Soap Making Process

I love to do craft shows and festivals. So I have been looking for what shows are upcoming in my area than I could join. I don’t have a huge list of criteria, but price is #1…. I mean I can only sell so many bars of soap, so obviously a $500 fee is not going to work for me. $300 is probably my absolute tops I will pay.....but the $50 ones make it a lot easier to get my money back.

So I found a craft show in an area about an hours drive....gorgeous area....so we thought it would be fun to do a show there. Well they want photos of me MAKING my products. I guess to prove I actually make them?? A little bummed on one hand…would someone really lie about such a thing? Second of all, what if grandma knitted something, could I not sell that for her??

So anyhoo, my biggest dilemma is this….when I make lotions I am usually home alone…which is how I like it. So taking a photo of myself isn’t such an easy task. Now when I make soap, hubby helps me….but it is an “all hands on deck” kinda thing, when that lye goes in I only have so long to work with to get the color and fragrance in and mixed well...no time to fiddle with cameras. So smart hubby that I have says….why cant you photo stage 1 of mixing the oils….aha you are sooo smart!! :) Then I thought maybe my online friends would like to see me at work?

So here I am in my pretty pink gloves hubby bought me, I have my goggles on and arms protected. Oils are melted and being mixed well for the lye to be added. This soap is Lavender and I like to put a purple swirl into it. So after all the hard work is done….

…here I am putting the final touches on the swirl.

Here are all my babies…3 batches…tucked in for the night. I leave them overnight in the oven (turned off) to generate their own heat, hopefully go through the gel phase, and best of all they are out of the way to not be disturbed.

Here are my logs the next day...and then all cut.