Crafted Herbals Blog

11/28/2016

The Things that won't be ready in time for Christmas

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I'm ashamed to say that I have been working on this acrylic painting for...a year or so? I'm sticking with what is happening in it right now, although I'm far from satisfied. When is a painting ever really done? This one won't be ready by Christmas! This one may never leave this house! I painted quite a lot about 20 or so years ago, and then the urge just left for a while.

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11/17/2016

The rocks that became Soap

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No rock ever actually turns into soap as far as I know, but rocks can certainly be used to make some interesting molds! Recently, we went on a homeschool field trip to Diamond Hill Mine here in the upstate and it was so much fun! We did not work hard at it, and we still found some quartz crystals. Of course, I couldn't resist creating some soap versions of the crystals we found, so I chose these likely rocks to use for mold creation, and here are the results: Crystal Rock Soap Set
I am trying different chemical baths to clean the mineral deposits from some of our crystal specimens. Two weeks in HCL has not yielded significant results. Have no fear! The Crystal Rock Soap is ready to give a gentle bath rather than receive one.

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11/5/2016

What the Half Pound Brick minimum order size really means

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Just about all of the Made to Order soap here has a minimum order size stated to be 1/2 of a pound. This size designation is based on the minimum amount of oil weight that is used to make the soap which is 250 grams. 250 grams is actually a bit more than half a pound, but I like to use metric measurements when I am making my soap for greater precision. Anything smaller in weight than 250 grams is impractical with the tools and implements that I possess. The finished weight of the soap is a bit more than 8 oz. The soap on the right was made last night and will lose some weight as the water within evaporates, but it will still weigh around 11 oz when it is ready for packaging. Please don't expect every "brick" of soap to look like this one! This is a new variety that has honey added which usually darkens a soap depending on when it is incorporated, as well as ground patchouli which is a sort of darkish green. This soap will lighten a little as it dries more and ages. You can see places that are indeed lightening. I was in the mood for a really textured top, so I didn't smooth this a bit, nor did I squoosh it down much. I also used a square mold rather than the previous rectangular mold that I have been using for the minimum size.

I designed this soap with the herbal impact of the ingredients in mind rather than curb appeal, and I'm really excited about it! This soap variety contains calendula infused olive oil, raw Shea butter, coconut oil, and unsaponified chia seed oil, raw local honey and ground patchouli. It is scented with patchouli and palmarosa essential oils. I have no idea what to call it! I would love some help with this! Chichouli? Calendia? I'm very open to suggestions.

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The Things that won't be ready in time for Christmas

The rocks that became Soap

What the Half Pound Brick minimum order size really means

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