Seasonal Soap

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I got to see by brother-in-law and one of my nieces for short visit and then spent some time working in the yard and doing some crafts. I got a lot of various chores done too, since my husband was at work, so it turned out to be a really productive weekend. 

One of the things I made was some seasonal soap. This is the second time I've made molded soap using this technique, and I have to admit, I am loving them. They are so cute and really simple to do. Best of all, you can personalize them to match any holiday, season, or decor. The formula is fantastic, lathers up nicely and leaves your skin feeling really soft. For this project you will need the following supplies:

~Soap base (I used this one and was really pleased with the quality)

~Raw organic honey

~Red and yellow coloring...this is an optional ingredient depending on the look you want to achieve (I used this brand)

~Small silicone soap or cake mold (Since I was making seasonal soap I used a  pumpkin mold)

~Glass measuring cup 

 Take a portion of your soap base and cut it into pieces. I used 1/2 of the soap block that I had and it ended up making 21 small pumpkin soaps. 

Put the pieces of soap into the glass measuring cup and microwave on high until the soap melts into a liquid. I microwaved mine for 30 seconds and then stirred the mixture, and repeated this step four times. The amount of time you need will most likely depend on your microwave, but just do it in small increments and stir frequently to assure that all of the soap is evenly melted.

Once the soap is completely dissolved, add the honey (I used 3 tablespoons of honey to 1 lb of soap) and stir thoroughly.

At this point, add a few drops of colorant if you would like. In order to achieve the orange look, I added several drops each of red and yellow, stirring after each addition. Honestly, I was hoping to obtain a deeper orange color, but was having a difficult time getting the exact color I wanted. The soap was starting to solidify at the edges, so I didn't want to waste too much time being extremely fussy about shade. It is not a good idea to reheat the soap once the honey has been added, so just work quickly. To be honest with you, my original plan was to make these soaps scented by adding some pumpkin pie spice to the mixture at this point, but I spent so long adjusting the color, that I panicked when the soap showed signs of hardening at the edges and I completely forgot to add the spice. Oh well, it gives me a good excuse to make more (like I really need an excuse to craft)

Once you are satisfied with the color, carefully pour the mixture into the silicone mold, and allow it to sit undisturbed until it cools and solidifies. The amount of time it will take to harden depends on the temperature and humidity of your room. This batch took about 30 minutes to  solidify for me, but I made some over the summer, and on that day it took a little longer. To be on the safe side, I left it undisturbed for several hours. Once hardened, simply pop them out of the mold. The beauty of using a silicone mold is that it bends easily and it is very simple to push the soaps out from the bottom.

The mold I used this time did not have a lot of detail to it, but I was still pleased with how they turned out.

 These would make adorable hostess gifts at Thanksgiving if you packaged them is little fabric gift bags and attached an acorn or cinnamon stick to the bag.

I wanted to share one more bit of fun news with everyone. I've told you about the company that my son recently started called Hexacomb, which is based on a project that he designed for one of his college art courses last semester. This past Friday David got to compete as a finalist in a contest that was hosted by the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City, and actually "pitch" his product to Daymond John who is one of the judges on the TV show Shark Tank. The contest was not associated with Shark Tank, but Daymond was in Atlantic City because one of the contestants that he sponsored on the show was being featured at a barbecue event that was being held there. David didn't walk away with the top prize, but considering the fact that over 100 people entered the contest, it was quite an honorable achievement to make it down to the five finalists!

He had an amazing time and met a lot of great people. He said that Daymond John and Bubba of Bubba's Ribs were wonderful. Daymond even grabbed David's phone at the party that was hosted after the event and took a selfie with David and his girlfriend Lisa.

It was quite an experience for a 21 year old college student and we are incredibly proud of his creativity and drive (He is in the process of designing the 3rd item in the Hexacomb family of products, so stay tuned for that update). Overall, it was an exciting and productive weekend around here!

Linking with:
Saving 4 Six Think Tank Thursday
Cedar Hill Farmhouse
The 36th Avenue
Pieced Pastimes
The Crafted Sparrow
Between Naps on the Porch
Katherine's Corner 

A Delightsome Life

New Chapters Begin in Our Family Life

When I first started this blog almost 1 year ago, I opted to call it Seasonal Chapters for several reasons. Home and family are very important to me. Living in the northeast, we have the joy of being able to experience the lovely differences that each season has to offer, and I have always enjoyed doing special things that created fun family memories for us during each season of the year. I was in a severe life threatening accident before I started this blog, and it caused me to step back and take a close look at everything that I had to be grateful for, and how it was important to appreciate all of the little moments in life as well as the big events. I also realized that my kids were becoming young adults and I started to reflect on the different chapters that life in general has, and how each chapter is like a season in life. Hence the name and blog "Seasonal Chapters" were born. Although I had read and followed some blogs before, I really didn't know anything about writing one at the time. With the encouragement of my family and a dear friend however,

 I decided to take the plunge and start a blog of my own. There has been, and still is, a lot to learn, but I am enjoying the process and love the friendships I have made along the way.

That being said, June offered some very significant milestones in the chapters of our family story. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and my daughter graduated high school. We are so happy for my parents and so very proud of Pam! I can hardly believe my "baby" will be starting college in the fall. Where does the time go?

Just when I thought we had more than our fair share of happy milestones to honor this summer, my son gave us one more reason to celebrate...he launched his Kickstarter campaign in hopes of getting his business started, and beginning the process of obtaining a patent for a unique furniture design he created!

He creation is Hexacomb, a modular shelving system that uses neodymium magnets to connect the individual shelf "cells" or hexagon units together. It is a furniture design that is sculptural, unique, flexible, and can be adapted to meet your changing needs.

David is about to enter his senior year in college, and is pursuing  a double major in Art and Education at my Alma mater, William Paterson University. His goal is to become an art teacher, but he has also always had the dream of pursuing his own creative endeavors as well.  As an artist, he is gifted in that he has been able to excel with more than one medium and has enjoyed them all...drawing, painting, sculpting, textiles. During his junior year in college he had the opportunity to take a furniture design course with a professor who also happens to own his own company. One of the assignments was to examine a common piece of furniture found in homes and to make it more appealing and practical. From that assignment, the creation of Hexacomb was born. At the urging of that professor, Dave entered his design in the 2015 University Business Competition, and with the help of his girlfriend Lisa, won the contest! With that accomplishment, the spark was ignited and the journey of a new dream had begun. You can view a video of his project here.

With the July 4th holiday upon us, my personal goal is to spend time with my family, reflect again on all that I have to be grateful for, and to look forward to all of the fun memories we will be creating together this summer. I also want to take a moment to say "Congratulations" to Pam and Dave. I am so incredibly proud of both of them and I look forward to watching them become the authors of their own life stories. Their love, hard work, and accomplishments have added great chapters to my personal story, and they have created many amazing memories for me in the seasons of my life!