Soap making and hard lotion AND a winner!

Hope, you are the winner of the Peppermint giveaway (please contact me so I can get your box out to you)! Hope had asked if I had any problems with kids wanting to eat the peppermint/chocolat soaps and lotions. I have. Just the lotion though, and the great thing about this lotion is that though it is NOT intended to be consumed all ingredients are safe to be consumed (in fact we do use some in our cooking/baking!).

By popular demand I'll post about soap and hard lotion making.... I feel like I'm putting together a clip show since I was not able to take pictures when I made soap on Friday. Sorry.

Soap making has been something I was interested in trying for a while, but using lye was a bit intimidating. The Homestead Blessings DVD on soap making by the West Ladies made it look so simple that I was feeling ready to give it a try after watching it about a year ago.

I didn't actually get my nerve up to try it until I saw this post on making soap in a crock pot! That is the recipe I use and she has great pictures to go along with it so I'll send you over there for instructions since I truly could not do it better (I did find that an immersion blender did not seem to be optional, but instead a necessity). It is a recipe for coffee soap but you can easily change it (like I do) to just about any scent by using a different liquid (juice, tea, or water) and essential oils. I've made lavender, citrus, and now peppermint. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions though, I'd be happy to answer them. Remember though that I'm new at this, so I'm no expert!

SOAP MAKING IS NOT A CHILD FRIENDLY CRAFT. I only make soap when my little ones are napping or there is another adult around.

Hard Lotion is a much simpler activity and one that my 11 year old manages nearly on her own. I busy myself in the kitchen while she is making it so I'm available to help and check her progress. My camera was not working so I did not manage to get pictures of her actually making it.

To make chocolate peppermint hard lotion- Simply melt in equal amounts coconut oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter. We used our soap crockpot on high stirring ocationally. While its melting prepare your molds. We used muffin tins and muffin cup liners. While we were making our second batch we made lip balm since it is the same recipe. We just purchased empty tubes off of Amazon. Pour the mixture into the waiting molds, and let them cool. Its that easy!