Skip to main content

Oh Honey - You're so Sweet!


Since I was approached with a fairly large custom order to showcase some locally produced honey,  I've been doing alot of  research for tips on making soap with honey and beeswax.  Thanks to a fabulous video featuring a honey soap project by Jenny of I'd Lather be Soaping, I was able to pull it off. (Jenny's videos are so informative, she makes everything seem like a breeze! Be sure to tune in and follow her you tube channel.)

I learned I should be prepared for some extra heat because of the sugar in the honey, so I didn't attempt to gel the soap - it went straight  into the fridge for 24 hours.  Lining my loaf mold and topping it with bubble wrap gave me the look I was hoping to achieve.   The soap is free of any colorants, and scented with  "Honey and Shea" from WSP.  I've used this fo in candles before, but it really comes alive in CP soap.  If you close your eyes and smell these soap bars, you get the vision of a big goey slab of honeycomb glistening in the sunshine - I love it!  It does have some vanilla content, so I'm expecting some darkening from the golden hue you see here when it was cut.  I'm hoping the scent will hold up and stay strong - I can't wait to see the final results after the cure!

I feel confident enough now to move forward with a triple batch of this recipe to complete the order..! BTW -  I'd gratefully accept any tips from other soapy friends on working with a larger batch like this that could heat up,     Wish me luck -  and have a great weekend!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balancing the Possibilities

Many soapers like myself aren't living the dream of operating a full time soap business.  We have other types of work and careers that must remain top priority to pay the bills and keep our families going.  Those of us who are taking a shot at soaping as a side business have to squeeze out the extra time for it in rather creative ways. We can't be profitable if we aren't working at it several hours a week.  I'd venture to say many of us are in that same boat. I've done alot of thinking this weekend about moving forward in a new marketplace this season, and had another wonderful opportunity offered out of the blue.  Lots of exciting things are happening, but this also brings with it a degree of fear and anxiety for me.  I have a wonderfully supportive husband, but why do I immediately worry about failing?  I swear I have a dozen batches of soap curing right now and lots more already packaged and waiting, but still I fear I "won't have enough"!  When I
7 comments
Read more

Gearing up for Market Season

Eucalyptus Spearmint           It's finally feeling like spring...in typical Kansas/Missouri fashion, it was 80 degrees on Saturday and dropped to 35 by Sunday night! Nevertheless, the farmers market season is fast approaching - only two more weeks.  These babies are curing as we speak and smell out of this world.  I've still got to paint my metal display pieces and I should be good to go.  I have so many ideas in my head I can't seem to narrow them down to try in real life.  Last year was my first experience in the market venue and, while I got lots of compliments on my set up, I'd really like to increase my sales this year.         I've heard it said that you should design your market space just as you would in a store or boutique.  To me, I think simplicity is the way to go in a market setting.  My plan this year is to have one unwrapped bar of each scent displayed up front, and baskets with the packaged bars grouped together in the background, or maybe on
4 comments
Read more

Still Learning

Guess what I learned to do today?  Yes, I made myself a light box for photo taking!  I've been pretty slow in studying up on picture taking, but now am making up for lost time.  These are my very first attempts and I'm pretty pleased.  And it was easy - even for me.  YouTube is amazing and I so appreciate all you smarties who are willing to take time to show some of us slower models how to do things! This is a custom order of Honey Soap that's now curing.  I love my logo stamp, but I tend to try it too soon after cutting.  These were cut about four days ago, and I stamped them yesterday.  I should have stopped at one or two...sigh.  I'm pretty sure my customer will be ok with it, though.   On a technical note, this batch was put in the fridge after pouring.  I wanted to prevent gel, due to the honey I was afraid it would get too hot and crack or creep up in the mold.  I kept it refrigerated for 24 hours, but as you can see, it looks like it still gelled partial
4 comments
Read more