Fun with PicMonkey

So it seems if you frequent Pinterest as much as I do, you'd see there is so many pins on quotes. Of course everyone loves Ecards. There are some real good ones, such as:

                                              

I really love them.  Some make you think, and others make you laugh. Sometimes it really does help when you're going through a crisis to laugh at yourself, which isn't always easy to do, that's for sure. Another great lover of mine is PicMonkey. Some days when it's so cold out, and you really don't want to go out, I spent just a little time chilling on making up saying on Pic Monkey. It really does make you sit back and forget your troubles, for a little while anyway.  There was a few things I was going through at the moment, and decided what better way to vent then to make something nice out of it. It really does make you think when you read them back and see maybe the point you want to make does make sense.

Hey, not everyone gets along the best all the time.  This is one I made up, because obviously I was really annoyed at someone in particular..hee

You know what I can't stand more then anything? Is when someone that has moved out, leave their junk! I mean, come on..am I a storage unit? It's getting a little ridiculous now when I think of how many times I have done this, had to spend days, weeks getting rid of stuff 'some people' leave in your house, and sometimes outside your house, etc etc!!!

 Please, if you're leaving, take the stuff with you,

Love, Me

Homemade Butterfly Soaps

                             Shea Butter Butterfly Soaps

I have always been a fan of Shea butter since my first sample of Frederic Fekkai Shea Butter Shampoo. I love the feeling of Shea butter, it is silky smooth and makes your hair flow like it was just dunked in a pristine lake. This past weekend I was tarrying around some antique shops down in Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey and came across the most loveliest shop, that was stacked with all these yummy smelling soaps. Since I am into candle making, I thought, why not try making my own soaps? I knew that instant that I wanted to make something with Shea butter and since my local craft shop, AC Moore had Shea butter milled soap block and using a 55% coupon, I was in luck.
    Today, I decided it was time to give soap making a try. After reading up on soap making online and a few tutorials on Pinterest, I decided to make it my own, with Shea butter, with lemon oatmeal for some added pizzaz.

First you will need:

*A huge block of Shea Butter milled soap ( the rest to use for other projects)

*the zest of 1lemon

*A pretty mold

*Instant Oats
* essential oils

                                           

Of course as a crafty person, you wind up collecting different materials here and there. I had this sweet butterfly mold from Hobby Lobby that I thought would make an adorable soap. My ideas were flowing, of pastel and shabby chic colorants, and packaging could really be sweet, but for now, I just wanted to get my hands dirty. Be careful not to use any dish ware you want to eat on later, for
you must keep this separate. I found an old dish with a chip I no longer use in the kitchen for this project.

This was my first attempt at soap making, so I really didn't measure any ingredients. Shea butter was lightly scented with mango, but I added lavender essential oil (100% natural), just a few drops for a relaxing additive.  But for how much lemon zest to use, I just improvised on smelling, on how strong I wanted my butterfly soaps to be. For this project I used the zest of one medium sized lemon. Cutting the buttery soap block in cubes, I filled up a small bowl. Then taking it to the microwave at 15 second intervals, mixing with a spoon each break, until the soap and milky in texture. It makes the kitchen smell lovely!

It was that simple, I added zest of a lemon, a handful of instant quaker oats, the oil, mixed well, then poured the batter into the molds, which I must suggest make sure you have them really clean, find a quiet spot and wait for the molds to set. It has been so much fun to do, I can't wait to see how they turn out.    They need to set overnight, not wanting to chance them messing up if they aren't totally dry.