Winner

I was suppose to pull a winner for the Spiced Cakes giveaway yesterday and I was so busy, I totally forgot!! No excuse...here we are today. The winner is DONNA!! Thank you all so much for showing your support! I am going to send a single bar of homemade soap to each entry, so you are all a winner. If you entered, send me your address and which "flavor" of soap you want to try. Donna, you will be sent all 3 soaps plus the candle.

Again...than you for supporting Spiced Cakes!

Spiced Cakes Button Giveaway

My sweet friend Dani helped me get this button up and running for Spiced Cakes. Feel free to grab it and put it on your sidebar. In fact, I am having a special giveaway, so when you put the button on your sidebar, your name will go in the drawing. If you do a blog post about Spiced Cakes you will get another chance to win. Any orders referred by you (or made by you) will get you 10 chances to win!!! Just leave comments on this post...one for putting the button on your sidebar, and 1 letting me know you did a blog post. To qualify for the 10 chances, just have your referral (or yourself) mention you in the message box on the order form on spicedcakes.com

So grab your butt.....oh wait....you want to know what I am giving away????? Alright.....the winner will receive a Spiced Cakes, Lavender Spice, soy candle, and 3 cakes of homemade, hand cut, Spiced Cakes soap....one of each flavor on the website right now. Actually what you see in the button is what you have a chance to win.

Now, grab your button!!!!!

<a href="http://www.spicedcakes.com/" _mce_href="http://www.spicedcakes.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgEe_tytClTnKdX0mDScQUS36NmiufD8GIQz6VRCOm2ocEJ7kUFuDVN8tY0yztrtr1RG03gjADeZYhZWlN1N1oNw3A9ahrR62v-fM7P6abXC2cfoxfLSiR8h82dqaFzj939C8x04_XMk/s220/button.jpg" _mce_src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgEe_tytClTnKdX0mDScQUS36NmiufD8GIQz6VRCOm2ocEJ7kUFuDVN8tY0yztrtr1RG03gjADeZYhZWlN1N1oNw3A9ahrR62v-fM7P6abXC2cfoxfLSiR8h82dqaFzj939C8x04_XMk/s220/button.jpg" border="0"></a>

Drawing on February 21st!

Changes....

Lots of changes going on here. Once again, my grandkids are no longer just down the road. They, and their mommy moved about an hour away. I see them every Friday, and every other Friday I have them overnight. Divorce is so hard, but I am happy that everyone concerned is working hard to do what is best for those babies....they feel loved and safe. Emerson strapped herself in her car seat, right next to Sassy, who LOVES TJ's car seat. She makes it her bed every Friday evening.

More changes....our diet. We are adding more raw foods, and getting rid of more preservative. The kids are going off their ADHD meds (PRAY for us) and processed sugar is history.
We still have some favorites....homemade pizzas made with whole wheat tortillas.
Homemade whole wheat bread....the kids love this. The bread slicer my mom bought me in Amish country is a blessing.The kids have been on a puzzle binge...Kyle took pictures and asked me to share these on my blog, so here they are....The Lemongrass soap picture is up on the Spiced Cakes website. It smells so good!!! All the soaps will be ready to ship on Tuesday, so place your orders now. The kids and I are not the only ones needing diet changes...
While shopping for her food, my oldest son remarked that Sassafras needed the weight control formula. She doesn't think so, yet, what she doesn't know won't hurt her! Poor girl jumped up to a stool the other day and didn't quite make it...the entire stool came crashing down. She escaped without injury, but her lean jumping days are over!
Praying you have a blessed weekend....thanks for popping in!

Spiced Cakes

Introducing:

"SPICED CAKES"

hand cut, homemade soaps

And coming soon.....
....hand poured soy candles.

Please come and visit us at www.spicedcakes.com!!!

Cured Lye Soap

Our soap is done curing and it is WONDERFUL. I learned a lot from making this rough batch.

#1...pour before it gets too thick. It makes a nicer formed bar.

#2....add twice as much essential oils.

#3....Coconut Oil is one of God's greatest creations!

The bar makes a nice lather...the scent is a little too subtle, but it is there...and my hands feel like silk when I wash them in this soap.

I have some all ready wrapped up for gifties (thanks to Joann who sent me some beautiful fat quarters). Charlotte is helping out with Christmas this year by making some dish cloths to go with the soaps.My next batch will be lavender. I am going to Galena next week on a field trip with the kids, and will pick up a bag of dried lavender from my favorite shop there. A nice whip in the bullet blender and it will make the soap so nice! This batch of Cinnamon Oatmeal is going to be one that I will do again and again, I am sure.I have a GIANT 150# box of soy candle wax in my storage room....maybe I need to get some candles made up too!!! Homemade Christmas, here I come!

Taking Pictures of the Grandkids

Goodness. Trying to get a nice picture of the grand kids was a test in patience! First TJ...."smile nice for Grandma.""No, sweetie. Put your eyebrows down and don't flair your nostrils."
"*giggle* Don't try so hard. Just relax.""Better, but relax your neck too."
"OK. Good enough!!!"

Now Emerson's turn. After a chase, and a bribe of pretzels, I finally got her to come pose. "Look up at Grandma, honey." "No. Not at Sassy. Look at Grandma." "Yes, I see Sassy ran up the stairs. Hey! Show Grandma your pretty teeth. Did you brush them good today?" Whew!!!!!!!!!

Rachel got a part time job, so I have the pleasure of watching my grandchildren a couple of nights a week. What a joy they are!!!

I have been quilting on the sailboats. OMGoodness are they beautiful The quilting really adds to them! I am on block 9 out of 12...they are moving right along.I also began a new quilt top. Here is the center.... That is all you will see for a while. I can't show more until the pattern is printed, and the designer is not quite ready yet (though I have the directions and will continue to piece it).

I taught hand quilting on Saturday and made all the ladies a fall themed needle book.

That fabric was darling. Toadstools, acorns, and berries mixed in with autumn leaves. Too cute.

I shopped a bit after class. I get a nice discount on the day I teach. I was able to get some yardage of white for the new quilt...I need a total of 10 yards, and so far have 6. The owner cut the other 4 and set it aside for me. So sweet. Who can afford $100 in fabric at once??...well not me. I also picked up some colors for the new project. TOTALLY outside my color box!Charlotte LOVES these bright jewel toned colors. Me, not so much, but they will work beautifully in the quilt.....cut into teeny tiny pieces!

Our soap is curing nicely. It smells wonderful and has hardened up beautifully. Once it is cured, I will smooth it all out with a veggie peeler and make it even prettier. We got a total of 32 really good sized bars from that one batch.Tonight we made homemade pizza and watched a movie together. I am so glad this season is over. The Thanksgiving season will begin tomorrow, which is my FAVORITE time of year. Right now I am most thankful that Charlotte has made it through another year....a tough one, but we made it through.

His mercies are fresh every morning and so is His grace!!!!!

Making Lye Soap

Today was soap making day. We got all of our supplies and ingredients ready. We used the cold process (no cooking) recipe from Homestead Blessings DVD The Art of Soap Making. WELL worth the investment. We had our pans greased and our pot ready with the recipe written out for us.
It called for
4 c water (room temp)
48 oz lard
32 oz coconut oil
16 oz olive oil
and 12 oz lye
The lye was not easy to find. We ordered ours from Snowdrift Farms.
It is a scary process....my kids were allowed to watch, but I explained in DETAIL the dangers of lye and even the fumes. (we had vinegar standing by just incase of a splatter) What a day to make soap!!! We had 60 mph wind gusts out there and needed to open windows to ventilate the house....too late to go back. Zach ran to the garage and grabbed a mask....little stinker. The pic is blurry but it was so cute I had to show you all.
We dissolved our lye in the pot with the water. It got hot very fast and was steaming terribly. It settled down quickly though. I slowly added in the solid fats and they melted in the hot lye.
Like those flimsy gloves are going to protect me from lye!!!....I found the nice heavy ones I bought AFTER the soap was made.
Once all the fats were added, I used a stick blender to speed up the process. It began to trace nicely. See our "trails"??At this point we added in the oatmeal, essential oils, and spices. I am afraid it got too thick, but I got it in the waiting pans as fast as I could.
It smelled heavenly!!!! I put lids on them and covered them with a blanket, just as the instructions said to, and will cut them and set them to cure tomorrow.
It was an easy recipe to follow and I will certainly make more. My friend Kelley is a soap maker and I am hoping she can guide me in some more complicated recipes. Once they are cured, I will show you the finished product.
I will leave you with a conversation we had in the van today as we were leaving the supermarket.
Me: That old lady is backing out and is not even looking.
Sweetheart: She is probably thinking the same thing about you.
Me: I'm not an old lady!, she is! I have blond hair. She has gray hair.
Sweetheart: That's cause you get yours in a box.
Me: I won't have gray hair til I am 60 and then people can call me old.
Zachary: Aren't you already gonna be 60?
*Before I can answer (or slap him)* Charlotte: Mom's not 60. She's gonna be 50 and she still has some life in her.
Me: Gee. Thanks.
Have a blessed day!

Making Laundry Soap

Today was laundry soap makin day! I got my Granny Clampett goin on, as my "distant-cousin-John" said...now if that ain't hillbilly I don't know what is!!!

Let's make soap......

Here is what you need:

1 bar of soap ( I used Fels Naptha )

1 cup washing soda (NOT BAKING SODA)

1/2 cup Borax

5 gallon container with a lid

few drops of essential oil if desired

(You can use Dove, Ivory, or Castile's soap bar if you can not find Fels Naptha. Woodman's carries it in my town.)

Here is what you do:

1. Grate the bar of soap

It will look like something you put on your tacos!2. Melt the soap in 4 cups of water~keep stirring until meltedWe used a whisk. I think it works better than a wooden spoon, but if you do not have a whisk, a spoon would do.3. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot water

4. Add melted mixture, soda, and borax. Getting a toothless wonder to do this step adds to the hillbilly of it all! If you do not have a toothless wonder, you can do this step yourself.

5. Fill to the top with more hot water

6. Stir~let sit for 24 hours then stir again.

Add any scents the next day once it is thickened. I love the Lavender-Vanilla scent, but there are so many to choose from.

This makes 5 gallons of Laundry soap for $2-4 depending on the cost of your soap bar! It is so easy and fast. It took us about 15 minutes!
It will thicken up the next day. Stir each day for about a week, but you can use it after 24 hours. For top loaders, use 5/8 cup. For front loaders use 1/4 cup.

This is NOT my own recipe. It is all over the place. It is even the recipe the Duggars use and if you google "Laundry Soap Recipes" this one will come up every time.

So next week we will make Lye Soap out by the cement pond.....iffen I had one. Really, we will be making Lye Soap next week and will share that cold process with you all....or should I say, Y'all. It was impossible to get lye around here, and I don't have the knowledge to make my own with ash, so we had to order it online.

Hope Y'all had a heapin helpin of my hospitality....sit a spell, take your shoes off. Y'all come back now, ya hear?