MAKING SOAP (SORT OF).
While perusing a lovely blog that I am slightly obsessed with, I came upon quite a clever idea. It turns out that the only real difference between a bar of soap and a bottle of liquid hand soap is water. So...since it definitely gets expensive buying hand soap over and over again, even if you buy the refills - why not buy a bar of the same soap you love, add water, and make your own! This recipe makes a gallon of liquid soap for the price of the bar. This was a pretty simple and fun project, and now Jesse and I have the equivalent of nearly $80 worth of liquid soap, all for about $9! Here is the how-to:
WHAT YOU'LL NEED: One 8 oz bar of your favorite soap, 2 tbsp of liquid glycerin, a cheese grater, and 1 gallon of water. That's all! Be mindful that the typical bar of soap is more like 4 oz, so you might need to buy two. Jesse and I love Dr. Bronner's soap. It is an amazing company and a great product. Bonus: since the soap is "All-in-One," we can use the soap we made for washing hands, dishes, whatever!
I found the glycerin at our co-op, but it is apparently easy to find in most places with a pharmacy, in the band-aid section. Even though it sounds scary, a 100% vegetable glycerin is completely natural and safe.
STEP 1: Grate the bar(s) of soap into a large pot. This is as simple as it sounds, but be warned....it does take some time! This recipe I was following calls for a cheese grater...but I eventually got lazy and started using a potato peeler. And then I became extra lazy and started just chopping up the soap with a knife. I would encourage you to be patient and not follow my example, but my soap turned out just fine. So basically...cut your soap into small pieces in whatever way best suits you!
STEP TWO: Add the water and glycerin to the soap.
STEP THREE: Place the pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soap is completely dissolved in the water.
STEP FOUR: Remove from heat. It should essentially look like a big pot of soapy water.
STEP FIVE: Leave it alone and let it cool for 10-12 hours. It should start to "cloud up" after about 3-4 hours. Mine looked a bit insane, sort of like a white, solid mass was forming in the center. I stirred it (also not advised by the original recipe) and continued to stir it every few hours to keep it from solidifying too much. Letting it solidify is pretty fun though, as you can sort of rest your hand on it like jello! Each time I stirred it, however, it returned to a more normal consistency.
STEP SIX: Done! If it looks something like this...
....the soap is good to go. You can easily beat in some more water if it is too thick. I bought a reusable soap dispenser and decorated it (but you could also simply use an old one) and filled it up! The rest of the soap went into empty milk jugs and tupperware.
Hooray! So easy, and SUCH a huge money saver! If you find yourself hesitant about spending too much for an organical or wonderful or for-whatever-reason soap that you love, this is a great way to stretch your dollar without sacrificing the quality of ingredients. My next ambition is to actually make my own BAR of soap...I will let you know how that one goes!
- Hannah.
CRAFTING THROUGH THE FLU.
So I have the flu. Or had it, rather. Earlier this afternoon I ventured out of the house for the first time in days, and I feel like I am on the mend. Basically, my head does not feel like a swollen volcano of pain anymore. Progress! Of course, this is wonderful timing, because Jesse and I are getting MARRIED...in FOUR DAYS! I just can't believe it, really. All that being said, I know this is supposed to be a blog about farming, but I have had little else to do with my time while laying around sniffling and groaning this week. So today, we are going to talk about crafting.
While making plans for our (incredibly simple) wedding, I realized something: flowers are insanely expensive! Is this common knowledge? I was not aware. While trying to figure out how to justify paying for a bouquet and boutonniere that would eventually shrivel up and die, I decided to just make my own. It was honestly incredibly easy, and now Jesse and I have something to keep forever! This is a great project for a wedding bouquet, but it would also make wonderful centerpieces or just decoration for your home. The best part is that you can customize the colors to exactly what you need, because it is just made out of PAPER!
So here's the step by step:
MATERIALS:
ROSETTES:
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| Draw a spiral. |
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| Cut out the spiral. |
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| Start rolling the spiral into itself, starting in the middle. |
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| If you need to, you can secure the outside with a piece of tape or glue, so it doesn't unroll. |
CARNATIONS:
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| Cut out a set of circles, slowly increasing in size. |
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| Wrinkle up the paper circles. Poke the wooden stick (or twig, or wire, or whatever) through the biggest circle. |
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| Keep poking circles down on the stick on top of the first, getting smaller as you go. |
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| After adding the smallest circle on the top, I added a little superglue, letting it drip down the stick and securing each circle in the right place. |
PUFF BALLS:
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| Wrap yarn around your fingers. |
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| Once you have a thick amount, cut it free from the skein. |
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| Carefully slide the bunch off of your fingers. |
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| Tie it using a separate, small piece of yarn. |
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| Cut through the loops on both sides. |
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| Trim the yarn until it resembles a ball! |
NOW....
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Keep making them until you have A LOT...trust me, it takes a lot. Then attach them to your wooden sticks or wire.
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| Arrange the flowers by sticking them in the styrofoam ball. I supplemented mine with some silk flowers and rattan balls. |
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| If you are making a bouquet, you can make a handle by grouping a bunch of wooden sticks together and wrapping them with ribbon. |
TAH DAH!!!
I am really pleased with how this turned out. It was fun to make, and a welcome distraction from my sick days. I hope the holidays are finding you happy and healthy, and now I'm off to make Jesse's boutonniere!
- Hannah.
A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC.
Today, Jesse and I went to my grandparents house in search of some cast iron skillets and a roasting pan for our ridiculously enormous turkey. This adventure turned out to be quite a lengthy treasure hunt through their garage and attic, through old photographs and sleds and books and dollhouses and spider webs. We have been watching a lot of Antique Road Show as well as Hoarders this week, so we felt right at home. Sitting in the attic, looking through an old suitcase full of dresses as Jesse flipped through a box of 45's, I had a secret hope to have such an attic of our own one day: a place full of memories, objects of a life lived, artifacts of a tangible existence. Who might be rooting through our old pots and pans one day?By the end of the morning, we had found our turkey roaster! Hooray for our first Thanksgiving! However, as the supposed cast iron was nowhere to be found, I am happy for an excuse to go back and dig around more sometime soon.- Hannah.
