Breakfast Worms

I promised to make these with the grandkids last month. Last night, we finally found time to create these slimy worms to celebrate Halloween. The kids are so excied to take take a baggie full of these worms in their lunch on Monday to share with friends.

For those interested, here is the delicious recipe.



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg. (6 ox) purple gelatin/jello
• 3/4 ounce (3 envelops) unflavored gelatin
• 3 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• green and red food coloring
• 100 plastic straws with bendable necks

HOW TO:

1. You will need a container that holds at least 4 cups of liquid and is as tall as it wide (so that the jello mixture will fill all the straws). 
2. Make sure straws are flush with the bottom of the container. The bendable part of the straw should be fully extended and facing toward the bottom of the container.
3. I used rubber bands to help hold the straws together.
4. Combine the flavored and unflavored gelatin in a bowl. Stir in the boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Set aside for about 20 minutes before stirring in the whipping cream.
5. Add 20 drops of green food coloring and 10 drops of red.
6. Place the container of straws in another container to catch any overflow.
7. Slowly pour the jello mixture into the straws. There will be jello that seeps up the sides of the container. That is OK. As long as the straws are tightly packed, the jello will fill the straws.
8. Chill the jello filled straws overnight. This is where it gets messy.
9. Run warm water the sides of the container that holds the straw. Wiggle the straws around until you are able to remove them.
10. There will be plenty of jello blob that follows this removal process. You don't want any of that mess.
11. Gently extract the jello worm from each straw by tightly holding the top of the straw and applying pressure down the entire length of the straw with your thumb and forefinger.
12. The straws will be slippery, so you may need to wipe them with a paper towel before you extract the worm.
13. Place extracted worms in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Waffles & Strawberries Soap

I love, love, love Mold Market's new Waffles & Strawberries soap mold. Upon arrival, my staff could barely contain their excitement. Gabby was off to the pouring room to bring this mold to life. I think you will agree, she accomplished her mission! My grand kids eat waffles for breakfast when staying for an overnight. Can't wait to see their faces when I serve this up at breakfast. How fun!

Here is what you will need to make this realistic looking soap:

• 1 pound of clear melt and pour soap base (will make what is pictured above)
• 1 ounce white soap base (for the butter)
• Liquid gel soap colorants: Strawberries/combination of tomato red & ruby red, Waffle/combination of yellow oxide, sparkle gold and bronze, Butter/neon yellow, Syrup/combination of bronze and leaf brown.
• 1/4 cup of piped whipped body butter soap frosting
• Soap fragrance

Everything is poured in clear soap base (colorant added) except the pat of butter which is poured in colored white base. Drizzle melted clear soap to secure all the mold pieces. The syrup will also help keep everything in place.

So, how do you package this odd shaped soap? Good question and I will be getting back to you with some suggestions. Have do some experimenting. I have a number of ideas running around in my head and when I finalize one, I will post it.

Melt & Pour Soap: Slider Burgers & Fries Tutorial

OK, Maria... this post on "how-to" to make the slider Burgers & Fries soap is for you. Below are the notes we have on file.

BURGER BUN

• Mold Market mold #65
• Clear Soap (about 10 ounces for two burger buns, top and bottoms)
• Orange oxide colorant with a small amount of snow white colorant added. Don't get over ambitious with the color. Start with very small amounts and add additional color as needed.

MEAT

• Clear soap colored with chocolate brown
• Basic shapes economy mold (use the round cavity, but don't fill all the way to the top)

CHEESE

• Clear soap colored with Flower Child Yellow Submarine color
• Partially fill the square cavity of the basic shape mold

TOMATO

• Clear soap colored with neon red
• Partially fill the round cavity of the basic shape mold

LETTUCE

• There are a couple of options. You can use clear soap and color it with neon green and Groovy Green flower child colors (mix to desired color). Or, you can use clear soap, add a small amount (about 10%) of white soap base. The addition of the white base will help soften the green color for a more "lettuce-like" color.
• Partially fill the square cavity of the basic shape mold

FRIES

• Clear soap with a small amount of white base added. Color with yellow oxide (very small amount) and Flower Child Yellow Submarine colorant. You will have to eyeball the color. Start with small amounts of color, a drop or two, until desired color is achieved.
• Use wavy soap cutter to cut the fries.
• Pour colored soap into a jelly roll pan. Let soap set up, then cut fries to size.

ASSEMBLY

• Melt clear soap base and drizzle between each layer of the burger. The soap will harden and keep the burger layers in place.
• Want ketchup with your fries. No problem. Melt clear soap and add a small amount of tomato red. Pour soap into a condiment cup.

40 Melt & Pour Soap Making Projects

Every week, numerous emails are received requesting help with melt and pour soap making. We decided to take action and create a CD featureing 40 of our most popular soaping projects.

This collection of projects provide step-by-step demonstrations of the 'melt and pour' method of making soaps. Learn tricks and techniques that will result in impressive hand-crafted soaps. These same projects videos are offered on our website, only now, they are in one collection.

We are giving away 5 CD's as a promo on our FB page in July. Be sure to LIKE our FB page to receive notification of the FREE offer. Retail price of the CD is $11.99. That's just 30 cents per project!



The CD will be listed on our website mid-July.

Once released, you will find it at this link.

Diary of a Blimpy Girl: Taco Thursday

Tonight's dinner was a bean taco. Took about 10 minutes to prepare. I added a small side of baby spinach leaves and a juicy tomato slice along with an extra dollop of refried beans. This entire meal, as pictured, just a mere 225 calories.

My Blimpy Girl recipes have earned me a 28 pound weight loss. I've continued to maintain this weight loss since early February. If you're struggling to lose weight, message me via my business FB page. I will gladly share some of the recipes I've used in my weight loss journey.

Diary of a Blimpy Girl: Pear Ala Mode

In my weight loss journey, I am learning how to create yummy low fat desserts. This is one of them and I'm very proud that it was my OWN creation. I was trying to use up food that was purchased before leaving for my extended weekend vacation in Disney. I had a pear on hand and thought...hmmm....why not do a pear ala mode. Here's the recipe and I must admit it was awesome with a capital "A".

If you add a generous scoop of fat free vanilla ice cream the total cal intake will be 280. If you substitute a generous scoop of frozen vanilla (fat-free) yogurt, you're looking at 250 calories. Not bad for a scrumptious dessert.

You will need:

1 medium pear
1 teaspoon Splenda sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup Fiber One cereal coarsely chopped
1/4 cup raisins or cranberries
1/8 cup white wine
3/8 cup apple juice (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon sugar free maple syrup

Cut pear in half and scoop out the center of each half to form a hollow area.

Place pear halves in a glass microwavable shallow dish. Add 1/8 cup apple juice and 1/8 cup white wine and pour in and around the pears. Mix Splenda sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkel over tops of halved pears.

Coarsely crush 1/4 cup Fiber One ceral and add 1/4 cup raisins. Place this mixture into the hollow of each pear half.

Cover dish with wax paper and cook pears in microwave for 6 minutes. Don't worry if some of the filling falls out of the pear. You can scoop it up later and place back into the pear hollow. Let cooked pears set for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a serving dish. Pour off any remaining juices from the glass cooking dish into a small saucepan. Add 1/4 cup apple, brown sugar and maple syrup. Cook over medium heat until reduced to a sauce like consistency.

Drizzle sauce over pear halves and serve with a scoop of fat free ice cream. Reserve some of the pear sauce for the ice cream :))

2 servings

My Newest Passion: Cooking to Lose

If you follow my business FB page, you know that I have lost 27 pounds since mid-January of this year. An awesome accomplishment for anyone. I am continually asked, "How'd ya do it." The answer is found in the Diary of a Blimpy Girl Episodes which I am currently journaling. Besides a love for all things soap, I have acquired a new love to "Cook to Lose." My Blimpy Girl Episodes will eventually become part of this blog.

Trust me, I am NOT a cook, nor have I ever enjoyed cooking. This is a whole new arena for me and I look forward to sharing my journey with you. I know my blog is mostly about soap related things (and occasional posts about family). But this is a new chapter in my blogosphere. So many struggle with weight gain and if my Blimpy Girl Diary can help... I am there for you!

The photos shown in this post are from Diary of a Blimpy Girl: Episode 20 (Chicken China Town). This is an incredibly low calorie dish that is bursting with flavors. It has a little kick for those of you craving a hint of spiciness. This is actually my improvised version of a recipe I found in the HungryGirl.com recipe book. I found that recipe to be boring with no real flavors, so I added my own touch. I liked it so much, I am sharing.

This recipe makes 5 to 6 servings (1 cup per serving) at about 200 calories with the side salad shown. I must tell you that I could barely finish the full serving. I also added a small side salad and a glass of Pinot Grigio wine. Not a wine drinker? Pour yourself a glass of sparkling water in a wine glass.... zero calories!

Here's my Chicken China Town recipe:

Packet (about 1 ounce) dry fried rice seasoning mix

1 ounce rice noodles

Pinch or two of garlic powder
Pinch or two of ground ginger
1 Tablespoon lite soy sauce

2/3 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (not eggs whites, but the actual egg substitute)

2 cups diced carrots and peas

2 cups cooked brown rice

6 ounces chicken breast cut into bite size pieces

3 tablespoons tamari sauce (you can also use lite soy sauce)

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

6 tablespoons white wine (you can substitute sherry if you don't have white wine)

2 teaspoons Splenda sugar substitute

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 cup fat free pork broth

2 teaspoons corn starch

1/2 to 1 yellow bell pepper cut into bite size chunks (you can substitute 1 cup bean sprouts or mushrooms)

1 scallion chopped

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Scramble egg substitute in fry pan with non-fat spray oil and cut into bite size pieces. Set aside. Using same fry pan (lightly coated with non-stick spray oil) warm the peas & carrots. Remove from skillet and set aside in same dish as your egg bites.

Weigh the rice noodles to equal 1 ounce. Place noodles in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes. Drain water and chop noodles into 1-inch lengths. Set aside with veggie/egg bites.

Respray skillet and cook chicken bites until slightly crispy brown. Add brown rice and seasoning mixture and stir. Add veggies, rice noodles and egg bites thoroughly mixing into the rice mixture. OK, now time to prepare the yummy sauce...

Sauce

Combine white wine, rice vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, tamari sauce and sesame oil in a bowl. Stir well and pour over the skillet mixture. Allow this to cook for several minutes over medium heat. While cooking, add cornstarch to the pork broth. Whisk until blended. Pour broth over the skillet mixture and cook until thickened. Season with salt/pepper. Add diced scallions to each portion served.

That's it! Plate it up and enjoy.

Papaya Seed Facial Mask... Oohh La La

As promised, here is the Papaya Seed facial recipe. Not only does it smell good, but it's also good for the skin.


1 tablespoon papaya seeds
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 fresh strawberries with leafs
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kiwi-lime juice (you can also use just plain lime juice)


Blend ingredients in a blender . Yup! It's that easy. This facial recipe is great for oily skin but can be used for all skin types. Leave on face for 12 minutes and then gently rinse off with warm water. This recipe makes (2) facial applications. Apply your favorite facial cream after removing the facial and call it a night ;)

Come on... you didn't really expect a middle-age woman to show her face, did you? (wink wink). Hey, take a look at that hand. A good indicator of why I don't put my face on camera smeared with a facial mask (and expect to make sales! )

WARNING
If you have sensitive facial skin that reacts poorly to skin care products that contain vitamin C, ask your dermatologist or doctor before applying papaya directly to your skin. Vitamin C can cause redness, itching or burning to skin that is extremely sensitive or that is affected by eczema or psoriasis.

Going Green...with Kale

Many of my followers know that I've been on a mission to lose weight. To date, I've lost 25 pounds and I'm back to my "ideal" weight. Eating healthy and in small portions is how I've been able to lose. Trying to incorporate green foods can sometimes be challenging. Here is one of the ways that I am using greens (such as Kale which I would not otherwise eat) into my daily diet.

This is a "green" smoothie that I made this morning. My daughter stopped by to picked up a few things before work. She took one look at the smoothie and said, "What the hey is that?" and headed to fetch some coffee. What she didn't know...it was for her. Once she sampled it and got past the color, her statement was "WOW, this is awesome!".

Here is my own home-brewed Green Kale Smoothie recipe. It's very tasty, but again, you have to get past the ugly color. It looks like pea soup, but the taste is ever so yummy. I'm also including a bonus recipe for a facial mask using the papaya seeds in a separate blog post. It's ideal for oily skin but can be used for all skin types.

GREEN KALE SMOOTHIE:
2 cups chopped kale leaf
1 banana
2 cups water
1 cup frozen non-sugar strawberries
2 cups chopped papaya
1 tablespoon splenda sugar

Place ingredients in blender until you reach a smooth consistency. This recipe yielded 9 cups for me.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Spring Fusion Loaf Soap Kit

I love the colors used in this loaf. I selected these colors based on a striped fabric I noted while picking out material for a window valance. I knew this color combo would make a great loaf soap. And guess what? It did!

Sophie Soap Chic whipped up this loaf over the weekend. Here is what you'll need to duplicate this loaf (which by the way yielded eight 5-ounce soap slices). The loaf ends were trimmed slightly to give nice straight edges.

Light Green/Dark Green:

16 ounces clear plus 10% white base added. Melt and divide in half. Color one half with lime green liquid gel color plus a few drops of neon yellow and neon green liquid gel. You will have to "eyeball" the color until the right shade is achieved.

Color the other half of melted soap with neon green liquid gel and a few drops of kelly green and lime green liquid gels. Again, you will have to work with the colors until you get the right shade. A cheese planer was used to make the soap curls. You can find this in the kitchen section of any chain discount store. NOTE: We will be stocking the cheese planers by month's end :)

Lavender:

16 ounces clear and 1.6 ounces white soap base colored with lavender liquid gel colorant.

Blue:

16 ounce clears and 1.6 ounces white soap base colored with neon blue liquid gel colorant.

Black:

8 ounces clear colored with black oxide liquid gel colorant.

You will need the Mold Market Square Loaf and fragrance. Our bundled kit sold below includes Bamboo & Citrus (one of my MOST favorites) fragrance oils. If you need help learning how to pour soap in layers, view my tutorial on "Pouring Soap in Layers-Part 1" and "Pouring Soap in Layers-Part 2". These tutorials will provide you with the basic info needed for this loaf soap project.

TIP: When applying the soap curls to the top of the loaf make sure to pour a thin layer of clear soap base on top of the blue colored soap. Spritz the blue layer liberally with rubbing alcohol and then pour a thin (unscented) layer of clear. Immediately drop and arrange your green colored soap curls onto the clear soap layer. This will keep them in place. You can also let the blue layer of soap to set up slightly (let it form a thin soap skin) and then arrange some of the green soap curls on top. Let the blue layer set up a bit longer and the pour the clear layer of soap and apply the balance of the green curls.

Purchase Bundled Kit

Purchase this entire project in a bundled kit (you can add & remove items as needed). You may already have some of the ingredients. If so, just delete those from the bundle before making the purchase. You will have plenty of color and some leftover soap base that you can use for future soaping projects. A little bit of color goes a long way which means you can use these colors for dozens of other soaping projects.

Loaf Soap Fun: Melt & Pour Soap Making

OK... this is so fun, and so cool. Black and White (with some red). Soap frosting on top with some cut up soaps tossed into the mix. I love it.

A sprinkle of red glitter on top... it's good to go. We'll give you the low down on how to make this awesome loaf in the next couple of days.

Examples of Cold Process Soap Frosting

I just love when customers share their soaping projects. These soaps were made by my New Zealand friend, Jude. All of the soaps were made using Mold Market molds. And, of course, GoPlanetEarth stocks the entire mold line. For the above ice cream soap, Jude used the "cone" mold. The ice cream topper and cupcake frosting were made using a cold processed soap recipe found on David Fisher's soap and candle making site. You can also make a melt & pour version of these toppers using GoPlanetEarth's body butter whip.



I love how Jude put an engagement ring into the cupcake frosting. Very unique idea and a wonderful way to "pop the question". The mold for the cupcake base can be found here.

The above 3-D Popsicle Mold is available from GoPlanetEarth. You'll find the how-to instructions here. Thanks, Jude for sharing your wonderful creations!

The Ultimate Fortune Cookie Soap Recipe

In a prior post, I shared what I was planning for my Annual Girls Soaping Night Out Event. This weekend, I've been finalizing the projects AND most importantly, have fined-tuned the fortune cookie soap. After several less than perfect batches, I have finally arrived at the Ultimate Fortune Cookie soap. It's very easy and once you make a trial and error batch, you will get the hang of it very quickly.

For my event, I elected to prepare all the fortune cookie soaps ahead of time. We have a number of projects and our time is limited. Having to melt, color, scent, pour soap... then, wait for it to set up, form the cookies, insert the fortunes.... too much time for a large group. Instead, I put together a kit with 6 undecorated fortune cookie soaps, a clear take-out box, ribbon, a colorful gift card (blank), label that also lists the ingredients, a clear cello bag, and a small amount of white paper fill.

Pictured above is the fortune cookie soap kit each lady will receive. Their project will be to decorate their six fortune cookies. I'm keeping it simple by drizzling dark chocolate and mocha colors onto the front and back sides of the soaps. A sprinkle of cinnamon powder and those cookies will be looking fantastic and good enough to eat. You could decorate with any colors you like and even add a few sprinkles. But our event goal is KIS (Keep It Simple).

The other projects include a layered body butter whip, s'more soap, and a gelato bath fizzy. OK, enough said. Let's give you the ultimate fortune cookie soap recipe.

• Melt 12 ounces of white FLX soap base in the microwave (the FLX soap base is a must as it allows for more flexiblitity in forming the cookies). Do not overheat. I use a 5 setting on my microwave. Cubing the soap first, helps the soap to melt faster.
  
  
• Remove from microwave and stir. You want to ensure there are no unmelted lumps. Once you have a smooth consistency, add 2 teaspoons of water and 1 teaspoon of liquid vegetable glycerin. Mix well.
  
  
• Now add color and fragrance. I used 1 to 2 drops of Leaf Brown colorant to help diminish the starkness of the white base. You can color however you like, but I do recommend using the liquid gel colors that we offer. I used 3 teaspoons of our Cinnamon Bun fragrance oil.
  
  
• You're ready to pour. I used both the 9 inch and 8 inch jelly roll pans. I wanted to test both pans and they work equally well. The 9 inch pan yields five circle cut-out when using a 3 1/2" round cutter. The 8-inch pan yielded four. When pouring, you want to keep the layer relatively thin (around 1/8" in thickness). The 12 ounces of melted soap will easily filled both the 9-inch and 8-inch jelly roll pan.
  
  
• You can use a smaller circle cutter though I don't recommend going less than 3 inches in diameter. Experiment with different size circle cutters to determine what works best for you. You can even use a plastic cup. You will be amazed at how many items you have around the house that might work well as a circle cutter.
  
  
• You will want to pay close attention to your poured soap at this point. You need to remove it from the jelly roll pans while it is still pliable but not so pliable that it hasn't set up. The first time you release too early... you will immediately get a feel for you next batch. Don't despair, you can remelt the soap base and start over. Just don't add any additional water, glycerin, color or scent.
  
  
• Turn out the soap onto a cutting board and cut out your circle shapes. Fold the circle in half and gently pinch the outer edges together (gently!) You will have a half moon shape. Place your index finger in the center of the soap (where the fold is) and gently fold the soap into a fortune cookie shape. It might take a few tries, but you'll eventually get the hang of it. If you do have any flub-ups, just remelt when making your next batch.
  
  
• Place the extra soap from the cut-outs onto a soap scale to determine weight. Add the difference in FLX white soap base to equal 12 ounces. Place this back into your glass measuring cup for your next batch. You will need to be careful when reusing the soap base from the cut-outs. This base has already been scented, colored, and contains the water/glycerin additives. You may find it easier to just save all the soap scraps until you have enough to equal a new batch and instead use a fresh batch of the FLX white base for your next batch.
  
  
• I found it much easier to make the fortune cookie soap first BEFORE adding the printed fortune. After letting the soaps set up for 5-10 minutes, I then inserted the printed fortune inside the cookie. Gently separate the fold of the cookie and slide in your fortune.
  
  
• Decorate your soap cookie any way you like. In fact, you may elect to not decorate at all. The possibilities are endless.

I told you it was easy. Good luck and BTW.... I am including a link for you to print out fortunes!

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Soap Gelato Recipe #2

I'm a bit behind in posting this recipe and I apologize. I have had a number of emails asking for the Gelato Recipe #2. This recipe omits the citric acid (which gives the Recipe #1 some fizzing action in the tub).

Recipe #2 is more of a body butter soap. You are going to want to let this recipe set up for a while before you scoop into your gelato cup. If you try to scoop too soon, you may find the mixture too soft and you'll end up with a Gelato Glob. That's not exactly the visual effect you are hoping for. However, don't let it set up to the point that it is firm. Then you will have on heck of a time trying to make your soap scoops. Once the soap scoops sets up, they will be firm and when used, the scoop will be like a ball of soap. There is no fizzy or foaming action.

RECIPE #2
(all of these items are available on our web site, including the Gelato containers)

• One pound body butter whip
  
  
• 1 pounds of opaque (white) melted soap base
  
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable glycerin Start with 2 tablespoons, but you can add an additional tablespoon of glycerin if your mixture seems overly pasty.
  
  
• 1/4 cup white sugar (yep, the kind you use in your morning coffee!)
  
  
• 3 Teaspoons of fragrance oil
  
  
• DWP soap colorant. Add a few drops until desired color is achieved.

Place your body butter whip into a mixing bowl. A stainless steel mixing bowl is best. Using a handheld mixer, begin to whip on medium speed. Once whipped add the melted white soap base and fragrance. Incorporate the melted soap into the whipped body butter and then continue whipping on low speed adding the liquid glycerin and any colorant in the process. Slowly add the sugar , folding it into the mixture just like you would do if baking.

Let the mixture set up for a brief period (suggesting 30 to 45 minutes) before you start scooping. Do a test scoop to see if the mixture is firm but still somewhat pliable. A squirt of Pam inside the ice cream scoop can help with release issues. Sometimes the mixture gets a bit stubborn and doesn't want to release. If you don't have Pam on hand, just rub the inside of the scoop with a very thin layer of vegetable cooking oil.

That's pretty much it. Scoop the mixture into your gelato cups. You can do one scoop or two. Remember, this recipe is type of soap scrub. It is for cleansing and not for making fizzing bath water. Enjoy!

PS: Check out the wooden spoons we sell for the gelato cups. A nice finishing touch to your handiwork. We place the wooden spoon lengthwise into the soap scoops and the secure the gelato lid to the cup.

Soap Making Recipe: Fortune Cookie Soaps

As promised, here is the recipe used for our fortune cookie soaps that will be featured at the annual "Girls Night Out" holiday soap making event sponsored by GoPlanetEarth. Below is the recipe we will be using.

• 12 ounces FLEX white soap base
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon glycerin
• 3 teaspoon fragrance oil (you may use less depending on the fragrance type)
• few drops of Leaf Brown color (we wanted a creamy looking base so the leaf brown took the edge off the sharpness of the white base)

A thin layer of the melted, scented and colored soap base was poured into either the 8 or 9 inch silicone jelly roll mold. Once the soap set up (about 10 minutes depending on the pouring temp) we use a 3 1/4" round cutter to stamp out the circles.

I found this recipe to work very well as long as you keep a eye on the poured soap. You will want to release as soon as the soap is firm enough to not show "crinkles" when removing from the mold. Immediately stamp out the circle area, fold in half gently squeezing the edges together. I used my finger to place an indent in the center of the soap and then folded into the fortune cookie shape. You need to work fast. The soap needs to remain pliable when making the fortune cookie folds.

Here is a great link for printing fortune sayings to place inside your soap cookies.

Good luck!!

Soap Dishes: The Project Part III

Here we are into Part III of our soap dish project. In Part II, I posted the recipe for mixing the concrete and sand. This post shows a big leaf bowl that my friend, Peg designed. She's really gotten the hang of how to make these dishes and I wouldn't be surprised if some of her work is displayed at one of our local Art Fairs. I can't wait to see how she paints the bowl. I'll be sure to upload pics of her finished bowl.

As you can see in the first pic, Peg placed a leaf inside the molded bowl. She did this by placing a large leaf on top of the sand hill (that is covered in plastic) and then slowly began adding the concrete mixture until she had built up her bowl to the desired size and thickness (see below). The leaf still inside the bowl will be removed by hand. Sometimes the leaves remove easily, others require a bit more work. Peg was working on removing the leaf from the inside of bowl when I snapped the photo.

Large leaves were then pressed into the bottom of the bowl (vein side down). The deeper the veins, the better the results. Hosta, rhubarb, hollyhock, comfrey are all great leaves to use for this project.

Here is the bottom of the bowl once the concrete dried. As you can see, the leaf impressions are very defined. Peg will now use a Dremel bit to smooth around the edges of the dish before painting. Be sure to wear protective eyewear when working with a Dremel. Dremel kits can be purchased at stores such as Home Depot or Lowes.

For those unfamiliar with a Dremel, it is pictured below.

Soap Dishes: The Project Begins

A few days ago I posted about a soap dish I was going to make. You can read that post here. On Sunday, I began the project. It takes about a week to complete. Here are photos of what has happened so far.

You need to pick your leaf. This is a leaf from one of my Yucca plants. Pick a leaf that has no holes (from insects) and is still fairly green. Many leaves are already turning brown due to the Autumn season. Those might not work so well. A leaf with pleny of veins is a perfect fit.

My neighbor mixed up the concrete. I'll have the correct mixing ratio posted soon. Basically, you just mix water into the concrete until you get a consistency as shown. It's very similar to the same consistency you want when making fizzing bath bombs. You want to be able to squeeze the mixture until it feels and looks like wet sand.

Once you have the right consistency, you pile the concrete mixture onto your leaf. The leaf is sitting on top of a pile of sand that is covered with a piece of plastic. Your goal is to create a curved area in the center of your leaf dish and the heaping sand helps to create this concave area.

Work with small amounts of the concrete to build up the leaf. Smooth with your gloved hands (we used latex gloves). You can also use a spray bottle filled with water and spritz as needed onto the concrete to help create a smooth surface.

Our leaf is complete. Now we must let it dry for about 3 days. I will be posting an update on this project once the concrete dries and the leaf is removed. At that point, the painting process begins. Oh what fun! Tomorrow night I'll be meeting with a group of friends to form even more leaves. Tonight, I'll be peeling apples (from a local orchard) to make an apple crisp to share tomorrow with my crafty friends. I've posted that recipe. The Apple Crisp is easy and awesome tasting. Add a dollop of vanilla ice cream and you're good to go.

EZ APPLE CRISP RECIPE:

1. Core and peel 7 apples (I like to mix about 3 different varities of apples)
2. Mix sliced apples with 3/4 cup brown sugar and place into a 9-inch square baking dish (or something of similar size).
3. In a separate bowl combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 cup white sugar (you can also use Splenda), 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt.
4. Add 3 tablespoons melted butter to one beaten egg. Stir into the flour mixture and spread evenly over the top of apples.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, or until topping is golden and crisp.
6. Serves 8 people.