More from the Heartland...making soap

Heather Pilkinton November 24, 2008

So I've started making my Christmas gifts; I'm not a big fan of Christmas, and could personally take it or leave it. However, for many, it is a special time of year, and for many others, it is especially lonely...so I do what I can to make someone else's Christmas better.

For the past two years, I've given up on the mall fight, and instead have opted to make the majority of my gifts. Last year, I made a bunch of fleece blankets. This year, I'm making gift baskets full of homemade soaps, scrubs and lotions. Now, I've never made soap before, so it was a new experience for me.

Alright, so I did cheat a little. I had no desire to start making batters of lye and what have you in my kitchen, so I went to Michael's and bought the bars of "blank slate" soaps - I started with olive oil and goat's milk - and then added my own ingredients and made the molds at home for the "personal" touch. With the olive oil, I added a little scent of green tea or apple, and with the goat's milk, I made sugar and spice soap, mixing sugar, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla into the soap.

The olive oil soap came out ok, but the goat's milk was beautiful (even for someone as unfeminine as me). I made enough bars of soap for four big gift baskets I'm working on, and I'll finish the baskets off with scrubs and liquid soaps, plus some cookies in a jar and some baked goods.

Just a little off the subject note, though; it's amazing how much of the skincare stuff we pay umpteen dollars for when we buy it at the mall can be found in our own kitchens. The recipes I used for the soaps was actually in a little "Gifts in a Jar" magazine, but in my other books, I've found recipes for skincare, shampoos, conditioners, etc. Maybe I'll try some of those, and let you all know how they turn out.

Oh...and I'm always up to someone else's recipe, too.