Post your happy

[Petraji]

I bought some loofah, but still haven't made any soap with it. What do you recommend? I read somewhere that individual molds work best with loofah so you only have to use scissors to cut the dry loofah at the start. Do you do CP for your loofah soaps? I have seen MP loofah soaps, but am not one to do a lot of MP, so wasn't leaning in that direction.

Earline, yes I do - I found it much easier to make loofah with CP soap, also depending on the kind of loofah you have. Cutting the loofah can vary enormously.
If you have the really hard version of loofah, you cannot cut it with scissors. I found it easiest to soak the loofah in warm water, drain it well and put it in a 3” PVC pipe of 10-12 inches. Of course you have to secure the base with either a seal from Home Depot or making your own leak-prove arrangement. Then pour in your soap mixture at light trace and leave it in a cool place to stop it from overheating. I leave it at least for 24-48 hours to un-mold - and a further WEEK or two to cut with a very sharp serrated knife… the whole job is a little complex but loofah soap seems a favorite with people. Good Luck with your loofah project.

 

[amd]

My happy... 3 gorgeous days of SPRING weather. Much time spent outside hula hooping and riding bike with my daughter.

Yesterday I got off work early to take her to a dentist appointment. No cavities so we treated ourselves to Zestos ("the spendy ice cream place") and even delivered some to dad at work. We washed and vaccuumed the '67 satellite and went cruising after dinner. It was the perfect day (even though I didn't make soap)!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I am over the moon!!! I received a package from a soaping buddy across the pond. It contained, among other goodies, an authentic, 170 gram "block" of Aleppo Soap made in Syria! And a smaller, traditional bar of Laurel Soap. For those who are unaware, Aleppo, Syria is an important marker in the history of soapmaking.

Aleppo soap was first produced some time during the 8th century near the city of Aleppo in the north east of Syria. It is the oldest known hard soap and is made of olive oil and bay leaf (laurel) oil, soda and water. In its original form, Aleppo soap includes no colour, no perfume and no other additive and so does not create any cutaneous allergies. It is aged for at least 9 months before it is used.

Aleppo soaps were brought to Europe during the crusades, and it is after that time that the first “savonneries” (soaping factories) started producing soaps in Spain and Italy around the 12th century and in Marseilles (France) in the 15th century.

 

[Lin19687]

Just got my Bud Cutter

 

[Zany_in_CO]

YAY! Happy Soaper's Dance

 

[Lin19687]

My Eye feels better

 

[Lin19687]

IT's SUNNY OUT !!!

 

[kmarvel]

Since there is a gripe, we should have a Happy.

I am happy that I made a nice cup of coffee this morning.

 

[Lin19687]

I am happy that this is up to page 8 !

 

[Sharon Khouri]

Since there is a gripe, we should have a Happy.

I am happy that I made a nice cup of coffee this morning.

I am so very happy planting season is so close. Soil prep begins!

 

[amd]

My happy: A few weeks before my grandma died she called me and said "bring your truck. I have some stuff for you. " This stuff was her wedding China and the family hutch. The hutch came with my great great grandmother's family in a covered wagon to South Dakota. When I got it, grandma told me there was at least 6 coats of paint on it. I brought it home and it has sat in our garage since Oct waiting for the weather to get nice so that I could start stripping the paint and getting it cleaned up. My husband has complained at least once a week about it, telling me that it wouldn't be worth my time. (He really isn't a butthole, he just has different values on his time than I do for mine.) This weekend I started stripping. The first day he came into the workshop, looked at it skeptically and shook his head. The second day he came in and said "you know, I think you're right. This is going to be a nice looking piece for our house." There are so many details that are coming out that were buried under layers of paint. I have a long way to go yet, but this project is making me happy. (First two photos are how it came to me, third photo is after Day 1 of stripping just the base.)

 

[dibbles]

It reached 80 today for the first time since September, and with it went the last stubborn patches of snow and all the ice is off the pond.

 

[Misschief]

My happy: A few weeks before my grandma died she called me and said "bring your truck. I have some stuff for you. " This stuff was her wedding China and the family hutch. The hutch came with my great great grandmother's family in a covered wagon to South Dakota. When I got it, grandma told me there was at least 6 coats of paint on it. I brought it home and it has sat in our garage since Oct waiting for the weather to get nice so that I could start stripping the paint and getting it cleaned up. My husband has complained at least once a week about it, telling me that it wouldn't be worth my time. (He really isn't a butthole, he just has different values on his time than I do for mine.) This weekend I started stripping. The first day he came into the workshop, looked at it skeptically and shook his head. The second day he came in and said "you know, I think you're right. This is going to be a nice looking piece for our house." There are so many details that are coming out that were buried under layers of paint. I have a long way to go yet, but this project is making me happy. (First two photos are how it came to me, third photo is after Day 1 of stripping just the base.)View attachment 30154View attachment 30155View attachment 30156

That's going to be one beautiful piece of furniture, amd! It isn't easy to strip all that paint off but definitely worth it in the end. The fact that it's something that came down to you through family makes it even more special.

My ex and I started out married life with a gorgeous old dining room set, purchased in bits and pieces but all matching. It had been imported from England and all of it was pretty much black; we stripped it as best we could (hours and hours and lots of rubber gloves), then found a furniture refinisher to finish the stripping process and the final refinishing. It turned out beautiful and was a source of pride for a lot of years. Unfortunately, the hutch was so heavy I couldn't take it when I left. I have replaced that set with a few other pieces that I love.

 

[SoapAddict415]

Very nice AMD & it has such a history! A covered wagon? That's amazing and it's very well built. Can't wait to see the completed project pics. My happy is the same as Dibbles [emoji16]! No snow to melt but we're finally suppose to get 80 degree weather today! Fingers crossed that we do. We were suppose to get 70 degree weather this past weekend but we were in the 40s instead.

 

[amd]

At last night's orchestra concert my son was awarded a scholarship to the orchestra summer camp that he has wanted to go to since he started playing in 5th grade (he's a sophomore). He has struggled so much with depression and anxiety the last 2 years, and at one point he was so depressed that he was going to quit orchestra (which he loves second to his cat). Two of the cellist girls intervened and convinced him to stay and he worked so hard the last 3 months to get to first chair viola. Winning the scholarship has made this school year complete for him. I am just so thrilled for him to see his dreams coming true.

 

[shunt2011]

I get to spend the next 3 days with my granddaughter. She's 5 and so darn funny.

 

[Lin19687]

I just put to bed my 3rd CP to gel. One more to go

 

[Lin19687]

I got to play with 2 of the 8 NG FO's I got today

 

[Lin19687]

@amd How did the hutch turn out ?

I got 6 batches of soap and made some Sugar scrubs

 

[SoapAddict415]

I love my boss [emoji16]! I've been asking the front office for 12"x15" shipping bags since mid March with no luck. So I've gotten creative lol. Today I told my boss that I was running out of ways to bag parts. He told me that when I run out of bags that I could put my feet up on my work today and play games on my phone. If anyone asks what I'm doing, I'm to tell them that I'm all caught up lol!