It turns out that soap making and cake decorating aren't too different. I still get to use fabulous smelling stuff and I use a mixing bowl/pot. Add that to bright colors and lot and lots of supplies/toys and the hobbies are very similar. Any other cakers turned soapers? or anyone who does both?

Me! I'm a newb though. I started making goat milk soap last year and hope to start again when 'ole Tri-Pod freshens (yes, we have a three-legged goat named Tri-Pod).

I haven't made anything fancy, just bars of soap with essential oils and, more often than not, dried herbs in them.

Oh, I really want to try goat milk soap next! I've made Lavender and coffee (coffee as the liquid), and about a thousand others, I love making soap. I haven't done a cake in a while now, but I am doing a wedding cake on April 8th. Check out my new soap website and tell me what you think. FancyThatSoap.com

Nice site! I like the colors and that it's nice and bright and doesn't feel cluttered.
I really like the marbled look of the Bergamot-lemon soap. I haven't tried to do anything fancy like that yet.
I never knew pumpkin was good for skin. Did you replace some of the liquid with pumpkin puree, or?

Goat milk is great, you'll love it!
Coffee-oatmeal soap is one of my favorites so far. I used instant coffee so that I could still use the goat milk as liquid and I put the oatmeal in right before I poured it into the molds so that it was blended into smaller pieces, but still large enough to see/feel.

I want to make some with melaleuca oil in it as soon as I get the chance. I think my mom would really like that.

I'm so glad you like my site!

I add pumpkin purree at trace, it just takes a few ounces. I love to use it on my face, makes it so soft.

What is melaleuca good for? I've never used it.

I just made a carribean pineapple soap, smells so good, and I grated some white soap so it looks like coconut and put it on top. It's curing now, I can't wait to use it!

do you have bay soap pics?

Okay, I'm definitely going to try pumpkin next time I make soap.... whenever that is.
I froze some milk so that I could still make some after the girls dried off, but we ended up with a bum lamb and he drank it all. Little stinker LOL.

Here's a excerpt from an article on melaleuca oil;

Mom loves the stuff. So I want to make some soap with it and see how she likes it.

The carribean soap with "coconut" on top sounds really cute.
I haven't been very satisfied with the way my soap looks. I'd like to have a more rustic look for a lot of it. but I'd also eventually like to make cute stuff

I can't get the pics attached here so here's two links. Like I said, I'm a complete newb haha.
Oh, and after my first three batches I quit using lard and went to coconut and olive oil -at least, those are the only two I've used so far.


http://farriersdaughter2.blogspot.com/2010/04/soap.html


http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd139/twisterbars/09-18-10_1054.jpg

Very nice soap! I like your article also, good job explaining things.

I use a stick blender and you dont have to stir for long at all, maybe 5 min. I wouldn't do soap without one.

I have used tea trea oil I didn't realize they are the same thing. I remember the smell mostly, but that is some good info. Cures a lot of issues, I would want to bathe in it too! Let me know how the soap turns out.

I've always wanted to make soap. But I have to try to stick to one hobby at a time :p hopefully some day!

I wish I could stick to one hobby!! I make soap,lotion, lip balm, crochet, make an occasional cake, garden ( when the weathers is nice) and I have 4 kids, 2 cats 13 chickens a guinea pig and a husband. Makes me tired just to think about it!

Thanks for the compliment.

My sister-in-law let me in on the stick blender secret after that post. Sure does make things easier Only problem I have is that mine is a bamix, which is apparently a very nice one, but the finish on part of it is corrosive so I'm thinking maybe I should get a cheapo for soap making.

Corpsqueen, Hobby? It's a necessity right? hehe, after all, who doesn't need soap


Hey, have ya'll ever tried making your own laundry soap?
Here's a recipe I found http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/ I think I may try it sometime soon. Using my own own bar soap instead of the cheap bar in the recipe of course. What do you think?

I love to crochet! Great hobby, and the things you can make are so usefull.

What kind of chickens do you have? We love our chickens, they are like our pets, with the benefit of eggs. We have Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, White Orpingtons, Aracauna, Road Island Reds, Golden Laced Wyandotts and Speckled sussex. We have a multicolored egg basket. Too bad we can't make soap out of eggs.

Our chickens are pets too we have silkies, Cochins, rhode island reds and 4 silkie Cochin mixes :p mostly bantams! The rhode island reds haven't started laying yet they are almost full grown though

Your chickens sounds so cute! I love bantams, my neighbors have a few of them. My chickies are all huge and lay humongous eggs. They are spoiled rotten! They follow me everywhere, eat all the leftovers they can, and they have a large yard full of grass and bugs to eat. I just wish they pooped a little less but I forgive them since they give me delicious eggs

Lol, I know what you mean! We used to have a leg horn, she layed HUGE HUGE eggs! She was a wonderful pet but living where we do occasionally comes with a price when it comes to free range pets. I'm looking forward to see what our rhode island reds eggs look like! We have another chicken their age but I Can never remember her breed. She looks like a zebra!

That sounds like a Barred Rock, we have a couple of those, one loves to peck at our pant legs if we stand still long enough. Chickens can be so ornery, and curious and sweet all at the same time, as I'm sure you know. One of my chickies layed a brown egg with blue specks today, must have been the sussex, I guess we don't need to dye eggs for Easter!

Yeah, I just looked it up she looks like a barred rock. Her and her rhode island red sisters will peck yours legs/feet if they are hungry :p we only have one ornery hen! She follows the dogs around and pecks them if she doesn't like what they are doing lol

You have dogs and chickens? I thought the dogs would eat the chickens. We have discussed a puppy but didn't think we could have one because of the chickens. I love boxer pups!

We have 5 dogs! And two outdoor cats. They get along great! If you get a puppy and chicks and raise them together they will be fine!