Today . . . .

Went to the Cattle Sale this morning and bought a regular size pressure cooker ($12 T-Fal no-stick with the instructions & recipes, almost new!), an old used crock pot for soap-making ($4), and LOTS of fresh veggies including green beans, little yellow squash, tiny red potatoes, a bunch of Bermuda onions, 2 big containers of broccoli, a big fresh rutabaga, 2 small watermelons, and a basket of small, early Chilton County peaches (all those for $18). Here’s what I looked at and did NOT buy:
a Tibetan sword for $15 (yeah, a Tibetan sword!)
a tin “purse” container that I would’ve hung on the wall of my deck with other tin “things” for $2 – no she’d take $1
a HUGE bourbon tom turkey $50
a half-dozen guinea chicks $3 each
a $4 bolt for the tractor
a $10 used crockpot
a $5 used crockpot
a $5 roll of window screen
a chicken-catching net – didn’t ask the price
and many other little critters and junque.

NOW I have everything I can possibly need to make soap. I’m going to use the old used crockpot for melt & pour and for heating the oils for the soaps.

Last week we went to Bham and stopped into the Golden Temple on Southside to get some “exotic” ingredients for soap and cosmetics. I bought 16 oz. of Shea Butter, 2 little cakes of beeswax, some vitamin E oil, a large container of Bentonite clay and two different essential oils – lemongrass and clove. I already had cinnamon. Golden Temple is such an experience, it's a wonder they don't charge a cover to let you in. The sights, smells, and people-watching there are priceless.

At Whole Foods, I found a LARGE container of grapeseed oil, some palm oil, and coconut oil. The family sampled EVERY flavored olive oil there. We spent about 20-30 minutes in the cheese area sampling and having delightful conversation with the cheese man about mites, goats, sheep, and mold. Wonderful!! The children and hubby all got a single slice of pizza from the deli area. I got gluten-free pretzels (kind of anti-climactic, huh?). We saw, we sampled, and we bought.

At Hobby Lobby, I bought a couple of molds and some lotion containers. Jessica got a block of clay to try sculpting with, Noah bought some models, and the girls got a stuffed animal. I walked through the store with hands cupped around eyes to keep me focused on my list.

I have found great online sources for containers for lip balms and other cosmetics, but I want to do some testing first. ALSO, I am trying to keep track of what each item costs so that I can figure the actual cost of anything I end up making.

If I actually end up making the soap (instead of buying the inexpensive plain melt & pour blocks and rebatching it with my creative stuff added) I want to get the simplest possible ingredients leaning towards stuff I have in my garden, goat’s milk which I hope to be getting from my goats, and stuff I can get at this Wal Mart. Dollar Tree (of all places!!) had a package of beautiful handmade papers that I got to try as wrap for the soap. I hope I can get a couple of days of rain now to give me the excuse to concentrate and really DO this thing!!!

I’ll keep you posted how it goes and the recipes I try. Wish me luck.