New Soaper from IN

[Tasha2438]

Hello everyone I am new to soaping only been doing it for several weeks, I am have started with MP, then I will move to CP, then HP. I want to become a master at them all.

 

[Lin]

Welcome fellow hoosier! And I'm from that area, I grew up in Crown Point.

 

[clhigh29]

Hi and welcome. Good luck mastering them all, but have realistic expectations of time. It could take many years, and much money. Take it from someone who is just finding out that you don't really start learning until you start making mistakes. And make sure you put fun first! Always

 

[AnnaMarie]

Hi Tasha!
Welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy it and glean much info for developing your craft.
Cheers!
Anna Marie

 

[soap_rat]

Hi and welcome! I used to make my soap in Miller Beach/Gary. If you like to take little road trips, a great place for buying your soaping oils in bulk is in Chicago (NW suburbs), Soaper's Choice/Columbus Foods. That's a pretty long drive for you to avoid paying for shipping, but I'm mentioning it just in case!

 

[Dennis]

Hello and welcome. Much fun ahead!

 

[Lin]

I love Miller beach! So many good memories. Growing up we went every weekend or more. My dad grew up in Gary on the lake and his youngest sister still owned the house she grew up in, with a tiny piece of property owned by my dad and other sister. So we parked there and the beach was the backyard, a short we from a bit of public beach with a food stand... Can't remember the name right now. As a teen my aunt and uncle fixed up the old garage on the property into a gorgeous cottage. Unfortunately it needed to be sold for financial reasons on both sides. My aunt and uncle would stay at the cottage all the time. They fully funded it so it was theirs while the parking was ours haha.

 

[soap_rat]

Lin, that's really neat! My dad was born in 1941 and his siblings were all younger. Their mom used to drive them, and as many neighborhood kids as she could fit in the car, from Chicago to swim at Miller Beach. The they moved to Gary and then Miller. My dad went to Horace Mann. If your dad is around that age, if he ever heard of the weird guy living all alone on the Burns Harbor beach in the abandoned houses (a vacation cottage area) that were going to become the steel mill, that was my dad!

I think your relatives' house would have been by Wells St beach, which still has the concession stand. It's too bad your family doesn't still have the place. Some of the beachside houses (or inland a little) are rented out on Airbnb if you ever want a similar beach vacation!

 

[Lin]

Yep, Wells St beach! I remembered the name a little bit after posting. We would walk down the waterline to there and buy snacks or ice cream and then walk back where we'd be set up directly behind the house. My aunt still lives there in the house she grew up in, now with her partner and 2 kids. Its just the cottage next to it (shared by my dad and other aunt) that was sold. My dad and I had a key to what was originally the bathroom to the cottage (you can see it in the picture showing the back) turned into a closet where chairs and stuff were stored. He had a key to the cottage as well, but like I said that was my aunts after they funded everything. When the building was originally built a guy worked out of half of it, garage work, and lived in the other half.

My dad was born in 1950 so a bit young but I'll ask! He and my aunts went to Wirt. Here's the view from my aunts balcony: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/DCP_0559.jpg
The cottage, looking from the street http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/Family/DCP_0346_zps9576faa2.jpg
And looking from the back http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/Family/DCP_0345_zps5840f355.jpg

 

[Ellacho]

Hi and welome!

 

[soap_rat]

Lin, that's such a cute place! I'm glad your family still lives there. After I posted I realized I wasn't sure if Mann was a grade school or a high school, and I could be misremembering what school he went to. I will have to ask my uncles. When he was younger they either lived in a neighborhood called Ambridge, or the primary (?) school was called that. (Ambridge was one of the mills)

I was just in Miller today, walking out to the ice mountains! There's a lot of ice this year.

 

[Tasha2438]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes! Soap_rat I don't mind traveling to avoid those shipping fees. Clhigh29 I know this will take practice and some time.