Think this soap looks nice?  I do, too, but it didn't start out that way... 

(Thistle & Buttercup Soap Mold)

I love to experiment.  

For example, I usually try a new recipe for dinner when I have guests over(and every time I question my sanity, but apparently it's some kind of compulsion because I keep doing it).  

Usually things work out, but sometimes they don't...take this soap, for instance.  

I tried something that's 'not done' in soapmaking, but I wanted to see why it shouldn't be done, and to see if I could somehow make it work.  The soap was crumbly and the colors came out looking like a 70's sofa. I made 12 pounds of this stuff! Ugh. (Yes, I know, why experiment with 12 pounds?  This is what I'm talking about...craziness!)

But, a bad batch of soap is never a total loss, and these crazy experiments make me a better formulator.  

So, I decided to continue experimenting with a new method of rebatching that creates glycerin soap.

I tossed the ugly soap into the crock pot with some sugar water and glycerin, and when it was mostly melted...

...I added some pure, high proof ethanol, which acts as a solvent to dissolve the soap into a silky blend (it evaporates in the process).

If my soap didn't already have a bunch of colored micas in it, this would result in a clear glycerin soap.  

While my soap isn't clear, it is glycerin soap now!

I poured it into molds and hoped for the best...

Voila!  Beautiful golden glycerin soap with a little mica shimmer to boot!

My favorite mold is an evergreen bough and pinecones (Pinecones Tray Soap Mold).  

It feels like home to me.

I have some beehives that I don't tend anymore, 

but I still love my little honeybee soap mold (One Bee-Tray Milky Way Soap Mold). 

You know the saying about turning lemons into lemonade?  

I've found that to be true with most things in life, soap included!

XOXO

-Michele