29 November 2018

How to Make Melt and Pour Soaps

As a follow-on from this afternoon's blog post, Corinna asked if I could share exactly what I used, and what you would need and where to get whatever, to make these soaps.

I'm no expert, but I have made soap since the children were little, and made lots and lots of melt and pour soaps when they were at primary school for stalls and fetes, so here goes. 

The soaps I made are all what is known as melt and pour soaps and are perfect for beginners and those who would like to make their own soap but are nervous about using lye and don't want to wait six weeks to use it.
They are made from a glycerine soap base. Glycerine is very gentle, and moisturising - perfect for dry skin, and as an anti-ageing ingredient in soap.

Melt and pour soap bases come in a number of different varieties, the most common being clear. This is the base I used to make the rose soaps. I tinted it pink and added fragrance oil to scent it.


The snowflake soaps were made from a goats milk and glycerine base, and tinted pink.


And the Christmas trees were made from a coconut oil and glycerine base and I tinted them green.


To make any of the soaps I made you will need:
Melt and pour soap base - I used 700g clear base, 500g Goats milk base, 500g coconut base
Double boiler OR a large saucepan and a heatproof dish that fits in the top
Thermometer
Skewer for stirring
Moulds
Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alchohol)
Soap colour - optional
Soap fragrance - optional

Step 1.  Prepare your moulds. You can use whatever you like, I use silicone cake moulds because they're cheap, readily available in a lot of different shapes and most importantly, the finished soap is easy to pop out. If you are using silicone moulds, put them on a baking sheet to keep them stable.  Spritz the inside of the moulds with the isopropyl alcohol.

Step 2. Cut the soap base into 2cm squares. This ensures it melts evenly and quickly, and doesn't turn into a giant, unmanageable glob.

Step 3. Bring the double boiler to the boil. Put the soap base into the double boiler, turn the heat down so the pot is simmering and stir. Keep stirring until all the base has completely melted. Depending on how much base you have in the double boiler it can take a few minutes. Watch the temperature of the base, and keep it under 50 degrees F. If it goes over 50 degrees, it will still be good to use, but the finished soap won't be glossy and bright.

I use a skewer to stir so it gets between all the little cubes and keeps them moving.

Step 4. Once the base has completely melted, you can add the colour if you are using it. Remember, less is more. It is easier to add a drop to increase the intensity of the colour rather than over-colour and end up with something you don't like. Add the colour by the drop, and make sure to stir it in completely. Again, this can take a minute or two to get an even colour distribution. Just keep the double boiler or bowl over the hot water.

Step 5. Add the scent, again remembering that less is more and you can always increase the intensity of the fragrance. Stir well.

Step 6. I use a clean, dry soup ladle to fill the moulds. As soon as they are full, spritz with the rubbing alcohol. This eliminates the little bubbles that are sitting on top of the soap, giving it a nice, flat surface when it dries.  Set the baking sheet aside until the soap is set. This won't take too long - about 2 hours, but you can leave it up to 24 hours if necessary.

Step 7. Once the soap has hardened or set, turn it out of the moulds. Trim off any excess drips with a sharp paring knife. Wrap the soap immediately. This prevents the "sweating" that is a common feature of glycerine based soaps. They can be used straight away, there is no need to wait to use these soaps.

Seven steps sound a lot and complicated, but they are all very quick and simple. It takes about half an hour from start to final spritz.

Cost: Depending on the cost of your base, making 1kg of melt and pour soap can cost as little as $15. Adding colour and fragrance will increase the cost by about $1.50 per kilo. Other bases are a $1 - $2 per kilo more expensive. How many soaps you'll get will depend on the size of your moulds. The snowflakes are large, I get 12 from 1kg if I fill them to the top. The roses are smaller and I get about 15 if I watch how I fill them. The Christmas trees make 12 bars from 1kg of soap base.

Tips:

Bases come in either .500g or 1kg blocks. They do come in bigger blocks, up to 20kg, but 1kg is a good size to manage at home for soap making.

Cut the base into 1cm squares, but no larger than 2cm. This is a manageable size to stir and melt before it gets too hot.

Use only soap colours. Don't be tempted to use food colour - it stains! It stains you, the bath, the shower base, the face washer - it's meant for icing, not soap. I use liquid soap colours. About 5ml per kilo of soap base gives a nice colour density, but you can use more or less to get the density you want.

When it comes to fragrance, you can use essential oils, as long as they are skin-safe (not all are suitable, check the bottle label). Essential oils don't last long, that's fine if you don't want the fragrance to last. And you will need to use more. Fragrance oils work very well in soaps. They last longer due to the formulation and you don’t need to use as much.

A thermometer that clips to the side of your dish is ideal. It keeps it out of the way, and you can easily keep an eye on the temperature of the base as it melts.

I have bought most of my moulds from op shops for $1 or $2 each. The most I've paid for a mould was $3 for the Christmas tree mould. Look at stores like The Reject Shop too, they often have cute shapes in silicone cake moulds for just a couple of dollars.  But you can use anything as long as you can get the hardened soap out. For the Gardener's Soap bars I use an old aluminium bar cake tin, lined with clingwrap. Cardboard cartons, paper boxes, acetate shapes can all be used as moulds for your melt and pour soaps.

Where I buy melt and pour base:

Little Green Workshops

This is a local (almost!) to me company. They are Victorian based, and a family owned and run business.

Little Green Workshops has a large range of all soap making supplies but they also have an excellent range of kits, aimed at the beginner to the more experienced soap maker. The kits are ideal, coming with everything you need to make your soap, including the moulds, colours and fragrances and a detailed instruction booklet and a wonderful chart showing how to mix the primary colours to create secondary and tertiary colours.

Aussie Soap Supplies

Based in Western Australia, this company also sells the melt and pour base, and a limited range of kits. The kits are aimed more at the experienced melt and pour soap maker. They also come with detailed instructions on how to create the soaps.

Isopropyl alcohol
Most chemists/pharmacies stock it. It's not expensive and a bottle will last for ages, but I found Chemist Warehouse was the cheapest stockist near me. It can also be used in the laundry as a stain lifter and for cleaning and sanitising around the house.

You may have an outlet near you that sells soap making supplies. If you search on "soap making" and your area, I'm sure you'll find plenty. Do your research and compare prices, not just on the base and other ingredients, but on the delivery fee too.

If you have any questions, just ask them in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

(Finally) Making the Christmas Soaps


I've been a tad busy lately, and so the Christmas soaps have just been made, but not from my usual recipe, that takes six weeks to cure.

On Tuesday I had a couple of hours almost free and Thomas was home to help, so we brought out the pans and bowls, and the Christmas moulds, and made a couple of batches of melt-n-pour soap. They look so cute and smell so nice. Best of all they're ready to use immediately, no need to wait for curing time.

Along with the Christmas soaps, we made another double batch of Gardener's Soap, and a batch of Stain Removing Soap.

I was down to the last bar of Stain Removing Soap, and it is brilliant on the sports clothes and Wayne's work clothes (better than Sard, as good as Exit Soap). I also use it to clean the tea towels and dishcloths. I just wet them, give them a general rub over with the Stain Removing Soap and put them in the wash. They come out stain free and clean, and then only need to be soaked once a month or so.

The Gardener's Soap is on my yearly to-do list. I just love it because it's so gentle on my hands after gardening. I don't know about you, but even with gloves, and running my nails over a cake of soap before I put the gloves on, I still get my hands filthy! The Gardener's Soap is so gentle and soft to use, but it really gets the dirt off - and quickly too. Of course being coffee scented helps, you all know how much I love my coffee.

For years I've made fancy soaps just for Christmas. When the children were small, I'd put out Christmas soaps when we decorated the house, and then they'd each get a special Christmas soap, just for them, in their stocking. I don't do the soap in the stockings anymore, but I still love to put out fancy Christmas themed soaps in the bathroom.

A couple of years ago, when the card ladies did a soap making lesson with me, some of them made Christmas tree shapes, and that's what I've made for our Christmas soaps this year. I picked the mould up from an op shop for just a couple of dollars. It's a silicone cake mould, and works perfectly for individual soaps. Don't they look pretty?

Christmas tree soaps for our bathrooms
This batch is made from a coconut and glycerine base and I tinted it green by mixing blue and yellow soap colouring (don't be tempted to use food colours - they stain! you and the basin and the face washer and the hand towel) to give the green colour. Then I added some peppermint essential oil to scent it. Essential oils don't last long in soap, the fragrance evaporates quite quickly, but because these just have to last until 12th night, it will be fine.

And while the soap making was happening, I made a batch of goats milk and glycerine soap, coloured it pink and use my rose and snowflake moulds to make gift soaps. These are scented with crab apple rose fragrance and smell divine. There was a little base left, and I had a new mould to use, so it didn't go to waste.

Pink rose scented glycerine rose soaps

Goats milk pink, crab apple rose scented snowflake soaps
Lastly, these pretty little unicorns are gorgeous. I've packed them into sets of four as they are for gifts. 

The mould came from Kmart, grand cost of $1.50 and I just couldn't resist!

Where I buy my soap bases:

Little Green Workshops

Aussie Soap Supplies

*I have no affiliation with either of these companies, other than being a very happy customer. 

22 November 2018

Family Business


We have a saying in our family, "Family business".

In our family, family business covers the why of the choices we make (not necessarily the actual choices) and the things we do. It covers our family life and how we live it. It covers our personal finances and how we use our money.

When something is classed as family business, we don't share it. We don't discuss it outside of the family. And I don't blog about it, or use it  in newsletters or on the Cheapskates Club website. Family business stays in the family.

Family business is personal and private. It doesn't concern anyone but our family of five.

So, when I get emails asking me to share family business, I don't, because the answer doesn't just concern me. It concerns my husband and our three children (even though they are all now adults). And they don't want or need to share their lives with strangers.

Before I ever share any of our family business, such as our spending plan or the stockpile or our retirement plans and goals with you, I always run it by Wayne, and if it involves the kids, I run it past them too.

So I can share our spending plan but I don't share the details of our income.

I share our plans for the future, and how we are planning and aiming for early retirement (we're aiming for three years from now for Wayne) without sharing the fine details.

I share some of our homelife and how we live, but not all of it.

It's not that I have anything to hide. It's just that some things just aren't for public consumption. I very carefully guard what I share because I'm a naturally private person and quite frankly putting about a lot of personal and private information isn't wise or safe.

And so when I say I do this or that, I do, I just don't share details if it's family business.

To the curious, it may seem selfish; it's not. It's keeping my family happy and safe; keeping our home happy and safe so family and friends we do share it with, know that it is a safe place for them. That what is said within its walls is private and personal and not shared by me here, on the website or *shuddering* Facebook.

Don't let this stop you being curious. Don't let it stop you asking questions. I'll share what I can, when I can. I'll answer questions truthfully when it is appropriate.

I'll never stop encouraging you to aim for a debt free lifestyle. I'll never stop encouraging you to aim for a cashed up lifestyle.

I want you to know the joy of living debt free, cashed up and laughing, like I do.

Gorgeous Gift Bags and Tags


My Christmas gift shopping is done!

Everything I had on my list to buy, has been bought - and all within my gift budget too. It took a bit of researching and shopping around, and a teeny, tiny bit of haggling for a couple of them, but they have all been paid for and are now happily waiting in the present box in my wardrobe.

As soon as I have the house to myself for an hour, I'll finish off the wrapping and labelling, and they'll be ready to put under the tree when it goes up at the weekend.

Last year in the Boxing Day sales, Hannah bought the loveliest wrapping papers, but some of the gifts need bags. The lovely Maureen brought lots of gift bags to card day a couple of months ago, and we all had our pick.

Why am I telling you this? Because they're gorgeous bags, they just need a little prettying up to make them usable.

Here is just one of the bags I've done already, just using papers and ribbons and lace I had in my stash. I'm thrilled with the way they've turned out, and even happier with the saving. Pretty gift bags are quite pricey, so revamping and reusing them just makes sense, financially and ecologically.

 Brown paper gift bag, redecorated using crepe paper, scrapbooking paper, 
stickers and a cut out sentiment

If you don't have any gift bags to redecorate, you can turn any paper bag into a fabulous designer gift bag in just a few minutes and with just a few embellishments, most of which you will probably already have on hand.

Idea No. 1.

Turn the top of your paper bag over 5cm. With a ruler and sharp pencil evenly mark 1cm lines 1cm apart along the middle of the flap. Using a Stanley Knife or similar and the ruler cut along the pencil lines through all the thicknesses of the paper bag.

Take a length of narrow ribbon and thread through the slits. Tie a large knot in each end to stop it from pulling out.

Idea No. 2

Measure your paper bag from the top edge of one side, down, across the bottom and up the other side. Add 15cm to this measurement and double it. Cut a length of ribbon to the final measurement and then cut that in half to give you two lengths of ribbon. Measure in 5cm from the side of the bag and leaving a 7.5cm tail, carefully glue the ribbon down the bag, across the bottom and up the other side again leaving a 7.5cm tag. Repeat the process with the other length of ribbon. Tie each length into a granny knot at the top of the bag to secure.

Idea No. 3

Turn the top of your bag down 5cm. Measure in 3cm from each side and cut a 1cm slit through all thicknesses of the bag. Take a stem of holly and push through the slits, folding the stem out at the back to secure.

And to go on all those gifts,w rapped or in bags, you need gift tags. There are some lovely tags in the shops, but you can make your own so they co-ordinate with your wrapping, and you'll have a lovely matching set, for just a few cents.

Gift Tag No. 1

Using a cookie cutter, trace around the outside edge onto coloured card and cut out. Then trace around the inside of the cutter so you have the same design, only smaller, onto a contrasting colour and cut out. Centre the smaller shape on the large shape and glue in place. Punch a hole at the top and thread with a piece of raffia to tie to your parcel or glue onto your gift. This looks great as gingerbread men and Christmas trees. If you have plain round cookie cutters they make lovely bauble style gift tags.

Gift Tag No. 2

Dress up some bought gift tags. Use a glitter pen to outline features on the tag. Once it is dry thread some thin red or green ribbon through the hole and tie into a large bow. Use a glue stick or sticky tape to attach the tag to the parcel. Lightly coat a plain, bought tag with pva glue and sprinkle with glitter and let it dry. You can never have too much bling and glitter, especially at Christmastime.

Gift Tag No. 3.

Find some large gum leaves. Using a texta pen write your message on the gum leaf. Laminate between two layers of clear contact. Cut around the outline of the leaf leaving a small border. Punch a hole to thread raffia through.

18 November 2018

Crafty Mums Chrismtas Craft Sale


I'm thrilled to be a part of the Crafty Mums Co-op, and I'm bursting this morning because today is the first ever Crafty Mum's craft garage sale.

Time: 11am  - 3pm

What's for sale? So many gorgeous, handmade items, and nothing priced over $15!

We have:
Decorated handtowels
Mini pamper packs
Large luxurious pamper packs
Hand knitted dishcloths
Hanging kitchen towels
Handmade soaps
Soap sacks
Christmas cards
General greeting cards
Knitting Nancys
Mini post it note holders (with very cute little pens)
Pot holders
Fridge magnets
Fridge calendars
Desk Calendars
Baby bootees (so cute!)
Decorated rulers
Stocking stuffer bon bons - (nail polishes and lip balms)
Mini memory books
Mini journals
Homemade jams
and the list goes on and on and on.....

If you're in the area, it would be the perfect place to get that Christmas shopping done!

14 November 2018

Don't Stress about Christmas Dinner

It's just one meal, on one day of the year.
Christmas Dinner is just one meal during the year and yet if we let it, this one meal can cost
us the equivalent of a week's grocery budget.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and I love Christmas Day and having the whole family together, and I love Christmas dinner. I just don't think it has to be hideously expensive and that includes Christmas Dinner.

Having strong English and Scottish roots, we enjoy a traditional hot roast for Christmas dinner – despite the fact that it can be a blazing 40 degrees!

I've done the sums and walked the supermarkets to check the prices and this year our Christmas dinner will come in at under $50 again, including some treats and nibblies.

We'll be having Golden Roast Chicken with gravy, glazed ham, Potato Bake, honey carrots and peas and corn. I bought the chickens last month when they were on sale for $2.99/kg and put them in the freezer.

For dessert we'll have Ice Cream Christmas Pudding (my own easy version), steamed Christmas pudding (my mother's recipe), custard and cream. My Aunty Hazel always brings the pav. She makes the most amazing pavlovas, and decorates them so beautifully, it's almost a shame to cut into them. I can almost hear our arteries hardening.
We'll have bowls of lollies and of course our traditional scorched almonds (bought a couple of months ago on half-price sale at Coles) on the table. And I'll make a couple of dips to have with carrot and celery sticks and Shapes – Barbecue, Cheese and Savoury. Shapes are a Christmas tradition for us, so when they're on half-price close to Christmas, I buy them and put them away.

Of course for afternoon tea, which we include as a part of our Christmas Dinner, we'll have cake and Royal Puddings. It's just not Christmas without Royal Puddings. I've already begun searching for spearmint leaves. Since Allens's stopped making them, they've been hard to find. Last year I found then in a $2 shop, here's hoping I find them there again.
If you're thinking that our Christmas Dinner is just a standard roast and dessert – you're right! It is. 

What makes it special is the way we set the table and the way we serve it, and of course by sharing it with family and friends.

I use my best dishes and linen, including my favourite tablecloth and real linen napkins, to set the table, decorating it with a small musical Christmas tree centrepiece, bonbons and candles. Everyone gets a crystal wine glass, including the littlies. They love it, and not one glass has been broken in all the years we've hosted Christmas dinner. 

We're eating with people we like, the table looks lovely, we have food we all like and best of all we've spent less than Christmas dinner for one at a restaurant. 

With the menu being so simple, and familiar, there's no stress. All the ingredients are regulars on the shopping list, and things that I make often. 

This one meal, on this one day of the year, will be special. It will be extravagant. It will be delicious. And it will be stress free.

If Christmas dinner is already stressing you out, remember it's just one meal, on one day of the year. And plan accordingly.

Yes, you want it to be nice. 

You want it to be special.

But this one meal, on this one day of the year, shouldn't put you into a nervous collapse. And it shouldn't break your grocery budget either. 

Think about where you're going to be eating that meal. Will you be at home? Will you be at another home? Will you be travelling or camping or going for a picnic at the beach? 

Then think about who'll be eating that meal. Just your immediate family? Extended family and friends? Older folk or lots of children and babies?

Next, what would you like to have for Christmas dinner? Turkey and roast veggies may be traditonal, but you can make your own tradition and have something else. We always have a roast for Christmas dinner, but we don't like turkey, so it's chicken, potaotes, sweet potato, onion, cauliflower in cheese sauce, beans and peas. And gravy (you've gotta have lots of gravy). For dessert we have Christmas pudding, custard, ice-cream and pavlova. 

Think about these things, because they are the things that will decide your Christmas dinner for you.



12 November 2018

It's Time for a Pantry Challenge

November may seem like a strange time for a pantry challenge, but I think it's the perfect time.

For most of us, we need to make room in the pantry, fridge and freezer for the Christmas and New Year grocery shopping. I need to make sure there's room for the yearly stockpile shopping, as well as the extra Christmas goodies.

I've already started the stockpile shopping, trying to get a head start, and I have a few non-perishable Christmas goodies stashed in my wardrobe. I still need to make room though.

The meal plan for November is done and on the fridge, so I'll do my best to stick to it. If there's something we don't have, I'll hunt around for a substitute.

This week is baking and cooking week - or the planning thereof - if you're following the Own Your Christmas Countdown.

 I still need to make the puddings. This is something I always did with Mum, but she's no longer able to help with this family tradition, so Hannah has taken my place and I've become the teacher of the cake and pudding making for the family.

The baking list is long, it always is at this time of year:
Christmas cakes - large
Christmas cakes - small
Christmas puddings - two
Shortbread
Fruit mince pies
Fudge
Christmas Snickerdoodles
Cranberry Hootycreeks
Lemon Cheesecake - two
With all the baking and cooking to be done, we need room in the pantry for the ingredients and the fridge and freezer for the finished products.

And that's why I've given myself a pantry challenge.

Are you going to join me? Do you need room for all the Christmas food? Have you thought about the money you'll save by using up what you have (I have - it's going straight to the holiday fund for our trip next year!)? Have you started your Christmas baking? Have you finished your Christmas baking?

01 November 2018

Shopping Ahead - Gifts


So I was quickly scrolling through Facebook  a few days ago. and a post popped up that Wendy had commented on. I assume I saw it because Wendy had commented. So I read Wendy's comment, and then the reply, then thought I'd better go and read the actual post, so I knew what I was about to add my 2 cents worth too (because sometimes I just can't help myself!).

The OP was about Christmas gift shopping, and the options were:
1. haven't started yet
2. will start soon
3. have started and almost finished
4. Christmas? It's not even been Halloween yet!

I'll quote Wendy "There's no emoji for almost finishing this years, 2019 and 2020 Christmas presents."

She had a reply that suggested that shopping ahead for gifts was not only risky but foolish because styles/tastes/sizes change, relationships change, people buy things for themselves etc. and was told that there was no way the poster would ever shop that far ahead.

Criminy! Don't these people have budgets to stick too?

Like Wendy, I have always shopped ahead, for everything (you've seen photos of my grocery stockpile!).

Even before we had children I was shopping ahead. I shopped toy sales and bought Duplo and Lego, and Thomas the Tank Engine toys and books on sale. I bought dolls and doll clothes during toy sales, especially the Baby Born range, and put it all away because I knew that one day we'd have children and they'd need and want toys.

I also shopped ahead for baby and toddler clothes, and I kept that up until the kids were in their teens and took over buying their own clothes. If I saw basics on sale, I'd buy multiple colours and multiple sizes.

I remember getting a great deal on Old Navy jumpers and buying one in every size from a 4 through to a 14 and packing them away in the boxes in the attic. They were on clearance for $4 each - there was no way I'd pass that bargain up! I couldn't even get them that cheap in the USA (we have family who are very good at buying and shipping things for me).

So I've always shopped ahead for clothes and presents, or the material and ingredients to make presents..

We raised our children to be happy and grateful for whatever they received as gifts, and they've never let us down by turning their noses up at anything. Of course I'd listen as they'd chat to each other and to me, and if there was something they especially wanted, I'd do my best to get if for them if I could. But if it wasn't possible, and there were some lean years for a while, then what they were given was it, and honestly they just loved getting the present, regardless.

We did have a funny moment one year. AJ had asked early in the year for a telescope. Now telescopes are not cheap (well the good ones aren't) and I researched and hunted around until I finally found one within budget. Boy was I excited! I wrapped that huge box and put it under the Christmas tree and could hardly wait until Christmas morning.

Come Christmas morning, AJ unwrapped the biggest parcel under the tree and just looked at it. Then all he said was "Oh, a telescope!"

I was shattered. I thought he'd changed his mind! Nope, he simply didn't think he'd get a telescope because he knew it would be expensive and he was sure it would be out of our budget.

Best gift for him ever! Best Mother ever! Best bargain hunter ever! And so on.

He still uses it, and gets it out often, setting it up in the front yard, often in the early hours of the morning, to gaze at the Milky Way.

Shopping ahead is essential if I want to give gifts I'm happy to give. I have a notebook that keeps a record of what I buy, how much it cost, who it is for and what box it is in.

All year long I'm looking at things and imagining whatever it is as a gift. It could be a tea cup in an op shop (I have a "tea for two" set put away for a special someone for Christmas this year) or a book or a puzzle. It could be a pretty basket that I can use to make up one of the many hampers for Christmas. I'm always on the look-out, and always conscious of our gift budget.

Just quickly on that note: we have a set gift budget, but often I find amazing gifts well under budget, that are worth more than what we've budgeted (hope that makes sense). For example the tea for two set was $10, and the budgeted amount was $25, but I checked online and it would cost $80 to buy new (great bargain!). I'm happy with that, and I've shifted $15 from the gift budget (what was left of the budgeted amount) to our savings.

If you find a gift under budget, great! You don't need to buy or make anything else to "bring it up to budget". Just move the excess to your savings or emergency fund and pat yourself on the back for beng such a savvy shopper.

So for me, Christmas 2018 is done and dusted, except for a couple of stocking stuffers for Wayne and the boys. All the other gifts have been bought or made and put in the present boxes.

Christmas 2019 is almost complete, and birthdays for 2019 and most of 2020 are done too.

My plan is, as always, to finish off the 2019 and 2020 gifts during the Boxing Day sales, and start on the 2021 gift list.

As a side note, I really want to put photos of the present box full of goodies up to show you, but most of the lovelies who will receive these gifts are blog readers, including my handsome husband and beautiful children, and I don't want to give away the surprises. If I can think of a way to get some up, without giving too much away, I'll do it, but it won't be until over the weekend now. Oh, the frustration!