The second challenge was transporting the cake without ruining it. My mother-in-law had some great suggestions for that. First, you have to freeze the cake, then put it inside a large plastic bag, blow air into it, and tie it off. Put the whole thing in a large cardboard box with some ice packs and wrap the box with blankets to insulate. And amazingly, the cake arrived pretty much unscathed! I never even took a picture of it until we reached our destination.

Grandma's Birthday Cake

We had the party at a park where my aunt and uncle live. The wind was really whipping on Saturday! Some of the cousins played frisbee golf, although I’m not sure how! Other than having to hold down our cups and chips at dinner, we managed pretty well. Everyone brought yummy food for the cook-out, and my parents made homemade ice cream to go with the cake which we presented to Grandma after dinner:

Grandma with her cake

We also took a windblown family photo while we were there. I look like a giant standing next to Grandma, but I’m not – she is just very petite! (You can click on the photo to see a larger version – you know, in case you need a better view of those sweet babies. Aren’t they precious?)

The entire family on my Mom's side

A fun time was had by all! What did you do over the long weekend?

In addition the sale, I’ve marked the Skin Glow Facial Moisturizer 50% off, and all the Bye Bye Bugs products are now 25% off. Combine the sale, and you can get Skin Glow Facial Moisturizer for as little as $6.80 each (regular price: $15.95), or Bye Bye Bug Soap or Solid Stick for as little as $3.19 each!

Here’s a run-down of the soaps that are getting low:
Sweet & Sassy – just 3 left! (marked $5 ea)
Lavender Lemon – just 7 left (will not re-stock until next summer)
Cucumber Melon – 9 left
Almost Paradise – 11 left
Watermelon – 12 left

Use the Handmade Soap Combo Deal to get any 4 soaps for $20, and with the 15% discount, they are just $4.25 each!

All orders received over the weekend will ship out on Tuesday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Cinnamon Apple Peach Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

Here it is! Cinnamon Apple Peach soap is cut and curing. I’m loving this scent!! It will replace the Apples & Spice scent that I’ve made for the past six years. Out with the old, in with the new! (Even though it’s really not that much different…) This soap should be available for purchase on Saturday, September 25 at Greatcakessoapworks.com and at the Overland Park Fall Festival.

I’ve been debating whether or not to tell you what my plan was for this soap. It turned out pretty great as it is, but it wasn’t what I was thinking. I was actually going to make three layers, with the top one being a lighter version of the upper two thirds of this soap. My plan was to use Erin’s layering method, but it wasn’t long after I poured out the bottom layer that I knew this plan wasn’t going to fly. The water discount was too steep, and the soap was already setting up. So I added the cocoa powder to the bottom layer as planned and got it in the mold, then spooned the rest over the top. I had some time to texture the top, and then had the splendid idea to sprinkle on some cinnamon at the very end. There are a few tiny holes here and there where I didn’t get all the air bubbles out – but at least this time I know they are air bubbles (since they are dry)!

Not sure if you can make out what’s in the background of this soap photo, but that would be cake decorator tips and bags. I spent about four hours this afternoon decorating the cake for my grandma’s 80th birthday party this weekend. I’m so wiped! I’ll have photos of the cake to show you next week sometime.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the Great Cakes Soapworks Labor Day Weekend Sale!

Clarifying Soap with Lye Pocket

You’re probably wondering what’s in this soap that makes it behave so strangely. Well, I’m guessing the guilty party would have to be the witch hazel I use as part of the liquid. It makes a strange brew when I add the lye to it. The others, although this has yet to be confirmed, would probably be the small amount of beeswax and stearic acid. One more unusual ingredient is the herbal-infused olive oil; however, I don’t think this adds to the quick tracing issue. It’s just a time-consuming part of the process.

So why do I continue to make this troublesome soap? Because you can actually tell the difference between this soap and all the other soaps I make. One of my customers is thrilled that it leaves her oily face feeling squeaky clean without causing more oiliness. Several have remarked at how it cleared up rashes on the backs of their arms. There is quite a following. So, I press on.

Fortunately, I usually make two separate batches of this soap at the same time. It’s just easier that way. Anyway, the good news is that one batch turned out perfectly fine! The other one is going You Know Where. (Or if you don’t know where, it’s this awesome organization called Clean the World!!!)

More good news: I made the Cinnamon Apple Peach soap today! My house smells so good!!! Hopefully I’ll have time to get it cut and take pictures tomorrow.

Comments close on Monday, September 13, so head on over!

Brown Sugar & Fig Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

This was my first time coloring goat’s milk soap. I don’t know why I never have before – I guess I figured I needed to work quickly to get the soap in the mold and under a fan so it wouldn’t overheat. Coloring takes a bit more time. There are actually two different shades of purple here, but you can’t really tell since I dusted the top with bronze mica. I think the creamy colored base may darken a bit as it cures.

The Pumpkin Pie soap turned out fabulously. (Just like last year – so I can use the same photo!) I’ve even stamped them again with the pumpkin stamp, because let’s face it – aside from the yummy scent, that’s what really makes the soap! It’s a bright orangey pumpkin color for now, but it will turn more brown as it cures:

Pumpkin Pie Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

Hoping and praying both of these will be available by Saturday, September 25th!

Update on the Caramel Apple soap test: the fragrance is growing a little bit stronger each day. This may be one of those scents that likes to play hide and seek. The Brown Sugar & Fig tends to get stronger as it cures as well.

First, you need to acquire some paper Dixie cups, disposable pipettes, and a plastic spoon. Then make a small batch of soap – today’s batch was made with 22 ounces of oils. Label your cups first with a sharpie, and have a pad of paper and a pen handy with the list of fragrances already written down. Then pour soap into the cups until they are about half full. Add about 2 to 2.5 ml of fragrance to each cup one at a time, stir with the plastic spoon, make quick notes, and rinse the spoon in between. I tested 13 fragrances with this method:

All 13 cups of soap

You can tell if the soap is going to discolor, accelerate trace, heat up, lose fragrance, or any other problems such as ricing, oil separating, etc. A couple of the scents I tested today had slight acceleration, and a couple of them are definitely discoloring already – which is what I would expect from spicy scents. The spicy scents were also the only ones that wanted to gel:

Mulled Cider and Cinnamon Apple Peach fragrances

I had some soap left over, so I added some yellow coloring and more of the Hello Sweet Thang fragrance from Brambleberry (my new fave!). I may or may not have added a bit too much fragrance. Mmmm.

Hello Sweet Thang Heart Shaped Soaps

My only disappointment was with the Caramel Apple fragrance (NOT a Brambleberry scent). I wanted to test this scent specifically since I was hoping to add it to my fall line of soaps. The bottle smells absolutely divine! The soap – not so much. The caramel is pretty well destroyed. However, the apple comes through better in the soap than out of the bottle. I’m not giving up though. I ordered a full pound of this stuff, so I’m going to try it in hot process soap next…

I’m hoping this might qualify me to be a part of the S.O.A.P. panel for Brambleberry. Please, Anne-Marie?

Grandma - at my cousin's wedding in April

About the weekend: it was crazy! My husband turned 40 on Saturday, and our 12th anniversary was on Sunday. I had asked my hubby how he wanted to celebrate his milestone event, and he chose a trip to Columbia, Missouri, where his parents live. He redeemed some of his hotel points that he accumulated while he was still traveling for Caterpillar, and got (what we thought) would be a nice room at the Hilton Garden Inn. You already see where this is going, don’t you? The plan was to leave the girls with Grammie and Papa so we could have some time to ourselves, and still have a nice family party at noon on Saturday.

It’s about a two and a half hour drive to Columbia, so we pulled the girls out of school a little bit early Friday afternoon, and were on our way. Not more than a few minutes into the drive, the rain started coming down. We went through at least three heavy downpours, and about 20 miles outside of Columbia the traffic slowed WAY down – even though it didn’t seem to be raining that hard anymore. Fortunately, my in-laws live right off the first exit, so we got off I-70 and dropped the girls’ things at their house, then went back out to find some dinner since my in-law’s were otherwise occupied for the evening.

On the way to dinner, we discovered why the traffic had been so slow outside of Columbia – an enormous pile-up in the middle of the city! There was a whole line of cars, followed by a semi-trailer jackknifed across the entire westbound lane of I-70, and a motor home smashed into the semi (22 vehicles total). We had been heading east, but it was obviously a sight to behold from our side! We read in the newspaper the next day that no one had been killed – which was miraculous – and only nine people were injured.

After dinner and a stroll around Bass Pro Shop, we dropped the girls off at my in-laws and THOUGHT we were going to have a nice quiet night at the hotel. First problem: the phone rang one time around 12:20 – right after we had gone to sleep. We thought it was strange, but we went back to sleep. At 1:20 – the phone rang again just once. My husband got out of bed and unplugged the phone. At 2:20, it happened again. Because there were two phones in the room, and he only unplugged one of them! Needless to say, the second phone was unplugged at this time, and the Hilton is just lucky there isn’t a phone-shaped hole in the wall of our room!

Second problem: the bed. I’ve slept in nice hotel beds before. They are nice and pillow-y soft, and this one was no exception. However, it also had an adjustable air bladder on each side of the bed, and both sides were set on “medium”. We both felt like we were sleeping on a partially deflated air mattress – even after setting the dial to “firm”.

Saturday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast in the lobby. Usually this is free. Only my husband forgot that his status has changed since he used to be a frequent traveler. So we paid $9 each. Hubby had some coffee plus a plate full of piping hot food, but I had one small bowl of fruit, and one cup of coffee – for NINE dollars.

After breakfast, we talked to the front desk about our little fiascoes. They apologized about the phone and said they would look into it, sent a housekeeper with us to look at the bed, and assured us that if we changed the dial to “firm” while we weren’t actually IN the bed, it would inflate and actually stay firm. They also explained that if we want breakfast, we can get it for $5 instead of $9 if we mention it when we check in. Oops, we were too late.

The next part of our morning was actually rather fun! We had planned to take the girls to Shelter Gardens so my husband could take their pictures. It was actually the perfect time to go. The weather was decent – even mostly cloudy so there weren’t a lot of shadows. Here are some of my favorites:

My favorite shot of both girls!

My big girl - isn't she gorgeous?

My baby - giving me her best friend smile!

We had our party as planned at lunchtime. Here’s the 40-year-old birthday boy blowing out the candles on his cake:

Each candle represented 10 years!

My mother-in-law made the cake, of course. She also made two smaller cakes for the girls to decorate themselves. They had so much fun!!

Flower Field and Mount Frosting

Saturday night we were looking forward to a better night’s sleep. We unplugged the phones again – because the hotel staff had plugged them back in and it did the one ring thing again around 8:30. I slept pretty well, but my husband felt like he was sinking into the bed again. He finally checked his dial near morning and discovered that housekeeping apparently sets them back to “medium” every time they make the bed!!!

After breakfast (at Denny’s, this time – where we discovered that you can get a FREE Grand Slam breakfast on your birthday. Oops, too late once again!) and a leisurely walk around the mall, we went back to his parent’s house for some lunch. After lunch, hubby was feeling the effects of lack of sleep and knew he couldn’t drive home at this point, so he took a long nap. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law pulled out her cake decorating books and recipes so we could figure out my grandma’s cake. I practiced the basket weave on a piece of waxed paper, and copied down her recipe for an orange cream filling. Grandma’s cake is going to be yummy – and hopefully beautiful! I’ll be sure to post pictures after the event.

Now that we’re back home, I’ve been making more soap! Can’t wait to cut them and show them to you in a couple days…

This weekend we will be celebrating my husband’s 40th birthday and our 12th anniversary – so I’ll be out of touch again until Monday. However, what you really want to know is that I’ve made the Almost Paradise soap available for purchase at Greatcakessoapworks.com!

Almost Paradise Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

It shouldn’t be too difficult to come up with four soaps to qualify for the 4 for $20 deal with the new Watermelon soap available now as well. Don’t forget to try a new lip butter flavor while you’re at it! Becky of The Soap Sister just posted her glowing review of the lip butters she ordered from me last week. I was glad to hear they arrived unmelted – even after 24 hours in her mailbox!

All orders placed over the weekend will ship out on Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Watermelon Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

Get your Watermelon soap here, or get any 4 soaps for $20 here.

There are three new lip butter flavors available as well – two I’ve had before:
Lavender
Watermelon
and all NEW Candy Corn, which was my best seller at the farmer’s market this morning.

Lavender, Watermelon, and Candy Corn Lip Butters

Click Here to Buy Lip Butter – just $3 each!

Other flavors available:
Orange Creamsicle
Peppermint Ice
Root Beer
Vanilla Latte
or unflavored Nourishing