This past week has been really busy for me! Among other things, I have been working on wrapping up the wedding favor soaps (set to go out this weekend, and if I may say so myself, they look AWESOME!) and preparing for and teaching a class on soapmaking.
For the class, which was anticipated to be a small group of women who live nearby, I just set everything up in my kitchen. It's amazing how much 'stuff' you have and how you don't realize it until you set it out all together. I had so many oils out (so they could see the differences between palm oil and palm kernel oil, or castor and avacado, etc.), so many colors out (to see the differences between oxides and ultramarines, FD&C colors, and liquid colors), and so many fragrances out for sniffing fun, that there was hardly any room for me to work on my 7'x4.5' island.
I went over safety precautions (gloves, goggles, long sleeves, etc.) and walked them through a print out of Soapcalc so that they were comfortable using a lye calculator (which took me a very long time to get used to, trying to figure it out on my own!). I touched on the differences between handmade soap and commercial soap and what different oils can add to your end product. I had also pointed out some different online suppliers for various equiptment and supplies. Finally, I talked through, step by step, the process of soap making.
Not wanting to give away any secret recipes I have worked long and hard to develop, and not wanting to use exotic and expensive oils that are hard to come by, I created a recipe just for this class using all grocery store ingredients. I included castor (10%), lard (50%), olive (20%), and coconut (20%) to come up with a relatively hard soap with good conditioning numbers and a fair amount of bubbles.
I had a batch pre-measured and cooled and after walking through measuring the oils with the group, I switched it out for the already cooled oils and lye so we could move right along.
The funniest part of the whole class was just as I was starting to mix the lye and oils. I had talked about using a stickblender and giving the soap a few 'blasts' or 'buzzes' when you start to mix, instead of running the blender without pause. Well, one of the sweet women in the group was watching so intently, waiting to see the chemical reaction I had been building up to, and standing so close, that when I 'buzzed' the stick blender for the first time, she let out a little yelp and jumped a mile high. :) She told me later that she was sure the whole thing was exploding right in her face. Next time I teach this class, I'll be sure to demonstrate the noise the blender makes before I start. :)
All in all, everything went perfectly, and I hope I was able to teach some women a new craft. The only downside? I forgot to take pictures!
Today, I soaped the spruce fragrance I got. The soap, again, set up fast but I think this fragrance is well worth it! It's a great forest fragrance without smelling like Pine-sol. ;) It's got a little something else to it.....like when you are setting up your fresh Christmas tree in the front room while Mom made cookies. There's just a hint of sweetness that really sets it apart. Plus, the color turned out fantastic as well. These soaps I made into itty-bitty mini guest soaps. They'll be avaliable in sets of 6, in muslin bags. They'll be great for setting out for holiday guests, or tying to the top of a package as a bonus! They'd also be fun for secret Santa gifts or along with a plate of sugar cookies for your neighbor. 
