Could it be... a success?

I wrote this blog yesterday. But, because the internet was down all over Washington state the last couple of days I am putting it up now.

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Remember that cute little idea I said I would come back to..? I MAY have gone with that instead of my original plan..

I got home from work today and wasted a lot of time being exhausted and hungry. It took a long time of pining after the internet and something warm to eat before I realized... I was complaining yesterday because I didn't have the time to get this started and now, with all the time in the world (or five or so hours behind I had to be in bed) and I was just sitting around feeling bored. I got up, grabbed some books for reference, all of  my supplies, a clean spot in the kitchen and... got scared. What if I messed up? Then I had wasted all that money and ingredient. How much was I supposed to use? I don't have a scale yet. I didn't even know if I wanted to add something to the lavender like salt or oatmeal. And even if I did how would I know if I was doing it right?! ...Then I saw my toasted rice fragrance oil sample. The one so nicely hidden in my package. And my roommate's Hello Kitty silicone ice tray.

I decided to start simple.

Toasted Rice Fragrance Oil Sample. 17 cent dropper I bought with my lavender. Soap Base. Silicone Hello Kitty ice tray. ...bowl. (My mother thinks I'm going to ruin her pans so no double boiler for me. I get to use the microwave.)

It was surprisingly easy to cut! I don't have a scale so I decided to break it down into general pounds to remember how much I used instead of just winging it with ingredients. I was worried it was going to be brittle and break but it had more the consistency of really dense butter.

I decided to use half a pound. I cut it into cubes and put it into the microwave. I was worried it would be difficult to melt and that I would stir it too much or it would take to long or anything I could possibly do wrong.

But it was so easy! It only took about four 20 second intervals and I barely had to stir it at all. It came out smooth and lovely.

I added about ten drops of the fragrance oil and it was plenty. My hands smelled like it all night. It was very strange eating food later...

I also added one drop of yellow. Just to make it pretty. Sadly food colouring is all I had so I made sure to use just barely any at all, so it wouldn't run on anyone's skin.

A bit messy... but my roomie enjoyed picking the excess off after it solidified a bit.

Then I just had to wait! I watched some cartoons, helped make dinner, stared at it for a while... I left it out on the counter, afraid to touch it to move it. I was pretty much afraid of doing ANYTHING so I had to cook around it. We picked at the excess, cleaned up a bit and argued about putting it in the fridge or not. I had some left over in a bowl that I poked at for a while, seeing how long it took to solid up. It went pretty quick but I made myself wait. I manged an hour before attempting to pop the first cute little hello kitty head out of the mold.

It came out perfect~!

Every single piece was solid and beautiful! They all came out so easily with the very minimal amount of air bubbles I had been so nervous about. (I have nothing to spray them down with like all the books keep telling me. More supplies in time!) My roomie oo-ed and ahh-ed my little brother and his friend NEEDED to touch and I am just so beyond proud of myself. Everyone in my family thinks they're adorable and I think so too. They look right, they smell right, nothing exploded and I had so much fun. It was like baking cookies but instead of sugar and butter I mixed oils and base and got cute little soaps instead. Roomie was the first to try it and I used some a little bit later.

I loved it. Sure I still have a lot to learn and this was the very basic of recipes with only the utensils I have around the kitchen but I can't wait to try some more. Looks like my blog isn't going to be only three posts long! That in itself feels like a victory.

I hope everyone's ready for some great smelling gifts!

♥ Amanda Leigh