Backdrop Curtain Tutorial

Learn how to make a gorgeous backdrop for your craft table this holiday season.  It's pretty simple and only took me a few hours of my time and I had a fabulous backdrop.

****Some close up photos***

Enjoy and have fun while you are making this- remember you can use any strips of material or ribbon!

Happy Holidays-

It may not be so easy starting a small business anymore.

I just found out yesterday- Our local county here in middle Georgia (not the big city--but really--the country), wants all home manufacturing (soapmaking, bath and body products) businesses to apply for a zoning variance, attend a hearing (waiting for at least 40 days before the hearing begins) and supply a survey of their home so they can apply for a business license. And it's not guaranteed they would even get approved. What are your thoughts? State Regs are not even this bad. Mind you we are a community of about 150,000 people. I guess weeding out new small business is what's in right now?

See this document on the requirements for Houston County-  http://www.houstoncountyga.com/assets/downloads/BusLicHomeOccupationsRegulations.pdf

Southern Living Magazine "LOVES" our Soap!

We were contacted back in Aug by Southern Living Magazine to share our Christmas 2012 Soaps.  We'll I am happy to say the Issue is "Christmas At Home" 100 Ways to Celebrate The Season.  They gave us placement on page 9!

Thank you for that FABULOUS write up-- SOUTHERN LIVING!

Want to purchase that soap?  

See it on the front page of our website--

mossycreeksoap.com

The Olive Oil Story

There was some discussion about Olive Oil for soapmaking in our class this weekend.  I thought I would go straight to the horse's mouth so to speak when I post this.  I checked out the USDA's website for the grade descriptions and this is what they say.

There are 3 types of Olive Oil:  Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil and  Olive-Pomace Oil -

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3011889

"Olive oil is the oil obtained solely from the fruit of the olive tree(Olea europaea L.), to the exclusion of oils obtained using solvents or re-esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds and shall meet the minimum requirements of Table I, found in §52.1539 of these grade standards." 

"Virgin olive oils are the oils obtained from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical or other physical means under conditions, including thermal conditions, that do not lead to
alterations in the oil, and which have not undergone any treatment
other than washing, decantation, centrifugation, and filtration and
shall meet the minimum requirements of Table I, found in
§52.1539 of these grade standards. No additives of any kind are
permitted." 

"Olive-pomace oil is the oil obtained by treating olive pomace (the
product remaining after the mechanical extraction of olive oil) with
solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils
obtained by synthetic processes and mixture with oils of other
kinds and shall meet the minimum requirements of Table I, found in
§52.1539 of these grade standards. Alpha-tocopherol is permitted
to restore natural tocopherol lost in the refining process for refined
olive pomace and olive-pomace oil. Maximum level: 200 mg/kg of
total alpha-tocopherol is permitted in the final product. "

The New Yorker posted about "The Olive Oil's Darker Side" In Feb 2012 http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/02/the-exchange-tom-mueller.html

Tom Mueller has done some extensive research on how corrupt this industry really is in his book called "Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil"

The Truth In Olive Oil Website:  http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/

A Buyers Guide in the US for Olive Oil http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/great-oil/how-to-buy-great-olive-oil/

What's your take on it?  What do you think of grocery store olive oil/no brand name? Is it really olive oil at all?

Color Branding

Color Branding?  Sounds pretty good hmmm.. I came across this very cool graphic and since I am designing new website this should really come into play. My new website should be up and running before Oct 1. We'll be expecting some down time and I will announce it before we switch over. So look for it:  http://mossycreeksoap.com/  It will be very user friendly with some very cool new features-

Anyway-  this graphic... It discusses color and why it's so important in branding your product. I thought I would share this with you guys--

 I love this company: http://dailyinfographic.com/the-illusion-of-choice-infographic .  I think it's important to say that most people love pictures.. so here you go!

Infusing Herbs in Olive Oil

In my quest for receiving the ultimate benefit from herbs in soap, I began researching how to get the homeopathic benefit from these delicate herbs without losing out to the harsh realities of using lye to make soap.  Because Lye is sodium hydroxide (a caustic salt), it can be too harsh and destroy many of the good properties of the herbs. One way to retain them is to infuse them into an oil.

This method is simple, like making tea but we are using oil instead of water. So that we may use the oil in our soaps, herbal salves and balms.

Let's get started on how you can create your own herbal infusions.

Step 1-  I use regular pint sized wide mouth canning jars with the lids.

Step 2- Gather your dried herbs and place them into sealable tea bags. 

I used about 2-3 tablespoons

Step 3-  Iron them closed

Step 4- Place sealed tea bag into the jars and pour olive oil over the tea bags

till 3/4 full and lightly tighten the lid

(do not over tighten lid until it's pulled out of the water bath when it's complete).

Step 5- Place jars into canning pot and fill with water till jar is surrounded by water but not touching the lid.

Step 6- Simmer on low for a few hours, after about 1 hour, check to see if the oils 

have changed colors. You may need to steep them a little more or less.  

It will depend on the herbs you are using.

Step 7-  Remove them from the hot water carefully, I use my canning tongs to pull them out. 

Let them sit a while to cool off. 

There you have it! 

 A gorgeous herbal infused oil that you can use in your soap, herbal salves and balms.

Indigo and Cambrian Blue Clay in Soapmaking

A while back I was discussing Cambrian Blue Clay in one of my online groups.  What I love about it is the color!  A nice blue is a tough color to achieve and Cambrian Blue Clay along with Indigo makes a beautiful blue color.  In the beginning you will notice it has a greenish hue to it but in the end once it's cured it looks fabulous.

Not much is known about the Cambrian Blue Clay which has an INCI name of Lilite.  Right now you can purchase this wonderful blue clay from http://www.etsy.com/shop/AltaiBotanicals 

I added this Cambrian Blue Clay along with Indigo Root Powder directly to my LYE solution to release all the good properties of both the clay and Indigo Root. 

Once I started I noticed there really wasn't anything to strain but I wanted to be sure.

 I added a Lavender, Patchouli and Sandalwood essential oil fragrance blend.

I wanted to add dimension to my soap so I add some Calendula Flowers

Sprinkled some 24k Gold Mica on top!

If you want to purchase this soap it will be ready 20 AUG online at

mossycreeksoap.com

Or you can learn how to make your own soap in our

  2 Day SOAPMAKING workshop in Sept!