Thursday, May 28, 2009

Lemony Goodness Giveaway!

What happens when you mix a bit of DoubleDippedSweets and a bit of Heathen's Hearth? A blend of deliciousness for your tummy and your body!

We have decided to team up and offer some smell-goods and some taste-goods! Something that will satisfy your taste buds and your skin!

Since Summer is almost upon us, we have chosen a flavor (and scent) that will be refreshing, sweet, dreamy and just altogether wonderful...

From DoubleDippedSweets, you can win 16 oz (that's ONE POUND!) of Lemon Cream Caramel Popcorn.



"The flavor of this is incredible! Tart, yet sweet, and very smooth. We take our Homemade Caramel Popcorn, and cover it in White Chocolate that is flavored with Lemon extract. Lemon zest is then generously sprinkled over the entire batch."

From Heathen's Hearth, you can win a 5 oz bar of Iced Lemon Biscotti Natural Goat's Milk Soap...and a 10 oz jar of Iced Lemon Biscotti Shea & Aloe Sugar Body Polish! These items are so new, they aren't even listed in our shop yet!




A zesty lemon rind aroma rounded out with buttery yellow sponge cake, toasted coconut and buttercream frosting....in our all natural goat's milk soap and our brand new, thoroughly decadent, 100% natural Shea & Aloe Butter Sugar Body Polish.


So how do you enter this delicious giveaway? Let me count the ways....

  • Go to our shop, Heathen's Hearth, browse our items and come back here, leave a comment telling us what your favorite item in our shop is.
  • Go to DoubleDippedSweets shop and choose a favorite item, go to her blog, and leave a comment with your favorite pick.
  • Blog about our contest (make sure you comment here with a link to the post for verification).
  • Twitter about our giveaway, and again, comment here with a link to your Twitter.
  • Link our giveaway on Facebook, Myspace, or another social network site (you know the drill....comment here with a link to your site, lol).
  • Purchase from either or both shops: Any purchase made from our shops will earn you entries into the give away. **1 extra entry for each item purchased. Make sure you leave a comment letting us know you purchased!
  • Be a follower of our blogs. If you already are, make sure you leave a comment letting us know!
This giveaway will end Sunday, June 7th at 11:59 PM! The winner will be randomly chosen after all entries are tallied using random.org and announced the week of June 8th.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Introducing Body Frosting Soap!

That's right. Everyone loved our Body Frosting so much, that I decided to turn it into soap! Misty and I have recently ventured into Cold and Hot process soap making. I must admit, it is very addicting. Misty went for Cold Process, I on the other hand, don't have that kind of patience or the ability to delay my gratification for that long (not to mention, I move around a lot, so waiting 5 weeks for soap to cure is really beyond my ability to fathom)...so naturally, I went for Hot Process, also known as Crock Pot soap.

Since I was in the process of setting up shop here in St. Louis where I spend part of my time, it took me a bit to really get settled in, so I am a week or so behind Misty when it comes to making new things. First I had to gather all the equipment. Crock pot, pitchers, stick blender, soap molds (that was the hardest part to get - but I'll explain that in a bit) etc etc. But, finally, I got it all together. Technically, I've made a couple of batches of soap at this point, but, since the process is such a fast one, I wanted to make sure my attention was fully focused on the soap making until I got through at least 1 batch before trying to tinker with the camera at the same time.

This time, I took notes however, and pictures... so this is sort of in the nature of a roughly sketched tutorial...please bear in mind, however, that this is by no means a complete representation of every step taken, and you should do lots of research before attempting this. Please do not do it based on this information alone.
I am including the times and some of the notes from this batch for your information and amusement. :)

Step 1: Gather all of your ingredients. Its best if you can have them all sorted out and separated before you begin. Since this is much like the CP, and Misty already talked about that, I skipped that part. :-D

Step 2: Make soap. lol

Time: 8:46pm. Mixed all butters and oils into the crock pot, and turned it on high power. It stays on high power throughout this entire process. Here is a photo of the butters at 8:53pm, they are starting to melt together nicely...


8:53pm measured out water and lye after checking on the oils. This particular recipe called for 14oz of water (I use filtered tap - the water around here is actually pretty decent) and 4.78oz of lye. The lye is actually already measured out in that little white tub. I do it this way, because I mix the lye outside due to lack of good ventilation in the apartment. Since I have to wander out the back door, down a step and around a corner, I decided the safest mode of transport was in a sealed container.


At 9:01 I went out and mixed the lye. At 9:07 the lye was completely mixed in and my oils and butters were now completely melted.



At 9:09 I mixed them together, pouring the lye water slowly into the oils while stirring continuously. At this point you now have to stir the mixture continuously for about the next 20 minutes. As you can see, I cheated for about 30 seconds at a time or so to take pictures of some of the process. This picture is after they are completely mixed, had been stirred together for about 1 minute, and I had begun running water in the pitcher that held the lye water. I run the water for about 3-4 minutes to be sure that straight lye is not washed down the drain - it does HORRIBLE things to pipes if you do not rinse the lye thoroughly and flush with LOTS of water.


9:16pm, the mixture begins to lighten as the lye reacts with the oils. It's supposed to resemble the texture of thin gravy... which it more or less does, but since I tend to over boil my gravy, its hard to say. Suffice it to say it develops a bit more consistency than straight oil, but is still very runny.



This is approximately trace. I say approximately, because the more you stir during this 20 minute time frame (from the time you add the lye until separation occurs) the faster trace happens, and because of the heat, it tends to only remain in trace for about a minute, if that long. This picture was taken at about 9:20, only 11 minutes after mixing the 2 together.



9: 24 - Separation had begun to occur, but my camera ran out of battery juice and I had to wait for J to bring me down some new ones. Once separation occurs you stop stirring and let it cook with the lid on. This picture was taken at about 9:27, I stirred again just before taking the picture, so you could see what separation looks like. Its that ring around the outside of the crock pot.


This pic was taken at 9:30pm. You are supposed to let the soap "cook" for 6 minutes or so, without stirring, and preferably without taking the lid off the pot, except if the soap starts to climb out of the pot, in which case you take the lid off and stir it down, put the lid back on and wait some more. You don't want the water to evaporate too quickly. (I'm not sure why... one of these days I might leave the lid off just to see what happens.)

At this point I begin collecting what I need for the final stages of the process. Hair dryer (don't worry, trust me, its important!), fragrance oil, colorant, grab my prelined mold and set it near by, etc.



This pic was taken at 9:33pm. Its coming along nicely and has the consistency of applesauce when stirred. I let it cook for 6 more minutes, stirring only as needed to keep it from climbing out of the pot, which it didn't try, so I didn't stir. I half expected it to though, as the batch of Three Butter soap was really trying to crawl out of the pot at this stage of the game.


Now comes the Volcano! This is why you need the hair dryer, and no I don't have pictures. I might have to get J to help play camera man for the next batch so you can see what I mean. The last time I stirred was at 9:40. Based on previous batches, I estimated that Volcano would be reached at 9:44, I was off by a minute, it actually occurred at 9:43! Once the volcano begins, and the soap begins to climb the pot Turn OFF the crock pot! Continued heat will force the soap to expand explosively.



Roughly, what happens during the Volcano stage, is that the soap is now being cooked, and as it cooks, it expands rapidly. The air bubbles are exploding and the soap is forced to expand. The hotter the soap, the faster it expands. Thus, the need for the hair dryer. If you stop stirring at any point during the Volcano stage, the soap will jump out of the pot, almost exactly in the way a volcano explodes. So, while one hand madly stirs away with a wisk, the other hand is holding the hair dryer, set on cool and medium or high fan, held up high enough not to blow molten soap all over creation, trying valiantly to keep the soap from escaping the pot.

Its actually rather hilarious looking and rather tense all at the same time. But, after about 2 minutes of mad stirring and blowing....the expansion starts to slow down, the soap begins to relax, the bubbles start to dissipate, and the soap begins to change from chunky applesauce to petroleum jelly... (ok, not really, but that's what it looks like).

Normally, you would add color after all this is over, however, it is very hard to stir fresh vaseline...so, I cheated a bit at this point, and began adding colorant to the soap while it was still gelling. However, it didn't really have any effect, so far as I could tell... but... this is what I wound up with at 9;47pm



Looks kinda nasty doesn't it? LOL But there you have it... its soap. A little dab on a *gloved* finger, blow on it to cool it off, touch it to the tongue...no zap. Its official, we have achieved soap!

At this point you blend in the Fragrance oil (I used 1oz of FO for a 35oz batch of soap) and colorant, stir until its fully incorporated, and then put it into the prelined mold. Tap it on the counter from time to time to knock out the bubbles that might form and help it work its way into the corners....spread it out with a spatula. Once its all in the mold, take another piece of wax paper and spread it over the top. then with either a plaster knife (which I don't have) or a pair of oven mitts on your hands (which I do have) pat the soap down into the mold to create an even surface on the top (or not, up to you).

The soap is still very hot at this point, so you have to wait for it to cool before you can remove the wax paper. But when you do....




Voila! Soap!

As of 2am the soap was still rather soft, so I am leaving it till morning for unmolding and cutting. I shall post more pictures then.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Soap of the Day ~ Monday, May 18

The Heartsabustin Natural Goat's Milk and Glycerin Soap!

A sparkly blood red top layer in natural glycerin soap over a creamy white layer of natural goat's milk soap in the delicious scent of Strawberry Cream!



Our embodiment of Heartsabustin is bright, fruity, and delicious...and of course in the shape of a heart! Today it is 25% off, only $3.75.

Visit Heartsabustin at http://www.heartsabustin.etsy.com!

Soap Making Tutorial

The first in many tutorials to come on the Etsy Chat Team Blog.... check it out!

Misty Does Melt & Pour

Saturday, May 16, 2009

~~~~~~~~~~SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL~~~~~~~~~~

Take 25% off EVERYTHING in both shops (does not include shipping): http://heathenshearth.etsy.com and http://littleheathens.etsy.com and receive a free 1.5 ounce soap with your purchase!

Special runs from Saturday at 5 PM EST thru 6 AM EST Sunday Morning.

25% refund will be issued via paypal after payment is received! If paying by USPS money order, please convo us for a revised invoice.

Soap of the Day ~ Lavender Natural Goat's Milk

Friday, May 15, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Lavender Natural Goat's Milk Soap!


Delicately colored and scented with soothing lavender essential oil for a relaxing and soothing bathing experience.

















Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!


Wanna try a smaller version of it? Here is our 1.5 ounce bar that is only $2.



Friday, May 15, 2009

Soap of the Day ~ Coconut Lime!!

Friday, May 15, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Coconut Lime Natural Goat's Milk & Glycerin Soap!

Sweet and tart, this bar smells amazing. Definite overtones of coconut with a nice follow up of tangy lime, in a beautiful lime green natural glycerin soap with chunks of creamy white goats milk for added pizazz.













Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!

Wanna try a smaller version of it? Here is our 1.5 ounce bar that is only $2.











And of course, what bathing experience is complete without Heathen's Hearth sugar scrub? NONE, I SAY!


Thursday, May 14, 2009

They're Heeere!






The kittens that is. :)

So here are some pictures (ok some of them, i left out the ones with the after birth in them) of Quinn and her new babies.

The little dude up there on top (the only grey one in the bunch, and the only one that doesn't have the black/brown markings like mom) is the runt. There is some wonder if she's going to continue to let him nurse - she rejected him and the others are soo much bigger than him (litterally probably twice his size) that he was having some trouble getting started. While mom was distracted I managed to get him to latch on though, and he's been going to town for about 20 minutes or so now. Weeee!

Soap of the Day ~ Thursday, May 14

Thursday, May 14, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Tuscan Melon & Apricot Natural Glycerin Soap!

The rich sweet taste of Tuscan melons paired with fresh apricot and a hint of honey with added apricot seeds for gentle exfoliation. This soap will take you away to sweet summer under a warm Tuscan sun!















Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Virginity Lost!

I had been thinking about it for awhile. While willing, I was apprehensive, nervous and to be perfectly honest, rather scared. From what I had been told, it's very addictive...once you do it, you want to do it all the time. And it can be dangerous! Worry not, though...I was sure to go to the pharmacy and get what I needed to be safe.

The first time took a lot longer than I expected. I thought it would happen much more quickly than it did and wow, was I sore afterward! But the outcome was so worth the pain.

That's right, folks. I popped my cherry...I made my first batch of Cold Process (CP) soap!

I took some photos of the process...please keep in mind that they are a bit blurry and some are dark. It's not easy taking photos one-handed while wearing rubber gloves, safety glasses and a mask, lol.

I set up all of my equipment and ingredients.....












...and then I weighed out the oils and added them to my stainless steel pot.












I measured my water and then weighed my sodium hydroxide (lye) and VERY carefully mixed the lye into my water (while wearing all of my protective gear!). The lye-water mixture get very hot....so while that was cooling down I slowly melted my oils over low heat. Once both mixtures were around 98-100 degrees, I bundled myself back up in gloves, mask and safety glasses and slowly poured the lye mixture into my oils.

I stirred and stirred with my wooden spoon for all that I was worth...once the lye and oils mix together, you need to stir until the mixture reaches what is called "trace." Trace is when your lye mixture and your oils finally combine together and the entire mixture becomes thicker, like pudding, and you can "trace" on the top if it with your spoon.

This photo is of me stirring and stirring, before the trace stage. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of the trace stage (well, I do, but it's so blurry it doesn't matter, lol).











Once your mixture reaches trace, that is when you add your essential oils, fragrance oils, colors and/or any additives. For this batch, I added Honeydew Melon fragrance...and then I poured out a cup or two of the soap and added green color to it.












I then poured the mixture into my soap mold, then swirled the green colored soap into it.












I wrapped it with a towel and let it sit for about 24 hours or so, then I unmolded and cut my soap!!












Ta-da!!! I has soap! LOL....in fact, I loved doing it so much, I made another batch the very next day. I made one minor adjustment, though. Screw the 2 hours of stirring to reach trace...I invested in a stick blender, and let me tell you what...that was the best $25 investment I've ever made! I reached trace in literally under a minute!

Here are some photos of my 2nd batch...this one is Sangria!

Soap of the Day ~ Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Pink Sugar Type Natural Goat's Milk Soap. This soap is a fruity blend of cotton candy, lemon drops, caramel and raspberry jam and a hint of musk....a delicious and delectable treat!













Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Teakwood - Tuesday, May 12 Soap of the Day!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Teakwood Natural Goat's Milk Soap!

A blend of Teakwood, Sandalwood, Cedar, Vanilla...this is a sweet yet earthy and exotic scent that is perfect for men or women.















Save 25% on this soap...it's only $3.75. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!

I'm a Handbag Whore

No, seriously, I am. Ask anyone. I will do anything for a gorgeous purse (well, almost anything...).

One of my favorite handbag dealers is Heather of DukDesigns and luckily for me, the only thing I have to whore out to get my fix is some smell goods from our shop.

I just received my second purse from Heather and I swear, I nearly had an orgasm opening up the box and pulling it out.




















Not only is it freaking awesome, gorgeous, rockin, kick-assin (I know that's not a word, but whatever), I received it Monday after ordering it Friday night! That is some express shipping, folks.

Go forth and check out her shop...not only does she currently have a sale section full of pretties for less than $10, but you won't find anything in her shop over $50!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Soap of the Day - Monday, May 11, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Vanilla & Brown Sugar Natural Goat's Milk Soap!

A very light and basic scent for those of you who like sweet, but not too sweet, and simple over complex. Our all natural goats milk soap is specially formulated to help your skin recover from winter's drying cold and drier heat, and the brown sugar is perfect for gentle exfoliation.












Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!


Saturday, May 9, 2009

Soap of the Day ~ Saturday, May 9, 2009

Friday, May 8, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Rice Petals and Shea Natural Goat's Milk Soap. This soap is so soft and delicate. This soul-soothing fragrance has top notes of ozony sea water, crushed ginger root, and anise leaves. Middle notes of coconut milk and rice flower; and sits on base notes of amber, musk, and sandalwood.











Save 25% on this soap. The listing is already at sale price, so no waiting for a refund....just grab and buy!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Soap of the Day

Starting today, we have a new feature in our Etsy Shop! Every day we will be featuring a different soap at 25% off. The listing will already be at sale price, so no waiting for a refund...just grab and buy!

Friday, May 8, 2009 Soap Of The Day is Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Natural Goat's Milk Soap.











This double layer soap is as adorable as it is moisturizing! The top layer is a mixture of goat's milk base and honey while the bottom layer includes not only goat's milk and honey, but ground oatmeal and a touch of molasses.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

And we have a winner!

quelleheure4 is the lucky winner of the Treasures Of The Deep giveaway!

We had a LOT of responses and appreciate everyone who entered!

Stay tuned for the next giveaway, soon!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Creme de la Cream!

It was with great sadness (on both our part and our customer's) that we had to discontinue our Whipped Body Frostings for the season.

We thought that we would get through the warm months without a lotion or cream and all would be ok. But then we found something that we just knew we had to offer in place of our frostings!











Our Goat's Milk & Honey Body Lotion is thick and rich, without being heavy, oily or greasy. Like our body frostings, it doesn't take much, and it soaks into your skin like a dream, leaving it beautifully hydrated and soft.













Since it's such a new addition to our shop, we only have a few listed at this time, but it is available in all of our scents (you can find our complete scent list here)....if you want a scent that we don't have listed in our shop, just drop us a convo and we can get it made for you.