Country Crafts

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The country-fication of Countess Chichi continues. Living out here in the country is leading me astray in all kinds of weird ways. My city ways are constantly being challenged. I think nothing of slowing down the car when I drive to avoid the bears, deer, moose and so on as they run across the road in front of me. It's a long way from having to slow down to avoid drug-addled drunks stumbling across the road as anyone who has ever driven along certain Melbourne streets has had to do on a regular basis.
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Now I have developed an interest in making my own soap. Store bought stuff is full of all kinds of chemicals, in fact many of those bars are mostly liquid detergent. By making my own I get to control what goes in, while being creative and perhaps a bit artistic at the same time.

http://www.handmadesoapwholesale.com/images/5-soaps_hzb0.jpg

I had to accumulate a whole lot of ingredients and utencils before attempting my first batch. It is a little daunting, especially because lye, (Sodium Hydroxide) is used. I am way too ADHD to handle something that dangerous, without doing myself a mischief.

http://www.festivals-and-shows.com

I wore goofy googles and gloves and tried my best not to be careless and cause some kind of catastrophic harm. Fortunately all went well. Lye used to be available on grocery store shelves, nowadays it is quite difficult to get. In fact, many stores don't stock it. We found a country Co-op store that does, then had to undergo the Spanish Inquisition as to the reason for the purchase before we were allowed to buy it.
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Apparently the store refuses to sell it to many people. Why you ask? It seems that lye is used in the producation of crystal-meth. Yet another product, useful in so many ways, is now difficult to get thanks to those druggies. I'm so sick of them ruining things for the rest of us.
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I used Shea butter, coconut oil and olive oil for my soap. I added some violet colouring and used an English violet fragrance. I eventually will make some unscented soaps but to start with I wanted something pretty and lovely smelling.

I used a milk-carton for a mould as I didn't want to invest in a fancier mould until I had made a batch. I get sick of things so easily and if they don't turn out the first time I normally just move on. No point investing a pile of cash until I was sure I would continue on with the activity.

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The soap sliced easily to make chunky bars. They are going to be left to dry for a few weeks but I had to try one. It lathered beautifully and left a delicate violet fragrance on my skin. I think I will be doing this again. Maybe I could turn it into a business and become a soap-mogul. Not a bad job, I would always be clean and sweet smelling but possibly a little scarred from the lye.
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I plan on experimenting with different recipes until I can eventually make fancy artisian stuff like goat milk, cow milk and buttermilk soap.

Looks like everyone I know will be getting gifts of soap from me from now on. I usually send jewelry gifts to Ms Patrice, so it may be a bit disappointing to get a bar of soap instead of diamonds. Sorry Ms P!
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