Monthly Archives: May 2013

I learned about two previously unknown skills that I have while trying to make pancake soaps. First, I am very good at creating khaki colored soap. Even more impressive than this special coloring skill, I apparently excel at creating a pink version of khaki. I used yellow dye and somehow managed to create a really pretty pink hue to the khaki soap. *cracking up* These previously unrealized skills may come in handy at some point, and I appreciate them, but they weren’t very useful this past week. Lol.

I attempted to correct the pinkish khaki soap to match the general hues of pancakes…um, apparently that’s a skill that I still lack despite quite a bit of practice. *grin* I never managed that golden grilled color, but after I poured the pancake soaps I realized that they look like chocolate milk rounds. Doh!

At least the pats of butter turned out fairly well with a mixture of different glycerin bases, although after I poured the first three I realized that I was pouring them waaaay too thick. *embarrassed laugh* At least they look soft and creamy. Here’s the first picture featuring the butter soaps. I’ll probably remelt the thick ones and pour them thinner. I should note that all of the components are scented with the Brown Sugar FO, which smells just like a rich maple syrup. Yum!!

Two of the pancakes are about the right thickness, despite the color issues.

Finally I’ve decided that I should do two for a short stack instead of 3, which looked way too clunky. All that’s left is to “glue” the stacks and butter to one another with a bit of soap, and then I will drizzle a rich brown syrup soap down the stack (well, hopefully I can manage that color, but I’m open to using my imagination *grin*).

While I’ve been working on a proof on concept pancake soap I also ended up with a refreshed search for the worm mold for Worms in Dirt. A very clever friend brought up the idea of searching the toy department and also found some creepy crawly creature chocolate molds. These searches triggered new related search links that I haven’t had before and suddenly I heard the choir sing. Hallelujah! *impish grin* I feel so stupid admitting this, but despite what an imbecile I seem like for not thinking of this in all of this time, I am tickled to have found gummy worm molds. *quick happy dance* They can withstand high heat, have the perfect shapes and characteristics, and I don’t have to pour them individually like I would with lure molds. Even better I don’t have to learn yet how to create my own silicone mold like I was debating. Booyah!!

See – gummy worm mold

I’ll pour the syrup for the pancakes tomorrow hopefully and then get to testing it. I’m curious to see if I can get a more complicated soap to stay together once it gets wet. *crossing fingers* In the meantime is anyone ready to brave the storm and go to IHOP with me? My kitchen smells so yummy and now I’m craving real make-my-butt-five-times-bigger pancakes.

I got a little…imaginative…the other day when I took an extra dose of pain medication to try to tame the beast for a spell. I did what any other bored woman who is addicted to technology does while distracting their brain – I shopped on Amazon. *cracking up* I had to order something for my mom and it’s incredibly logical to add things for yourself to get to the magical total that gets you free shipping, especially when you’re not registering on the sane scale. *grin* Logic, dear Watson. While looking at silicone molds (isn’t that what you search when spoiling yourself? Lol.) I ran across an intriguing mold that made me think of breakfast. To be fair I’m kind of obsessed with breakfast foods anyway, just ask my husband who never heard of eating breakfast for dinner until me, and still doesn’t care to do that ten years later, which fuels the obsession further. Ahem. It’s a rather simplistic mold, but my brain suddenly started picturing different steps to create a rather fun soap. Here’s the mold:

I’m going to try making soap pancakes. *flashes a huge smile* I hope to pour a few shallow disc soaps, use my small square mold from the Lumps of Coal soap for a creamy yellow pat of butter, and drizzle brown soap over it to look like maple syrup. (The Coal soap is from waaaay back when I first started the business – they were little black square soaps scented in licorice and packaged in a small organza bag for gift giving.) I think I’ll scent the pancake soaps lightly with vanilla (I never ventured into dough-type scents) and I have a brown sugar FO that smells a lot like maple. I’ve done several drizzled soaps (Dessert Soap and Splish Splash Duck to name a couple), so I know what can go wrong and how to fix those issues, which helps me feel a lot more confident and excited over this soap. I’ve been doing a lot of research about soap “carving” and fondant tools, and think that I might be able to soften the edges of the pancake soaps with the fondant tools. I just can’t figure out how in the world I’ll manage to package them. They may get some plain ol’ Saran Wrap because I don’t think boxes or bags will fit quite right. I just had to share the excitement. It’s my happy thought right now and has helped keep my spirits up the last few days. I’m crossing my fingers I’ll be able to walk and stand again by the time I get the mold (and a book/CD Rom kit for making your own will, as well as an acne tool – because we all buy such an incredibly odd combination of items *rolling eyes at self*). I really look forward to seeing if I can get pancake soaps to turn out and it’ll be interesting to see what challenges pop up while trying.

I hope you all have a wonderful and sunny weekend! How about we all have a small stack to celebrate Spring trying to come to all of the states? 🙂