Soapmaking Day

Today is a soapmaking day. I should be starting my fall line up! I didn't know what kind of soap I'd be making this morning when I got up. Just kept shaking my head to myself, thinking I should be making a fall scent! So I went rummaging through my essential and fragrance oils, and lo and behold! A half bottle of Ginger Snap fragrance oil from Snowdrift Farms! Hooray! :)

And now it is almost 2:30, soap is all made (mess is still there, though). I used my shea butter recipe. It all behaved very well.




Tuesday I made 2 soaps. The first was peppermint with chocolate swirl. I used a new mold that Ray made for me, a slab mold instead of a log mold. Only I miscalculated on how much batter to make, and I didn't have as much as I like. So they are kind of flat. I cut them up this morning, and they look like some kind of cookie bar. I'll have to call them Peppermint Fudge Bars.



The other soap I made was a beer soap, sure to make my little brother cry out "oh my gawd, what a waste of beer!" :) I used good ol' Budweiser, along with my wheat germ oil recipe. I didn't add any fragrance or essential oil because I wanted to see how the beer alone reacts. I had no problems with it. I cut it up this morning, and it will be ready for fall beer fests. Sorry, little brother! :-D

B2GO Sale - July 30-31

I'm having a great sale in my soap shop July 30 and July 31. Buy 2 soaps at regular price, and get a third soap of your choice for FREE!

Aunt Nancy's Handmade Soap

If you would like to be notified by email as to when I am having sales, specials, and promos in my Etsy shops, you can sign up for my email list. The sign-up form is in the right hand sidebar, you may need to scroll down a little to find it.

A Green Desert

Even though I don't particularly like the monsoons here in Tucson, it certainly does green up the desert! Here are some pics taken from Gates Pass, which is in the Tucson Mountains, in our back yard so to speak.

New Soaps Added to my Etsy Shop

I've just added a couple of new soap listings in my Etsy shop

Sedona Rose



and Oatmeal and Honey with Orange

I've Been Blogged !!!

In a good way! :)

Karley is one of my Etsy customers. She used to make soap herself, but now she concentrates on her own line of facial care products. She thinks my soaps are the cats meow, and I always love selling soap to her because she always gives me wonderful feedback! So good for my ego! :)

The Chic & Green Blog

Her blog is full of great information about natural skin care help and hints. She gives recipes for natural skin care such as Soy Yogurt Cleanser for the Face and how to achieve beautiful skin on the cheap in her blog article called Beauty on the Cheap ... and gorgeous results.

Her Etsy shop is

KZM Facial Care Boutique

She is running a promo right now ... be her 100th sale, and receive a bonus.

Just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Karley!

Promotional sales and other offerings

I have added a form for all my customers that would like to be kept informed when I have sales at Aunt Nancy's Handmade Soap. You'll find it on the sidebar on the right. Please join!!

Chickadee House

I am going to digress from soap a little, and talk about the Chickadee House in Sheepscot, Maine. My father-in-law bought Chickadee House in 1977. At the time that he bought it, it had been sitting empty for well over a year, part of an estate that had no heirs and was not being very agressively handled by a realtor.

Since my in-laws at the time were comfortably living in an apartment over the Village Store on the other side of the river (the Village Store is now the headquarters of the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association), they had no desire to move into Chickadee House, which was in need of some work. So me, Ray, and Sarah moved in for awhile. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!! We did a few very minor repairs, and cleaned up the yard.

After almost 2 years, we ended up moving to New Hampshire. My in-laws rented out the house for a little while, then moved into it themselves. My dear father-in-law passed away, then in 2003 my sweet mother-in-law had to move into assisted living. Ray and I moved back into Chickadee House, and for 2 years did repairs through-out the house, getting it ready to sell. :(

Chickadee House sold in 2006. I haven't been back to see how the old girl is doing.

Here's a little bit about Sheepscot and Chickadee House

Pictures of Sheepscot and Chickadee House

And some gratuitous pics of and from Chickadee House



A rainbow over Sheepscot



Same evening as the rainbow, the bedroom just after painting and repair



The dining room, looking inviting



The Reversing Falls

100 Sales on Etsy - Achieved !!

My 100th soap sale on Etsy went to HemlocksKey ! She also has an Etsy shop, with some lovely watercolors, and very pretty earrings. Check it out if you have a minute! Thank you, HemlocksKey, a free bar of soap is coming your way! :))

100 Sales on Etsy

I just need one more sale to reach 100 sales in my soap shop on Etsy Aunt Nancy's Handmade Soap. The 100th sale will receive a free bar of soap as a thank you!

An Old Wife's Tale

Last week I was having lunch with my mom and a couple of her friends. Her friend Fran was telling us about how she put a bar of soap in her bed to prevent leg cramps. Now I thought this was funny, because I had just read a discussion about this very thing on the Soap Dish Forum. Some people say it works, some people say how could it possibly work, it's an old wife's tale.

So Mom, who has been having leg cramps every now and then, took one of my Fragrance Free bars of soap, and tossed it in her bed. Well, she has not had any leg cramps since putting that soap in her bed! So it must work, because my mother says so !!!! :)

Cake, Anyone ??

This is a full sized soap bundt cake! Looks yummy, doesn't it. :) Don't take a bite, though! Made with 75% olive oil, 25% coconut oil, colored with yellow kaolin clay, scented with lemongrass sage FO from Oregon Trails. Icing is 100% coconut oil soap, nice and white.

Diary of a Soap Mold

This is the soap mold that Ray made:



This is the lining that lined the mold that Ray made:




This is the soap that went into the lining in the mold that Ray made:



This is the soap coming out of the soap mold that Ray made:











This is the soap mold after Ray cleaned it for me and put it back together, ready for the next time I make soap. He says I should store the mold set up, with the clamp to help keep it from warping.

Shred Soap

OK, someone asked What is Shred Soap? I bevel a lot of my soaps, and I am left with a lot of shreds from beveling. So I make up a 3/4 batch of unscented soap, usually my cocoa butter recipe. I line my mold with the shreds and then pour the new soap over the shreds. Makes interesting designs. Not much on smell, but kind of neat to look at.