I purchased a beginner's kit with my paycheck and am very pleased with just how easily everything was to figure out. The instructions were very casual and had plenty of photographs to diagram each step. The double boiler was so convenient for melting that I'm going to stop using the microwave completely for my soaps! I bought a teacup at Goodwill for 49¢ and used that for the candle instead of the typical jar or tin. It's a Christmas gift for one of our English friends, so I thought the teacup would fit quite nicely. I'm not stereotyping; these friends of ours really do love their tea!
I got another handful of bottled scents from a supply company and they smell wonderful. Roy's been complaining about us being low on soap, so I made a batch for us today, scented with Cranberry Apple Marmalade.
I finally got my hands on some shrink-wrap bags from Spokane on eBay. The tissue paper looked very nice, but after my first text-batch, I realized that it won't keep the soap fresh long enough to store without sweating and causing the soap to look unprofessional, so I'm going to start wrapping everything properly to maintain a nice presentation. Also, it keeps me from continually shoving paper-wrapped bars into my face and inhaling that sweet, sweet aroma all the time! The scent will keep longer.
In other crafty news, I made my first plushie today! This is Mr. Stinky:
Mr. Stinky is upset because he has no friends. He has no friends because he smells like poo. He is also sad because this is the first time I've ever used a sewing machine, and he looks terrible!
