Things you’ll need…

Double boiler or crock pot: … Because you want to melt the soap base slowly. I got this double boiler for about $12 at Ikea. Alternatively you can buy this one  online. A crock pot would be better if you were making an absurd amount of soap. It seems messier to me to too.

Soap Molds: … You can buy them at your local craft store (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Ben Franklin, etc), or online, I’m sure. You can also use chocolate molds, unique ice molds, or silicone bread molds.

Shea Butter, Glycerin, Goat Milk, or Beeswax base: … You can buy these at the same craft stores. I also like a company called Millcreek Soy Wax that I usually order candle-making supplies from. (Candle-making is VERY similar to soap making, so if you’re interested, read my tutorial.)

Color: … There are special soap-dyes (Red, Yellow, Blue) that you can buy at the craft store. I have food coloring shown in the picture (below), but I didn’t end up using it. Food coloring purportedly does not work as well for soap-making.

Scent: You can use any essential oil for this. I like ones like rosehip and tea tree that are known to be good on the skin, as well as ones for their fragrance, such as jasmine and lavender, or peppermint for face soap.

Other Ingredients: My favorite, hands down, is olive oil. After spending some time in Spain and seeing how beautiful and elastic the women’s  skin is, I’m a true believer in the moisturizing properties olive oil, especially face. You can also use rolled oats, dried lavender, rosemary, honey, almond oil, etc.. My weird, fiber-obsessed friend used barley. It actually looked pretty cool too.

Let’s Get Started!

Ok, so you have your materials.  Here’s the super-easy run-down:

Step 1. Fill the bottom pot of the double boiler about 1/3 full, and bring to a boil.

Step 2. Add your soap base to the top boiler and cover to expedite the melting process. Stir occasionally. You can use a single base or mix bases. Just keep in mind that any amount of an opaque base will make your soap opaque. So, if you want your soap to be clear, stick to clear, glycerine-type bases.

Step 3. When the soap base is melted or getting close to melted, add your color, fragrances, and any oils or dissolvables (ie, honey). Remember, essential oils are strong, so you don’t need more than a few drops. A lot of it is trial and error too, because some oils are a lot more potent than others.

Step 4: Pour! I’ll elaborate here…

You can fill the mold all the way with your concoction. Or you can fill partially for a layered soap. If you fill all the way, don’t touch it or move the mold for the first 15 minutes. A normal-sized mold should take only about 40 minuted to harden enough for you to remove it. You can stick it in the freezer too, though I don’t recommend that if you’re using honey (it will be hard to get out).

For layered soap, you can now make and add a different concoction, or add a layer of something aesthetic or textured.

When you pop the soap out of the mold (“Hold it upside down and let gravity help”, insisted Hannah last night.), it may come out with what’s called flashing. (See image below). Flashing is a thin layer of soap from where it spread out of the mold. Just cut it off with a knife.

You can also play around with placing natural elements in the bottom of the mold, adding a thin layer of melted soap (to keep your design in place), and then filling the mold.

And voila! That should get you more than started. Last night, we had a blast making these. See some of our other creations from last night…

Hannah and her barley/silicone implant soap.

Stay clean, everyone!

This one should be obvious…

Letter Necklace in Silver/ Letter Necklace in Gold / Double Letter Necklace in Silver | Double Letter Necklace in Gold / Triple Letter Necklace

 Hope you read my blog, family!

1. TURKISH OXIDIZED AND STUDDED BRACELET 2. TURKISH TWO-TONED BRACELET WITH STUDS 3. ARTISTIC TURKISH CUFF BRACELET 4. TURKISH SILVER SEA URCHIN BRACELET 5. EXPANDABLE TURKISH FLOWER CUFF 6. TURKISH ARMOR BRACELET 7. OTTOMAN PANEL BRACELET 8. TWO-TONED OXIDIZED TURKISH BRACELET 9. HAND-FORGED TURKISH PANEL BRACELET

The reason I often choose gold over silver is that I find it very flattering against the skin. I have a more olive-toned skin, which is accessorized best (in my opinion) with gold jewelry and earth-tones. In other words, I try to pull a deep richness and earthiness from the gold tones. Silver, on the other hand, is lighter in color (obviously) and airier in feel. I know many people like silver and black together, but try assembling it with a generally lighter and more delicate look. It’s so feminine and pretty and will especially highlight the softness of you fair-skinned beauties out there.

To stack silver bracelets (or any bracelets, for that matter), be sure to mix up wide bracelets with thin ones. If you have a big, statement bracelet, wear it alone on one hand and stack smaller ones on the other hand. It should go without saying, but don’t be too matchy.

So, occasionally we’ll actually blog about our own product. Welcome the three newest colors of the Gemstone Bib Necklace. Multicolored and double-stranded, this necklace brightens up your collarbone and cheerfully frames your smiling face. Adjustable 16.5-18.5″ long and newly reduced from $138 to $85.

Black Onyx, Smokey Quartz, Amazonite & 14 Karat Gold Fill

Yellow Jade, Carnelian, Red Aventurine & 14 Karat Gold Fill

Coral, Garnet, Turquoise Howlite & 14 Karat Gold Fill White Howlite, Lapis Lazuli, Chrysoprase & 14 Karat Gold Fill

PIN, PIN, PIN Please!

Island

Well, I finally did. I saw a nice, long rectangular pallet outside my grocery store and was confident I could successfully reproduce one of these easy Pinterest ideas. But here’s what I didn’t realize- Pallets are assembled incredibly sloppily and quickly with splintery scrap wood and staples (not screws). I mean, these are transport structures, not finely crafted wood-working templates. It has gaps, it’s uneven, and it’s very beat up from the transport process.

I’m going to show you a very abrigdged version of my pallet turned rolling coffee table project, just to give you a real idea of what it entails

(Before)
The original pallet. Note scary nails in the bottom left and how the wood bends in. I had to forced it down with screws while my husband stood on it.
(Almost there)
Because I was putting glass on top, it didn’t need the extra panels, but after all the effort I had put in, I figured I’d go the extra mile to and from Lowes.  Again.

(After)
I decided not to keep the gaps uniform nor worry about some of the panels being 1/2″ and some 3/8″. My sole rationale was not wanting to spend more time on it. I’ll probably fix this tomorrow, though.

Here’s the Pinterest ‘how-to’ description:

1. Stain it
2. Add legs
3. Put glass on top.
… and Voila!!!

A little more realistic….

1. Get it into your car somehow
1. Sand out splinters and remove protruding staples (with pliers, a saw, wire cutters, or whatever you can make work).
2. Screw down loose boards (pre-drill every hole, because the wood is often rotted)
3. Cut and add boards to fill in the gaps.
4. Add legs and casters (don’t be surprised if this takes multiple trips to Lowes, and keep in mind how the casters will affect the overall height).
5. Stain it (it’s no quick task to get all the panel sides)
6. Have glass cut to put on top. (It cost me $81.)

Here’s a gallery of (a fraction of) what you can find on Pinterest.

Couch
Headboard

Swing

Ottoman

Steps

 and….

Coffee Table

Take-away: I’m happy with the end result, but next time I think I’ll build a new table from scratch.

PLEASE PIN!

You can also follow us at Pinterest/CatherineNicole

I’ll reminisce fondly on days with boat-necks and ballet slippers, pretending to be Audrey Hepburn, but I will make new memories. Ones that involve shaved legs and things in my pockets.

It’s true that my break from riding boots turned into a full-fledged affair with ankle booties, but that won’t happen to us. No way.

Gemstone Rings in Green Onyx, Rose Quartz, Carnelian & Lapis Lazuli

Expandable Turkish Flower Cuff

Ottoman Panel Bracelet

source

source

source

source

source

source

Get The Look….

Give it a go, even if its just hammering some protruding nails to a piece of wood.