Birthday Report, Making Candles & Soap

Well, I must say my birthday turned out so much better than expected! My friend picked me up from work and drove me to my NMT apt which went well. He also gave me 2 AMAZING dark organic chocolate bars (my other obsession!).

My sweetie picked me up when I was done my apt but I was feeling a bit down (Not sure if the treatment brought out emotional stuff but it's possible!) - I was missing my dad too. So I told him I wanted to go straight home. When I got home, he had decorated the dining room with garlands and a happy birthday sign (he has not ever done this since I've known him!), then I see three presents on the table which had been set with candles, placemats, plates and cutlery. He had also purchased some blueberry squares from the bakery as he could not find a vegan cake :) I opened the present, only to find something I had been looking at for a few years! A Keurig coffee machine! You see, I collect coffee contraptions. I have a Saeco which is the main deluxe machine in my house: (http://www.everythingkitchens.com/saeco-RoyalProfessional.htm  (we got it free about 10 years ago), I also have one of the pod  machines:http://www.buyasseenontv.com/images/melita-pic.jpg ,a few french presses and various stovetop contraptions but I don't own a "regular" coffee machine because it doesn't make good coffee :) He bought the carousel to go with it to hold the k-cups and to address my frugal/environmental mind, he also purchase a separate filter so I can put my own grinds or tea! WOW! I put the Keurig in my room upstairs (I have my own separate room with all my crafty junk). Now I can hang out in my room and drink coffee and tea! I also got a few calls, emails....and my friend came from out of town (1 1/2 hrs away) to hang out the next day and take me for lunch. I had a blast! I didn't go out though, I was feeling rather relaxed and wasn't in the mood for any kind of bar scene, plus I'm leaving in a few days and need every cent I can get :)

Sunday I spent almost the entire day making soap and beeswax candles. I bought beeswax in bulk at the farmers market (the size of a 2L milk container) and used almost all of it. I also made Lavender Patchouli Soap and Carrot Orange Soap (I used some organic carrot juice from the market). Both turned out amazing! I did hot process soap so I was able to cut them and package them the same day. I used tiny paper bags and some leftover stickers I had. Looks really homemade! I also used craft paper to wrap around my beeswax pillars. These will be for birthday gifts throughout the year! Now I just have to make some bath salts :)

After shaving the two batches of soap to make the bars smooth, I used the shavings with a little water and let it soak for a few hours, then i melted it down for a few minutes and poured it into a container. This gave me another 6 bars of soap, just from scraps!I I will call this one "Mystery Soap"

I liked the way it turned out, so if anyone out there makes soap, here is my recipe for the carrot one: (this can be done cold process but I used the hot process method as I wanted it to be ready in a week)

Carrot Orange Soap

10oz Palm Oil

16oz Coconut Oil

8oz Olive Oil

1 oz Shea Butter

1 oz Cocoa Butter

10oz cold liquid (I used 8 oz organic carrot & 2 filtered water)

5.4oz lye (sodium hydroxide)

15ml orange essential oil

Hope everyone had a frugal weekend! My friend is showing up tonight for a few days then we'll go to Mexico! Will make a nice dinner tonight, possibly some veggie sheppard's pie. :)

 

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Keurig Coffee Machine

This is the coffee machine I got for my birthday