I Am Not A Crafty Person

In fact, doing messy crafts with my children is honestly one of my least favorite things to do.  This is why I love taking them to our local Art and Science Museum so they can craft until their hearts are content.  BUT, if the end result is something useful as opposed to some kind of macaroni picture that is supposed to hang on the fridge, then sometimes I can be persuaded.

Here Was My Motivation

Meg and I found this recipe for Rose Almond Soap and unbelievably, I had almost everything necessary to make it.  I thought “This is something we can actually use,” and I loved the name. So. I was motivated. Life is so much better when Mom is motivated :)

I was on my way to the health food store anyway, so I could easily add Geranium Essential Oil to the list.  I know you are thinking “You had rosewater on hand?”  Well, I bought it probably over 2 years ago when I had some bright idea to make something, then never did.  Seems it sat there forever waiting for this moment.

Ingredients

Rose petals – 2 T

Almonds – 2 T

Soap – 2   4 oz bars (something plain like Ivory or Castille) or 8 oz of soap flakes (which I don’t think exist anymore – I looked and asked and couldn’t find any)

Rose water – 1/2 cup

You can make rosewater by taking 1 firmly  packed cup of rose petals.  Pour 2 cups of boiling water over it.  Cover and let steep until cool.  Drain.

Geranium Essential Oil – 9 drops       Anything would work.  I just like the sound of  “Geranium.”

Boiling Water – 2/3 cup

Recipe

Put your rose petals on a cookie sheet and dry them. Ours were somewhat dry to begin with, drooping off their stems several weeks after Valentine’s Day.

I dried the yellow ones too, but only used the red for this recipe.

We have a warming rack above our stove so I put them under the heat lamps until they were crisp. You could put them in a dehydrator or in the oven on the lowest setting.

After they crisp up, crush them. The mortar and pestle worked well. But crushing with your fingers is definitely just as good.

Next, the almonds.

I used the coffee bean grinder to grind them up.

And then grate the soap. You can also use a food processor with the grate blade.

Now mix together the soap flakes, crushed rose petals and boiling water in a bowl til smooth.  If the soap starts to solidify, place the bowl over near-boiling water.  Mine did not even come close to solidifying while we were stirring.

Be thrilled that you are finally doing a craft with your precious child that you will get to enjoy!

Add the ground almonds.

And now the rosewater, (I’m thinking you could add plain water if you didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting or making rosewater.)

and the geranium essential oil (or whichever oil your heart desires.)

Mix it up good.

Next is the part you will be very happy your children get to do and not you. Separate the goop into 6 sections and mold each section into a ball.

Lay each ball on wax paper.

Take another sheet of wax paper and flatten them out a bit.

About this much.  Blurry, but I wanted you to see this.

You can also take a cookie cutter and make a shape like Meg did.

Then let them dry out a day or two or three on the counter.  Turn them over and let the underneath side dry too.  They really look different after they dry.

In fact, they kind of match the counter now.

I’ve enjoyed using this soap and it is a great gift.

This recipe came from this book that I found at our last homeschool convention.  It has become one of my favorite books to have in the kitchen.

Homemade book

Have fun with this!  God Bless You!

 

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  1. Kellie says:

    I might have to give this a try! I happen to have rosewater on hand too, from a failed attempt at making deodorant. : )

    I was sitting in my car the other night while my daughter was at track practice and I saw you and your lovely family — in my Sonlight catalog! My kids were impressed that I knew someone from a magazine. : )
    .-= Kellie´s last blog ..I should have know birdwatching would lead to this… =-.

  2. Allison says:

    LOL. I have in my mind to try out making deodorant but haven’t quite gotten there yet. :) I have to say we were pretty excited to be in the Sonlight catalog. The children loved it.

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