Savon Faire

Savon Faire Loot Bag

2010-05-12T23:28:00.000-04:00

Here is an example of one of our Savon Faire loot bags. At the end of the party all soaps are packaged and labelled then placed in our loot bags that have been personalised by each guest.

The hand-made soaps created during the birthday party are a great environmentally friendly loot bag item. You can always choose to add something of your own or choose from one of our hand made items.

Here is a selection of our bath treats: small bath bomb, an all natural lip balm, shower gel or lotion. Just ask, the possibilities are endless.

For more info feel free to contact me:

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-08T20:25:00.002-04:00

I couldn't go without posting a BIG thank you to my mom on Mother's Day. She has been very busy behind the scenes at Savon Faire, she can be found assisting with a bigger school group, helping to keep my receipts in order or getting excited about a new lotion recipe.

My mom was a very dedicated high school teacher for over 30 years. She has always given 100% to her students, family and friends. She is an amazing role model and a supportive friend to me, my brother and sister. She is always there to encourage us to be the best that we can be and leads by example.

She continues to be one of my biggest supporters and I am so very grateful to have such an amazing mom.

Oh, I almost forgot....she is also the BEST Nana ever!

Thanks Mom!

Lollipop Soap Tulips for Spring!

2010-04-21T09:48:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I would start back with one of my favourite projects. I made these as Easter presents for my students.

Here are the instructions if you want to try it yourself!

Ingredients:

Shea M&P soap base*

Clear M&P soap base*

Skin Safe fragrance* or essential oil (I used Melonberry)

Skin Safe Cosmetic Glitter*
Lollipop sticks
Plastic candy style cover
Ribbon

Tools:

Silicone Brownie Pan (that way you avoid any logo imprint in your soap)

2 microwave safe glass containers

Stir sticks

Alcohol in a spray bottle

Tulip shaped cookie cutter

Small Circle Moulds

Measure out about 8 oz of Shea soap. Cut into small cubes and place in your Pyrex dish. Melt on 30 second intervals until entirely melted. Don't leave any chunks of soap at the bottom. If the soap starts to get too hot and you still have chunks, let the hot soap melt them while you stir.

Pour melted soap into brownie pan to cover the bottom of pan (about 1/8" inch). Spritz with alcohol and let cool.

Once the soap has cooled, use your cookie cutter and cut out the little tulips.

Now that you have your tulips, start melting your clear soap. I would start with 12 oz to be sure you have enough. I coloured the clear soap base with yellow soap dye and some cosmetic glitter.

Take your tulip cut-outs and spritz both sides with alcohol. The alcohol is to break the surface tension and reduce bubbles in your soap.

Pour your melted soap into the bottom of your circular mould, about half way and then insert your tulip cut-out, pour the soap over top to fill. Let cool.

Once the soap has cooled, release the soaps from your moulds. Some moulds are harder to work with so if you're struggling with your mould, try popping it into the freezer for a maximum of 5 minutes. Your soaps should pop out a little easier now.

Now you are ready to insert the lollipop sticks. Push the stick in at the centre of the soap. If it happens to pop through the back you can push the stick back in and use the softened soap to cover the stick.

Once on the stick, cover with a plastic wrapper and tie with a pretty bow.

Voila! You're done.

These make a great gift for loot bags. I always include a "this is soap" or a "do not eat" tag for the little ones!

NOTES:

If you want to colour the tulips, use a non-bleeding soap colourant (iron oxides or mica). Otherwise the colour will bleed out into the lollipop.

If you use plastic chocolate moulds for your soap, be careful when you use the freezer. The plastic becomes more brittle and will crack easily. If you look carefully, you'll notice my mould was a victim of my impatience :-)

*Supplies:

I carry all the soap supplies to make this project. Please contact me by e-mail for information on ordering supplies from Savon Faire.

Back from vacation!

2010-04-12T16:29:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

I've been away so I haven't posted any new recipes lately. I'm back from my 10th anniversary/honeymoon trip and ready to get back to work. I'll have some new posts by the end of the week. I will be returning all calls and e-mail soon.

Sharon

Yay! Bath Bombs

2010-03-26T23:42:00.003-04:00

Everyone loves making bath bombs! The kids in class do find it to be one of the harder projects so save this one for the 8 and over crowd.

1 cup Baking soda
½ cup Citric acid
¼ cup Epsom salts
2 tablespoons oil ( I use safflower oil in class, almond oil is another great choice)
3/4 tbsp water
2 teaspoons essential or fragrance oil
1 tsp colour
Spray bottle filled with Witch hazel
Himalayan salts or Rose petals for decorating

Mix the baking soda, citric acid, and salts until well blended.

In separate bowl combine safflower oil, essential oil or fragrance and colour if desired. Mix well. Drizzle wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, pouring with one hand and squishing it together with the other.

Work quickly and spray with witch hazel. You can test the consistency by squeezing the mix with your hand, you want it to hold together but you don't want it to be too wet.

Pack mix into mould of choice. If you want to add petals or salts as a decoration fill the top of the mold( a little goes a long way) and then pack in the powder on top. Pack it in really hard, then immediately flip it over and tap it out onto a lined tray or cookie sheet. Let stand overnight for best results.

Humidity plays a big role when making bath bombs. I live near a lake so in the summer my bombs will start reacting from the water in the air! If it is humid, skip the water in the recipe and spritz with witch hazel instead.

Play Dough Soap Project

2010-03-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

This week's project was from a recipe I found on one of my favourite blogs.....The Soap Queen Blog. We made play dough soap. I prepared the soap before class using the following recipe (I doubled the original recipe for a larger group)...

6 oz of clear melt and pour soap
4 tbsp corn starch
liquid oxide and food colouring (it's feeling like spring so I went with pastel colours)
1 tsp fragrance

Melt 6 oz of clear soap in a glass pyrex, add colour and fragrance. Add cornstarch to your melted soap. When most of the cornstarch has blended you can pour your soap into a large mold, plate or your counter. After the soap has cooled enough to handle safely, knead the dough until all of the cornstarch has blended in.

I found that I had quite a few pockets of corn starch in the soap but as you knead the dough it will all blend in nicely.

I decided to make five different colours using a different scent for each colour.

Bubblegum Blue
Pink Strawberry
Melon Berry Orange
Citrus Mist Yellow and Green

Everyone was given a ball of each colour and away we went. Olympic fever is still in the air so there were a few soap Inukshuk's made....very well done!

If anyone went home with leftover soap you can reheat your soap in the microwave for a maximum of 10 seconds. Take the dough out carefully, it may be hot. If the soap has melted a little, just wait for it to cool a bit. When it has cooled down a little roll it around in your hands, once softened you will be able to start creating again.

Have Fun!

Classes off to a great start!

2010-02-24T23:38:00.003-05:00

It was so nice to see familiar faces in class. It's the best feedback you can get!

We worked on a basic melt & pour soap last week. Clear glycerine soaps with a lizard embed. It's a blast to see what colours each person chooses. The boys loved mixing all colours to make brown and the girls experimented with variations of the colour green or blue. One of the boys created a great citrus scented amber soap and the glitter added a nice touch of sparkle.

A little bit about me

2010-02-19T22:11:00.002-05:00

Just to give you a little background, about 7 years ago I fell in love with soapmaking after taking a class at a local community center. It was a cold process soap class and we made a great bar of peppermint soap. I went home started figuring out how to get supplies and away I went. Well, a short time after that, I found out that my family and I would be moving to Switzerland. We were off onto an amazing adventure. My youngest was 18 months when we moved so between a busy little boy at home with me and finding supplies in German, it was impossible for me to continue my new found hobby.

Fast forward a few years and we are back in Canada. I have two young kids at home and working with lye always made me a little nervous so when I came across a melt and pour soapmaking kit for kids, I decided to give it a try. Amazing! A safer way for me to continue making soaps at home and I could make them safely WITH my children.

I started Savon Faire in September 2009. I now teach soap crafting/making as an extracurricular activity at several schools in Hudson, Quebec. I'll be posting photos of the different soaps and body treats we create in class.

In my spare time, I continue to make and sell hand-made glycerin soaps, lotions and bath treats at Mademoiselle Clifford Floral Emporium in Hudson and at several craft fairs, and if anyone is as into soaping as I am but doesn't know where to get the necessary supplies at a decent price, I can help you out.

...and I am totally new to blogging, so bear with me !

Planning New Soap Projects

2009-09-30T16:06:00.002-04:00

I'll be starting 2 new soap making classes this October. Time to put the finishing touches on the lesson plan. I can't wait to make my favourite skull soaps!

Just getting started

2009-09-17T23:31:00.002-04:00

O.K. So the blog site is now registered and I'm just figuring it all out. I've added my favourite soaping blogs(I'm still compiling my list) and I am ready to go! Looking forward to finding or building a Montreal based soapmaking community.

Contact Savon Faire

2009-08-01T23:53:00.000-04:00