PAID TO BE ME part 2

I have really enjoyed watching the rise of epic bloggers, who really put their hearts into their blogs and then later.....much much much later reap the financial rewards that came as a result of their personal blog posts.

Two epic bloggers are Seth Godin and Tim Ferriss. You can find their blogs easily online, and they have reached a threshold of number of fans that their ideas have garnered a sizeable income stream.

I remember Tim Ferriss talking about how much time he would sometimes spend on only one particular blog post..... hours of thought and much preparation. But, though those pioneering days are well behind him, Tim's sacrifice to try to create an epic blog made him a creative trailblazer in the world of blogs and modern thinkers.

My goal is to be "PAID TO BE ME" for lack of a better slogan....but that WOULD make a great t-shirt eh???
Yes, blogs can certainly bring you to that point, if you devote enough time, skill,luck and energy.

Anyway my original reason for wanting to blog today was just to mention to all the bloggers that read my blog looking for inspiration... I just wanna let you know that  we, the common man/woman LOVE to
see real hand made homemade art. We love it when you upload photos of the latest doodle you sketched on a napkin at that greasy spoon down the street. We love it when you post eccentric photos of mushrooms you
found in the creepy forest down by the crick.
We love it when you show us how you totally suck at applying eyeliner, complete with painfully obvious pics.

So what am I saying? Don't be so obsessed with writing words.....we love pictures that reflect who you are in all your kooky glory. We love drawings, painting, videos and sketches of your latest crazy inventions.
And yes, someone might just scoop up your unpolished ideas, but we will all have been privileged to ride that roller coaster before you get bought out by the big wigs.

Peace, bloggees,
Carla







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Doggy Bone Soap....Homemade and EASY PEASY

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Well, this is my second batch of home made soap. Looks like a doggy bone but smells like a gingerbread cookie and lathers up great.
You can see the link to the recipe below and all I added was my own preferred amounts of dried cinnamon and clove spices. Then I cut it into pieces after it hardened enough after 24-48 hours and I've been letting it dry and cure for at least 4 more weeks. I was hoping to wait 6 weeks before trying it out, but just couldn't wait!

And yes again, I did NOT have to go out and buy expensive items in order to learn how to make my own soap.
No weigh scale was needed, and I stirred it myself with a wooden stir stick. No need to buy a stick blender unless you really want to.....
The only curious thing about this soap is that due to the spices I used it does have a brownish tinge to the lather... Hmmm I wonder if it would leave a bit of color residue on cotton clothing if some dripped onto it by mistake. Not sure yet how that all works ")

Want to learn how to make your own soap from scratch like I did?The old fashioned way? Just go to
www.diynatural.com
Their instructions are easy to follow and in my estimation...superb!

                                                         

Wow, My EASY Homemade SOAP Actually LATHERS!

My First Experiment in Making Homemade Soap from Scratch!I was delighted to see that it actually lathers! Nice and bubbly!


So, why did I choose to make my own soap? Well, because I like reducing things down to their absolute lowest and simplest common denominator.

Everything, it seems can usually be reduced down to it's most simple form.
I had been watching tons of Youtube videos about soap making. So, I set about to figure out how to make it myself.
But one of the obstacles, was that most of the soap makers wanted me to go out and buy a bunch of expensive doo-dads such as a digital food weighing scale, as well as a handle held electric stick blender .
But I didn't really want to spend money on those gadgets so, I was  patient and persistent to keep searching the net until I found a recipe and instructions that were NOT based on weight, but rather on simple kitchen volume measurements and simple ingredients.

My biggest obstacle then was to overcome my fear of  dealing with REAL lye.
To be truthful ...LYE is a VERY dangerous substance, and it is unfortunate that you can't let your kids help you when you work with REAL lye. Lye is so caustic that it is commonly used as one of the ingredients in many very powerful drain cleaners. It literally can burn right through a clog in your pipes. Always deal with lye according to proper safety measures. 

Well, after stirring up my courage and a phone call to our local hardware store, I located and purchased a bottle of lye for $7.99 canadian at Home Hardware. The other items I purchased were:
rubber gloves, large hard plastic pail with handle, and three bottles of oil including : olive oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. The only other ingredient is water. I also added some of my own dried dill weed spice just for an added visual appeal.
The other items I already had at home.....the measuring cups and wooden spoon and plastic container to let the soap cure in.
The only mistake I made was to use newsprint to line my plastic container, because as the soap cured and dried, the newsprint stuck right in with the soap and I literally had to carve it off of my soap after it was done curing.
So, rather that yak on about how I made this small batch of homemade hand soap...... I am simply going to send you to the instructions I found on another website 
which is can be found at this link:  MAKING HOMEMADE SOAP WITHOUT A SCALE.

Their home base for their website is simply diynatural.com


I would encourage you to visit their website. It is honestly the only simple and straightforward           "small batch" homemade soap making recipe that didn't force me to have to buy a scale.

I didn't even have to buy a stick blender. I simply used wooden spoons and let my soap cure for at least 3 weeks before attempting to use it.

I would encourage you, for those who like "Pioneer-ish" types of activities to give it a try. But do be sure to follow ALL of the safety precautions including wearing long pants, long sleeve shirts, rubber gloves and safety goggles and making it in a well ventilated area. 
All the wooden spoons and bowls or pails that you use for soap making can NEVER be used again for food or kitchen use. Keep your soap making stuff  entirely SEPARATE from everything else and label it  well and keep it away from children.

It's kinda cool to realize that if some strange cataclysmic event happened that prevented me from buying soap, that I could literally make my own as long as I could find some lye. Does that make me sound like a prepper?? Hmmmm.

No I haven't learned how to make my own lye yet, which I have heard and seen can be made in a pioneer style from cold wood ashes.  I have absolutely NO ambition to learn how to make my own lye. This city girl has gone far enough for now. Woohoo! I am now officially a soap maker !