Back-to-back Soapmaking Classes

This month has been full for me with getting our garden in and planning for hosting a few soapmaking classes. Our first set of ladies came on a Friday afternoon, after trying to coordinate a visit for over a year! With windy weather in the forecast, I held this smaller class indoors in our cozy kitchen once we got to know each other over lunch.

They donned their aprons, and we got to work! Each person took turns weighing and mixing the ingredients for our batch of soap.

Blending the soap batter and personalizing our individual molds with scents and botanical decorations was everyone's favorite part of the process. I enjoyed showing these ladies how I make soap and helping them make their very own to take home with them.

The following day, I had 4 more ladies arrive for a morning and afternoon set of classes, beginner and advanced soap-making. This mother and daughter trio took time out of their busy schedules to rendezvous for a Saturday of soaping together!

My additional participant drove all the way from NC to join us for the all-day class. She was an eager learner and helped with setup and cleanup, too!

Another windy day made for an interesting time dealing with our lye mixtures outdoors. Everyone was a good sport, and any fears about dealing with this caustic substance were calmed as we handled it with caution.

Our table of molds, scents, colors, and tools was a busy location of much creativity...

..and lovely aromas!

A finished recipe of soap:

Last weekend an 11 year-old girl came with her family for a private soap-making lesson. It was a beautiful day for spreading out on our back deck for our soaping fun!

She was one of my youngest students so far, but she jumped right in and carefully completed each step as it was explained.

Her mom was also an excellent pupil, and they even brought their own goat's milk from their animals to use in their batch of soap.

Her little brothers looked on with interest as she mixed up her scented soap:

They will need to have patience until their finished molds of soap are ready to use in 4-6 weeks!

Meanwhile, they got to try cutting some finished soap I had made in advance. It looked good enough to eat!

The classes were an overall success, and I'm grateful for each person who came from a distance to take part!

~Hannah