Mold Market Soap Mold: Simple Design=Creative Possibilites

This simple soap mold design offers so many creative pouring possibilities. We've only shown you pics of various color pours. But...consider adding glitter to the different layers, or...ground oatmeal, botanicals, and loofah. Use various color themes for the seasons. Fall colors, Christmas holiday colors, Spring colors, or just fun colors as Sophie Soap Chick has shown.

Socceer Ball Soap Mold

Thanks to one of my staffers, Missy, for taking this photo of Mold Market's new soccer ball soap mold. EZ to pour in two colors and a generous 4 plus ounces. You can purchase this mold here.

Soap Molds: We want to Wish You A Merry Christmas

Mold Market's new Christmas Tree mold is awesome. It's a plain tree that allows you to dress it up any way you want. Our Sophie Soap Chick gives you a few ideas. A plain Christmas Tree mold is shown on the right. Then Sophie kicks it up a notch and does some snazzy soap work using stars and drizzled soap (left). The top Christmas tree uses cut out circles for the bulbs. The decorating ideas are endless. Love, love, love this mold.

Mold Market Sponsors 2011 Soap Guild Conference

Each year, Mold Market helps in sponsoring the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild. This year, Mold Market provided water bottles for each attendee. Each time you purchase a Mold Market brand mold, you are helping to sponsor future Soap Guild events. For the record, GoPlanetEarth carries the entire line of Mold Market molds.

Mold Market's center page ad at the conference is just another reminder of why you want to purchase these quality molds. The annual Soap Guild conference is a huge event and if you've not yet attended or are not familiar with this grand event, I encourage you to visit the HSMG web site.

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.

Melt & Pour Soap Molds: Olive Branch Bar

Just my personal opinion, but I think this olive branch mold from Mold Market rocks...big time. It's a generous size bar at 5 ounces. Easy to pour in mulitple colors.

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

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Hand Carved Gem Stone Soaps

Woo Hoo...look at these little gems. Hand carved from blocks of colored soap. Our Sophie Soap Chick does it again. She took an idea and ran with it! Antique copper and turquoise liquid gel colors were used for these soaps. I'll have more details next week on the "how to" part. Soaps averaged between 1.7 to 2.2 ounces.

Our silicone or Mold Market square loaf was used to pour the big block for the carved soaps. The big block was then cut into smaller blocks to carve. Make sure you save all the extra soap scraps left from carving. You can use them for other soaping projects.

Meet Sophie Soap Chick & My Assistant, Kristy

Our "Sophie Soap Chick" is home from University for the summer. She is working on some soaping projects this week. Today she is pouring up some samples soaps using our latest molds from Mold Market. Excited to see what she does. The above pic is of our Sophie (left) and my assistant, Kristy (right).

Kristy fell off a golf cart this weekend and is suffering from a fractured tailbone injury. She's been off a few days and Sophie has been filling in. Kristy is back to work today, but not without pain. She has herself propped up with pillows on a nice cushie chair. We couldn't convince her to stay home.

So...we are trying to work around all this "life happens" stuff and get your orders out ASAP. Remember, I am leaving for a brief Disney trip with my grand kids Saturday-Tuesday. Things should run as usual, but any international shipments received after Friday of this week will not go out until my return.

Blimpy Girl: Eating to Lose Tip #1

Tip #1:
Set a table that makes you want to linger. If you plate your food for portion control and set a pretty table, you will eat slower and take time to savor the meal. It's like eating out at a fine restaurant. Flowers can help set the eating atmosphere.

I happen to have plenty of cut flowers in my garden this time of year. The top photo displays cut peonies and hosta leaves from my garden. I always keep vases filled with marbles or pebbles. Cut the flowers, fill with water and presto. Instant arrangement. The marbles inside the vase really help to keep your flowers in place.

No garden? No fear. The second photo are artificial Gerber daisies that I keep on hand. Add some green leaves from a tree and you're good to go. There is something about flowers that add elegance to a table. There are so many fun things you can do with flower vases. How about adding goldfish? I like that!

I'll continue to post table arranging ideas via my Blimpy Girl tips. Have any ideas of your own? Would love to hear.

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.

Corrugated Paper Soap Dishes...Gonna Give it A Try

I am always looking for ways to reuse things. Not sure how this will all pan out, but, I have a plan for using this corrugated wrap from some dinnerware that arrived today. I'm thinking about soap dishes for the smaller squares and bowl shapes. For the larger squares (at the bottom of the stack) I want to help my grand kids make charger plates. Here is the concept....

I ordered some mod podge which won't be here until next week :((, but once it arrives I want to paint the corrugated wrap in fun colors. Once dried, I plan to spray with an acrylic fixative to seal the paint. Once sealed, I'll do a couple layers of mod podge. It will somewaht primitive looking, but that's OK by me. I am sooooo open to suggestions and ideas before I give this project a try. Please share.

I am also thinking that these bowl type wraps would make wonderful pots for the grand kids to plant flower seeds. Once the mod podge is dried, I could drill a hole in the bottom of the bowl shape (for water drainage). A little dirt....a few seeds... and new life is birthed. I'll have to get back to you on this idea as I wait for the delivery of the mod podge AND I have a very busy couple of weeks. Heading to Florida for an extended weekend with the grand kids at Disney (weekend of June 18) and this weekend hosting a wedding appetizer party for my nephew.

In the meantime, if you have any ideas about this forthcoming project, I would love to hear from you.

Hello, Mother Nature: Tornado Brings Power Outage

Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms blew through our area over the holiday weekend. We lost power/phone lines/cable. Power was finally restored on Wednesday. Sooooo... if you wonder why orders are delayed, guess what? Mother Nature was in charge of the shipping schedule.

We are back to normal but still catching up due to the power outage and holiday weekend. Please be patient, we are REALLY trying to get orders out timely.

Holiday Closure

We will be closed Friday, May 27 through Monday, May 31 in observance of Memorial Day. You may continue to place online orders during this closure. They will be processed by time and date received when we return on Tuesday. Enjoy this long weekend and remember to honor and give thanks for those that have served our country.

It's my monthly Bunco Wednesday; the one night a month I get to hang with girlfriends & roll dice. It's a Bunco Bogo day for you. Purchase up to 3 Mold Market molds & we'll include a free mold of our selection for each Mold Market mold purchased. Remember, limit is 3. We promise to pick some real winning molds. Key BUNCOBOGO in the comment section at checkout to get your bogo deal! Offer ends today at 11:59 PM ET.

Why We Make Soap...

My youngest grandson after a nose dive in the sandbox. He could be the soaping poster child. With those curly locks and blue eyes, he could charm anyone into making soap. Needless to say, my daughter wasn't so happy about all the sand on her floors. My buddy decided that the best place to wipe off the sand was once he walked INTO the house :))) That's a boy for yah!

What do you think about that spider tattoo he's got going on mid-chest area?

Why I Love the USA Soap Mold GiveAway

And the winners are.....

Christina from TN and Jean from IA. Congratulations. My staff read every entry and, believe me, it was hard to pick. For that reason, I am sending every person who entered this giveaway an "appreciation gift". As for the winners, your molds and soaping apron are in the mail.

Here is what Jean had to say about the USA:

I love living in the USA because we have the chance to follow our dreams. Our country gives us a chance to pursue our dreams by providing educational opportunities for all, and the freedom to choose what path we wish to take. Here is how our family members have taken different paths to follow our dreams. My husband and two daughters are all graduating from college on the same day (Michelle Obama is scheduled to be the keynote speaker). One will get a doctorate, one a masters, and one a bachelors degree. Thankfully, all are gainfully employed : ) in the fields of their choosing. Meanwhile, our son is a member of the US Army. He chose that path as his way to a career and an education unlike any other. As he entered basic training, he commented that it's ironic that in order to defend freedom, he has to give his up. It amazes me that we have so many wonderful men and women who are committed to sacrificing their own comfort so they can defend the freedom that we enjoy. That is another reason I love living in the USA. Because of the freedoms we enjoy because of freedom defenders who gave up their freedom (and in many cases, their lives) in order to defend mine, I had the chance to attain my masters degree (I have no interest in pursuing a doctorate) and enjoy teaching online. Oh, and I also used my education and my freedom to pursue my dreams as I started my own small soap making business.

Thanks for the chance to tell what I love about living in the USA! God bless you, and God bless the USA.

And, this was Christina's entry:

I love living in the USA because of the freedom we are still allotted here. Freedom of religion is a great and cherished freedom that should never be taken for granted. Many Christians around the world are tortured and put to death for a freedom and privilege we in America take for granted every week. We are not punished, houses are not broken into, and we are not hauled to prison for praying or having a Bible in our house or car. So many times in other countries around the world people are dragged out of their houses or cars and either sent to a fate worse than death being a prison of such horrific conditions that they suffer with diseases for years prior to dying and are tortured daily for the "Crime" of having a Bible in their possession.

We also have a wonderful freedom called Freedom of Speech. We are allowed to say what we want when we want although some people do take that privilege to extreme but most of us use it wisely yet we take it for granted.

America is blessed with many privileges and freedoms we simply take for granted as The Constitution protects us and guarantees us these freedoms and privileges. Many people in countries that are not allotted these freedoms risk their lives time and time again to try to grant their families a taste of this freedom we take for granted everyday.

Thank you for our freedom and the privilege of living in the USA!!

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever!

I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day with my Mom, husband and daughter's family. My honey-man grilled out steaks and roasted veggies and I made an awesome low-cal/low fat "Fudge Brownie Blitz" for dessert. The weather was sunny & beautiful so we were able to eat lunch on the deck.

I am pictured here with a prized possession gifted to me by my daughter. When my Daddy passed away in September 2008, my daughter took only two keepsakes. 1) An undershirt (because she slept in one of grandpa's undershirts when she stayed the night as a young child) and, 2) all of grandpa's ties. Trust me, my Daddy had many as he dressed in suits every Sunday for church (he was a minister/pastor). The lap quilt pictured contains snippets of my Daddy's ties. My daughter also had quilts made for my Mom and herself. My grand kids each received a mini blanket as a keepsake. Quite honestly, this was the best Mother's Day gift I have ever received.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well. It's a busy day with lots of catching up to do from this hectic weekend. Sophie Soap Chick is now home from University and should be dropping in on occasion to work on some new soaping projects. I have some great ideas for her.... but, can't tell :)

I'll be posting the winners of the "Why I Love the USA" MOLD GIVEAWAY from last week. My staff picked two top winners.

FINALLY! Spring Arrives in Michigan

The weeping cherry tree is blooming. YIPPEE!! I can see this tree outside my kitchen window and it brings great joy to see these little pink blossoms emerging from the grayness of Michigan post-Winter. It also reminds me of prom season (which is happening this weekend in our area). My daughter would always have prom pics taken beneath this tree. Of course, the tree was smaller then :) It's grown a bit since my daughter was in high school as you tell from the picture we had taken last night. It was at my grandson's 2nd grade school concert.

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.