and fashionable designs like brocades and birdcages. If you would like to learn more on how to create this bar of soap, check out the tutorial Easy and Pretty Stenciled Soap from SoapyLove.

Tissue Transfered Candles Project

Do you have plain pillar candles that you would like to jazz up? Here is an interesting and easy way to emblish those boring store bought candles, why not try this Tissue Transfered Candles project from Cathie Fillian.

Pretty in Pink: Salty Cold Process Soap Recipe

Have you ever tried using Pink Himalayan Salt in your cold process soap recipe? You haven't? Then you might want to try this Pretty in Pink: Salty Cold Process Soap Recipe which appears on The Soap Queen's blog, Soap and the Finer Things in Life.

Did you know that Pink Himalayan Salt is known for it’s nourishing and soothing properties? If you put it inside cold process for it’s exfoliating and moisturizing abilities. Plus salt bars have a very creamy lather. Plus it gives this soap recipe a very unique look.

This recipe makes 5 pounds of soap using 2 different molds. You can either make this recipe in a 5 pound mold or split it up into two molds (author) using the 9 Bar Baltic Birch Mold and the 2 Pound Loaf Mold. Anne-Marie really wanted to show you two different looks that you can get using two different molds.

All supplies for this cold process soap can be purchased through Brambleberry.

New Layer lip balm recipe

I found this recipe on Craft Gossip.com for a NEW LAYER™ LIP BALM. The recipe originally came from Ponte Vedra Soap Shoppe. The ingredients you will need are 1½ oz beeswax pearls, 1 oz cocoa butter, 1½ oz shea butter, 2 ozs. sweet almond oil, 1-2 teaspoons flavor oil, and 1 teaspoon vitamin E liquid (optional, as a preservative). And the directions are very simple to create this lip balm in a tub. I must mention that the author states that the vitamin E can be added as a preservative. I have always been told that vitamin E is an anti-oxident which can slow down the rancidity process and it is not a preservative. I am not sure how much time you will have before this recipe will go rancid with the vitamin E, but eventually it will go rancid.

Textured Melt and Pour Soap

Would you like to learn how to make a textured bar of melt and pour soap? In this tutorial from Riverlea Soap tells you step by step on how to make a textured bar of melt and pour soap. Before you can make the soap, you will need to make your own silicone textured sheet. A tutorial on this was posted in a earlier blog by Odie. Check that one out prior to starting this project if you need to make a textured sheet.

Caramel Apple Soaps

I love carmel apples. And what says more than fall? Why not create these melt and pour Caramel Apple Soaps. This festive and easy soap tutorial appears on the blog Soap and the Finer Things in Life. This recipe will take you 45 minutes to make one soap. All supplies can be purchased through Brambleberry. And would be great to give out as halloween treats instead of candy at your next function.