Fun Food Inspired Candles - Pecan Pie

Pumpkin pie usually comes to mind this time of the year because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.But what about pecan pie?  To tell you the truth, I love the aroma of pumpkin but I really prefer eating pecan.  How would you like to create a holiday candle that looks good enough to eat?  Then try making this Pecan Pie Candle from Bath Alchemy.

Black cocoa butter emulsified sugar scrub

If you love using scrubs in the shower, you may want to try making this Black Cocoa Butter Emulsified Sugar Scrub Recipe  from Point of Interest's series of Experiments in the Workshop. Now I have never hear of black cocoa butter before so I am not sure if it is an easy ingredient to find but the author of this recipe says that you can use 10% shea, mango or any other soft butter and 10% cocoa butter in its place.

Making Your Own Laundry Detergent

I think it is a great idea to make your own laundry detergent, but I have never made my own and would like to learn how.  In a recent post Point of Interest wrote about making your own laundry detergents and recommended several blogs with recipes.  The author even mentions a warning that I never thought of.  And that washing machines can be very picky appliances.  Her friend made her own laundry detergent and used it in her front loading high energy machine.  Since this was a non-efficiency detergent it gunked up in the machine and she had to replace the barrel after two years.  So that is something to consider.

Natural Perfume Oil Recipe

In the September Newsletter from Joan Morais, she included a lovely Natural Perfume Oil recipe called Uplift Aromatherapy Perfume Oil.

The recipe calls for 

1/2 teaspoon jojoba, sunflower or safflower oil

6 drops pink grapefruit essential oil  

6 drops sweet orange essential oil

2 drops rose geranium essential oil

2 drops lavender essential oil

2 drops cardamom essential oil

3 drops frankincense essential oil 

Directions 

1. Combine all ingredients. A good practice is to smell after each addition of essential oil and note how it affects the scent. If you make any adjustments to the recipe, take good notes. 

2. Pour oil into a small glass perfume roll-on bottle
 (5 ml) or capped bottle. 

3. Allow all essential oils to blend together for a week. 

4. Apply to perfume oil to pulse points, wrist, neck and over heart area.

This is a very easy recipe to make. Joan says that a great place to purchase high quality and authentic essential oils is from Alchemology, Apothercary & Natural Perfumery in Capitola, CA. 831 337-5701.  So if you are luckily enough to live in California, it will be great to order from a local source.

Homemade Cleaning Recipes

Would you like to be more eco-friendly with your cleaning products?  Do you know that it is pretty easy to make your own?  According to  Soap-Making Essentials, as consumers we spend hundreds of dollars each year on trying to live cleanly, something our great grandparents did without spending much money at all.  As time as progressed our society has become used to buying what wee need and has forgotten how to be self sufficient. Their Homemade Cleaning recipes include liquid laundry soap, automatic dishwasher soap, powdered bathroom cleaner, countertop spray cleaner, drain cleaner and more.

How to Make Natural Cream Bath Soap

According to eHow Contributing Writer Kelly Sundstrom, aking your own homemade soaps can be a fun and natural way to keep clean. The type of soap you make will be different depending on what ingredients you add to the soap mixture. Many ingredients can be be moisturizing, which can create a rich, cream bath soap helpful for people with dry or chapped skin.

Her moderately easy recipe for Natural Cream Bath Soap requires only olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, distilled water, lye and essential oils.  If you are looking for a palm free cold process soap recipe you may want to try this one.

Body Butter Recipe

Do you love using a body butter?  Well, would you believe that it is easier than you think to make. In this body butter recipe from Ridley Family site is made with the combination of both mango and shea. But the author says that you can use either. And ou may also use different oils, though be sure that you use non-greasy ones. For an extra pampering product, or one with extended medicinal benefits, use an herb infused oil (as described in their herbal salve recipe) instead of plain oil. Any or all of the herbs mentioned there would be good ones to use, or use your favorite skin care herbs.  This is very easy to make, you just have to bear in mind that you cannot heat the mango or shea butter too much, or they will seize up and form grains (stearine grains). Just melt it barely enough to get the oils mixed in.Now, I will be honest I have never made a body butter recipe before so I do not know how easy this ingredient is to get and if by chance you are a vegan, if you leave it out will it change the recipe or not.

Herbal Scalp Rinse Recipe

Alison of Bath Body Supply recently posted a recipe for a Herbal Scalp Rinse on her blog DIY Skincare. Her recipe is very simple.  It simply combines water, hydrosols and essential oils plus other ingredients into one easy to use rinse. So if you are unhappy with your current hair rinse you may want to try and make this recipe and replace what you have been previously using.

Cranberry Chutney Fall Sweater Stripes

When I saw this cold process soap recipe, it reminded me of those Brach candies that had the layer of coconut, strawberry and chocolate.  I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but no it is a soap and it is called Cranberry Chutney Fall Sweater Stripes .  The Soap Queen recently shared the recipe for this colorful soap recipe on her site.  It is an intermediate level recipe that should take you an hour to make (without curing time) and give you 15 bars of soap.

Golden Shea Butter Sugar Scrub Recipe

From the classes that I have taken there are three that I have learned how to make (1) Liquid Oil with Salt, (2) Whipped Sugar Scrub and (3) Solid Sugar Scrub Cubes.  I am not much of a fan of making of the oil and salt combination.  I do like the feel of  solid sugar cube scrub and the whipped scrub. Then I stumbled upon a recipe which is in a series of experiments in the workshop from Point of Interest called Golden Shea Butter Sugar Scrub.

You may find that the recipe may be too liquidity at first, but it will solidify very nicely by the next day.  The author says that when you use it in the shower, it is easy to scoop up and scrub and it made her skin feel very nice and moisturized after the scrub was rinsed off.  So I am thinking of trying to make this recipe to see how I like it. How about you?  Do you think you will try and make this type of scrub?

Essential Oil Blending Tips from The Mountain Rose Blog

Creating new essential oil blends and re-creating old favorites is an exciting and relaxing experience for anyone. It does not  need to take a lot of your time, the rewards of creating your own scent combinations are endless and very satisfying! Whether you are new to blending your essential oils or have some experience, The Mountain Rose Blog's article called Essential Oil Blending Tips tells you what you need and what to do to create your own essential oil blends.  Once you get started you will never want to stop.  Get ready, get set, blend!

Witches Brew Candle

Here is a really cute candle by the name of Witches Brew from Wholesale Supplies Plus which is a perfect addition to your Halloween decorations.  The Witches Brew Scent is a wonderful blend of patchouli, cinnamon and cedarwood.  This is an advanced product which will take under six hours to make (7) 16 oz jar candles.

Candy Corn Wax Melts

In the October 2012 issue of Handmade from Wholesales Supplies Plus had instructions on how to make candy corn wax melts.  I wanted to share this recipe with your so I went their website to find the instructions so you can create these adorable melts yourself.  These candy corn wax melts would be adorable for the upcoming Halloween season or to give someone who loves candy corn.  I am planning to print the instructions out for my files. This is an advanced project that should take 2 hours to make 8 melts.

Candle Making Issues/Troubleshooting

If you are making candles and you are having some issues that your candles are not coming out right, Wholesale Supplies Plus's Customer Service wrote an article on solving some of their customer's candle making problems. In the article WSP Customer Service - You Asked, We Answer, answers alot of your candle making questions.  So check out this article to see if they solve your problem.

Gingersnap Swirl Soap

Jenny from I'd Lather Be Soaping shares her experience in making Gingersnap Swirl Soap.  In the video she shows how she made the soap but does not give her recipe.  So if you have a favorite recipe that you would like to use for a swirl soap with gingersnap fragrance then you should try this one. If gingersnap evokes memories of the holidays, then you should get started in making this soap for the holidays.

Clarifying Honey & Sage Facial Recipe

Love to give yourself a facial?  Or would you like to start?  Facials with mild ingredients such as Hydrosols, Kaolin Clay and Milk Powders can help to revitalize your skin while cleansing and exfoliating.  Another great thing about get facials is that you can use them as often as you like.  If you think that is a great idea then you should try this Clarifying Honey & Sage Facial Recipe from The Natural Beauty Workshop. This recipe won't over dry your skin and you can feel free to apply it several times a week or even daily.

Soccer Ball Sphere Soap

Do you have a child who plays soccer? My niece has been playing for many years and she would love this Soccer Ball Sphere Soap.   Otion brought in another fantastic silicone soap mold which resulting in creating this fun round bouncy ball style melt and pour soap.

Advanced Swirling Part 4: In-the-Pot Swirling (Cold Process)

Have you ever tried making cold process soap by doing a swirl in the pot before? Or have you tried and have not had success? Then you should take a look at a guest post by Kat from Otion (Bramble Berry’s retail store titled, Advanced Swirling Part 4: In The Pot Swirling.

Soap Slime Recipe and Video

It is Halloween season and what a perfect project to do with your kids - make Soap Slime!  This recipe for soap slime was created by Debbie Chiltas of SoapyLove fame and it is very simple to make.  It takes only a few ingredients to make something totally disgusiting (the boys will totally love that!) .  So check out the recipe and watch the video to see how to do this fun project.

Learn how to custom blend your own perfume on Soap Queen TV. In this episode, Anne-Marie is  going to show you how to blend fragrance oils to create your very own unique scent. Then she will share my recipes for an all natural solid and a luxurious, floral spray perfume.

Happy Holly Balls – Bath Bombs Recipe

Holly Port of Lotion Bar Café created this bath bomb recipe with oatmeal  and  goat's milk by the request of Amanda of  Lovin Soap and she kindly posted the recipe on her blog.  The Happy Holly Bath Bombs recipe  goes the extra step by adding fantastic ingredients to make an ordinary bath bomb extraordinary.  Would you believe that Holly used a ice cream scooper to make her bath bombs into a sphere.  Who would of thought that a ordinary kitchen gadget would assist in making a bath bomb?

Sunset Over the Water by Lovin’ Soap

Even though summer is over, it is still nice to celebrate a nice sunset. Or if you want to remember a sunset from a recent vacation, why not create this cold process soap recipe by Amanda Griffin of Lovin' Soap called Sunset Over the Water.  As a guest blogger for the Soap Queen website, Amanda shared this tutorial by using Brambleberry's neon colorants.

Yummy Candle Treats: Fun Food Inspired Candles - Hot Cocoa

Fall is here and the days are getting shorter and eventually colder, would it be nice to share a yummy treat without the calories?  Here are instructions on how to make a Hot Cocoa Candle from Bath Alchemy. This is a really cute candle that smells like a real cup of hot chocolate.  Find the perfect mug and give it as a gift.

Embedded Bug Soaps

Halloween is fast approaching.  How would you like to creep out your guests at your Halloween party with these Embedded Bug Soaps? This project from Peak Candle Supplies  uses fake bugs and spiders to make these festive glycerin soaps. Colorants are optional but if you use a colorant Peak Candle Supplies suggests that you do not use Micas because you will not be able to see the bugs or spiders.

Lip Balm with Sheer Shimmer Fun

If you do not want the full coverage of a traditional lipstick but want the moisturizing power of a lip balm, then you should try Soap and Restless' Sheer Shimmer Emu lip balm recipe.

According to Soap and Restless, shea butter is a a great emollient.  They mention that there are many people allergic it which I did not know.  And it tends to crystallize and becomes grainy over time. So what should you do?  You can replace it with mango butter and eliminated ceytl alcohol and stearic acid and readjust the percentages of all of the other ingredients.

Hot Cocoa Swirl Soap

Jenny from I'd Lather Be Soaping posted her blog on how she made this beautiful Hot Cocoa Swirl Soap in an instructional video. Now she does not give her complete recipe but she does demonstrate this beautiful technique.  So if you love hot chocolate, you may want to adapt your recipe this techinque and give your bars of soap for gifts during the holidays.

Aromatherapy - Eucalyptus Room Spray

Here is a room spray to help purify the area.Eucalyptus radiata is favorite essential oil of Joan. She uses it in a room spray to cleanse the air if anyone is sick. She has also use it in the shower and through inhalation to help if I am congested with a cold. Try making this simple Eucalyptus Room Spray recipe from Joan Morais. 

Candy Corn Melt & Pour Soap

It is that time of year when you see the candy aisle at the stores filed with candy corn.  And I cannot seem to pass up getting a bag plus a bag of candy pumpkins.  Well, here a melt and pour soap project that would be perfect to make for those who love candy corn.  This layered Candy Corn Soap project from Wholesale Supplies Plus  should take you 2 hours to make (16) 48 oz bars.  Instead of giving candy out to friends or co-workers for the Halloween, why not make these soaps and give them out.

Make Your Own Vanilla Lip Balm

Do you like making your own lip balm?  Is your favorite flavoring vanilla?  How about combining the two?  Here is a recipe on how to Make Your Own Vanilla Lip Balm on the site Love to Know Crafts. Now for the vanilla flavoring, this recipe calls for vanilla extract.  Now I have tried using vanilla extract in other lip balm recipes and it seems to make my recipes go funky after a certain time.  I believe that it may be the alcohol in the extract. Does anyone out there have an alternative vanilla flavoring to use in place of the extract.  Is there a liquid candy flavoring that work better?  Any suggestions would really help.

Pumpkin Latte Body Wrap Recipe

Do you love that feeling after getting a body wrap from the spa? How would you like to have that feeling at home? Here is a recipe that combines that feel with the sense of Fall - Pumpkin. This Pumpkin Latte Body Wrap Recipe from DIY Skincare is that perfect way to bring the spa home with you without the high cost.

According to Alison, says that vitamin rich Pumpkin, powdered Soy Milk and Coffee are the stars of the show. Marshmallow root combines with clay and liquid ingredients to form a natural "gel". And if you are skin-sensitive to sea products like seaweed or spices like cinnamon, they can be eliminated from this formula. Replace any removed liquid ingredients with an equal amount of water.

Cinnamint Body Lotion

If you are looking for  a thick, rich, lotion for her dry skin, that has an unusual holiday scent, you may want to check out this Cinnamint Body Lotion that Donna Marie submitted to Make Your Own Cosmetics.  This recipe yields approximately 9 oz and has a shelf life of 3 months.  If you tend to react adversely to spice and/or mint essential oils, you may wish to substitute your own favorites. The lotion base is fantastic so you can add whatever scent you'd like, or leave it unscented.