FINISHED that WIP....

Did you look at my last post and wonder what those bundles were around a stick?  

Here's what I made from it..............

I Eco-dyed fabric to make some drawstring bags.  

Just an idea I had to package something new that Dusty Tree Soap will be featuring this Season at our local farmer's market.  

Watch this space......

So how in the world did I do that?

I purchased a yard of plain muslin...washed/dried it and cut 5 stripes using my elaborate template of an old piece of paper.  My template is 7"wide x 291/2" long.

I gathered my supplies.....

some dried herbs/flowers from my garden, steel wool, vinegar & tea 

I enlisted the help of my 3 year old son to help work the magic....he really did all the work, I just directed him.  We make pizzas together so I told him to sprinkle it on like you do the cheese on pizza.  I put the steel wool in a container with some vinegar to soak to start it rusting. 

 (I put this on the fabric...my son did everything else)

After you cover it as much (or as little) as you prefer, top it with another piece of fabric and roll it around a stick.  I secured it with some wire I had on hand.

then steam them for a bit..........

and voila....eco dyed fabric. The fabric panels actually turned out better than I expected.  I thought they would be somewhat pale so I was pleasantly surprised with them.

  I used this tutorial to make my bags.

If you like DTS already on Facebook, 

then you've seen these, but some of my newest soaps for Market.  

The classics........

Thanks for stopping by!

sOaP!!

Soap, SOap and more SOAp

Lemon Poppy Seed



Slippery Elm & Comfrey Root...this smells divine!!!

Beer Wheatgerm Soap!  Ha...had to try it and it smells awesome too! Used Duquesne Beer...brewed locally in Latrobe, PA 

Farmer's Market....made with carrot, banana and cucumber

 

I bring you pictures of SOAP!!

A bit about my soap....You often wonder my someone would go out of their way to purchase handcrafted soap.  Maybe they are allergic to synthetic scents and dyes or maybe they have a new baby and want something extra gentle or maybe they want just pure clean soap.  When I decided to make soap I knew it would be pure, all natural, handcrafted soap.  I use all natural ingredients (you can eat most of them! but please don't munch on the soap) no scents and no dyes.  I infuse oils to get natural scents and colors...the closest to nature as possible.  Nothing harmful or synthetic ever!  So enjoy the pictures.....thanks for taking a peek.  I'm working on having an online shop open soon so check back often for all of the details!

Lemon Mint Soap (made with infused mint oil)

Chocolate Honey Oatmeal Soap

Gardener's Soap (made with infused sage oil and cornmeal)

Rosemary Lemon Soap (made with infused rosemary oil)

Green Tea Eucalyptus Soap (made with eucalyptus infused oil)

Banana Soap

Calendula Soap

Kitchen Coffee Lemon Balm Soap

What the rebatch!!

Seriously...had to rebatch the banana soap.  Huh, what's that...no clue, but had to do it and had to figure it out or toss it.  Poor Banana Soap, I had such high hopes for you...I had dreams of using you in the shower and you making my skin all silky clean and fresh...oh, wait....I can still do that...yep!!! REBATCH!!!

Yeah, love that you can take a total loser disaster and turn it into something wonderful and bananay.  (yes, bananay...I'm still on the banana kick from my last post...these freaking things are awesome gifts perfectly wrapped a la Mother Nature style)

I'm not sure what really went wrong...who really knows.  I checked my recipe and don't remember forgetting anything and know I used my scale correctly.  It is pretty much idiot proof.  I think it is the mold I used.  I thought I would give something else a try and use a Pringle container so I could have circular (not unless you think round is funny..hahaha) shaped soap.  Well, that and the fact that I left the hot, gelling raw soap mixture in a garage in 95 degree temps could possibly be the reason for my soap disaster.  Once I unmolded the mess I pretty much knew...oh, yuck!  The Pringle container looks like it melted......

...ick!  Double ick!!  I didn't take a picture of the soap mess...(who really wants to take a picture of their disaster?)  It wasn't pretty....sorts looked like soap, but kind of a stringy like texture with pockets of oil.  I chopped it roughly with a knife and plopped it into a bowl and heated it on the stove and stirred and stirred and stirred until all of the lumps were out and it was smooth.  It looked like fudge and made me hungry.

Then I put it into a different mold and placed it in the basement (as I normally do with all of my other soaps...why didn't I do that originally??)  I'm now dreaming of using the Banana Soap in the shower again and it making my skin all silky smooth.  I think I was able to save a soap disaster and turn it into a banana goodness.  Again, we shall see in 24-36 hours, but I have high hopes for this one...I always do!

Banana Soap, who knew!!

I had two bananas sitting on the counter about to go bad, when I thought I should do something with them.  My first thought was to bake bread, but with it being over 95 degree outside and not having air conditioning in our older house I really didn't want to turn on the oven...then I thought soap...BANANA SOAP!  I searched online and see that people make soap out of bananas, but really didn't find any good recipes.  Most had ingredients that I didn't have on hand.  So after about 10 minutes of some not too serious thinking and running some numbers through the lye calculator, I asked my husband to watch the kids and I ran out into the garage for some sweaty fun soap making...it was 97 degrees here today..It was hot, but I didn't mind.   I got into the groove and made a great (fingers crossed, we will see tomorrow when I unmold it) batch of banana soap.

Here is what I found out about bananas online...who knew they are so good for you?  I will treat bananas with a bit more respect!!  Banana  is rich in potassium and vitamin A which is great for dry and sensitive skin.  It has also been known to help in the treatment of eczema, psoriasis and acne. And that is just for your skin...here is a link for what else a banana can do for you if you actually eat it.  Banana Link

After I unmold my soap tomorrow and determine if it is a good batch or not, I'll share my recipe and some pictures...until then here is a sneak peek.....