Comments for Crafty Creations

Comment on Liliac Flower Scent Extraction by Cristina Lora

Cristina Lora — Sat, 29 May 2010 18:18:01 +0000

Very pleased with the easy to follow instructions. Can this method be used to extract sweet peas scent? Thanks x Cris

Comment on Liliac Flower Scent Extraction by sheriannricherson

sheriannricherson — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:41:10 +0000

I hope you enjoy your lilacs and find some time in the future to try this project. Don’t let the cocoa butter sit out too long or it will mold. You can put the container in the refrigerator if you like.

I also found out lilac flowers were edible this year. I intended to make a sorbet but did not get around to it. Maybe next year………

Sheri Ann

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Comment on Liliac Flower Scent Extraction by Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead

Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:57:03 +0000

While that doesn’t seem all that difficult…it’s definitely not a project I’ll be able to take on this year. I do love the smell of fresh lilac, though, and can’t wait until ours start to open here!

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Comment on How To Make Beads From Roses by Tweets that mention How To Make Beads From Roses « Natural Jewerly « Crafty Creations -- Topsy.com

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 04:39:16 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Yolanda Vanveen. Yolanda Vanveen said: http://experimentalhomesteader.com/cc/2010/01/10/how-to-make-beads-from-roses/ How to make beads from roses…. http://fb.me/v8llmdLl [...]

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Comment on Natural Perfume Recipes by Lilly Adams

Lilly Adams — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:20:34 +0000

Most perfume fragrances are synthetic and often made from toxic petrochemicals derived from crude oil. There are more earth friendly alternatives such as Natural Fragrances I found this great site that offers many options. Check it out. http://www.lavanila.com

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Comment on Simple Distillation by hayiii

hayiii — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:34:31 +0000

Thank you

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Comment on Natural Household Cleaners by uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:04:40 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by SheriARicherson: Eucalyptus-Mint Disinfecting Soap – http://experimentalhomesteader.com/cc/2010/01/31/natural-household-cleaners/…

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Comment on Make Homemade Soap by sheriannricherson

sheriannricherson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:41:30 +0000

I might also add, I pre-measure everything before I begin and have all my equipment on the table or stove top.

I have any herbs, flowers or fruit chopped up and ready to go, essential oils by the soap crock, etc. When I add these items to my soap, I do so in a glass measuring cup. This allows me to wash it and I rinse it in vinegar to make sure all the scent is gone. I use one eye dropper per scent and do not mix them.

Animals and kids are not allowed in the kitchen when I am doing this and I put all food inside of sealed containers just in case.

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Comment on Make Homemade Soap by sheriannricherson

sheriannricherson — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:33:34 +0000

Hi Pat,

The first thing I will say is do not walk away from your soap. You need to be stirring it constantly. This is one project I set aside an evening to do. I have never timed myself, but my best guess would be to allow 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the actual soap making process. This includes clean-up.

Getting the soap to trace is the step that I feel like takes the longest amount of time. I feel like I stir and stir and stir. You can use an electric stirrer if you have one, but do not use it on food afterwards.

The temperature inside your house will play a role in how fast the mixtures cool too. Our house is really cold in the winter and hot in the summer so I make soap in the winter.

The other factor that will play a role is how high of heat you use. I would suggest a medium heat.

If it cools too much, you can re-heat it.

The soap hardening process takes about six weeks. I make my soap in the winter, leave it sit on the kitchen table for a week or so until it is good and hard, then seal it (I bought glass cake pans with lids for this project) and move it down to the basement for the remainder of the winter.

In March or April I bring the pans up, cut the soap up and grate it using a salad shooter that is only used for soap making. I put the grated soap back into a container and use it as needed.

Since I am usually out of soap, I do go ahead and get my soap crock so I can make a few bars of hand milled. Again, these must set at least 6 weeks to cure. I thought I could rush the process and lost a whole batch to mold because I put the soap in baggies.

The mold came from my food additives. I was creating a new recipe.

To un-mold soap, freeze it. Put the molds right in the freezer in bags if you prefer and leave them overnight. The next day the soap will fall right out. It will need to sit on a rack to dry after doing this but this is the only way I have been able to get the soap out without breaking my molds.

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Comment on Make Homemade Soap by Pat Klein

Pat Klein — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:45:39 +0000

Could you give us a time estimate on this entire process, especially for those of us who do not multi-task well, or have some kind of internal timer that says “Oh, time has passed. I better go check on the project and see if it’s ready for the next step.” Is there any problem if it all cools down too much because you were busy doing other things (like Facebook)?

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