With every note of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker that rings in my head and ears these days (and I assure you that is more moments than not) I am reminded of the season which we are in. The season of not only the dancing, but of the making....and on some of that making, I must get a moving. Last night, in order to give the soap enough time to cure before gift-giving, I had a date with some lard and lye. A good time was had by all, I do believe (really when ski goggles are the appropriate inside accessories how can it not be fun?).
Soapmaking is still new for me (I wrote a bit about our start with it all here), so this time around I stuck to what I know and love - Renee's Holiday Spice Soap, which was a favorite of ours on the first go round. I'm a little worried that I botched last night's batch (it just looks funny), but fingers are crossed that I'm just being nervous. I also tried a new recipe to us, from Shannon Hayes' new book, Long Way on a Little. The Honey Oatmeal Farmer's Soap has a short list of ingredients, most of which we raise and grow right here on the farm, so I'm really hopeful about this one becoming a favorite and a staple. Lard from the pigs! Honey from the bees! Lavender from the flowers! And Shannon, like Anne Watson that I mentioned last time I wrote about soap, has a wonderful way of making everything totally approachable and uncomplicated. Not fancy equipment and molds, just a cardboard shoebox and a garbage bag. Not over-the-top paranoid safety precautions, just common sense. I appreciate that.
With soap checked off the list, next comes the sewing. This dreamy and exciting pile greets me each time I walk into my studio, as a promise that just as soon as this next issue of our magazine is out the door, and just as soon as the last show's curtain is drawn on this years Nutcracker, the making will commence. This pile has the name of my seven nieces on it. I can hardly wait to dive in...
The elving here has begun! In your home too?
