May Soap Challenge 2017!

Ok. So I'll try to be brief. But. I went crazy. As you can see! {I added some updates. They will be in brackets like this! 5/25/17}

The challenge this month is to make a bar of soap using soap dough. Tatiana Serko shared 4 recipes with us but they all had ingredients that I don't keep in stock like stearic acid, mango butter, babassu oil (my computer doesn't even believe that's a word), and palm (which I don't use at all). I liked having an excuse to order some of these things, however I was also relieved when Amy said we could use other recipes. I was impatient while I waited for my order to come in so I made a simple soap dough recipe from Sorcery Soap.

When my stuff got here I made recipe #4... which is like... amazing, but it was only ready for me to use yesterday, and as you can see, I'm already done. I did some very detailed work and B's dough recipe held up fine, although now I'm excited to see what I can do with the dough from Tatiana's recipe. {I'm glad I went ahead and used B's recipie because Tatiana's receipe is still not really ready. I will wait a few more weeks and try again since she suggests a rather long cure time on it. 5/25/17}

Tools: a toothpick, a paintbrush, a straightedge razor, a craft knife, the handle of a spoon, a square chopstick, saran wrap, rolling pin, a drafting board (smooth surface), and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock... I mean... *wowza*

The only non-soap elements in the final product are the toothpick for the hinge (tried it with soap and it broke), and the miror in the bathroom, which is a tiny piece of foil.

FIRST CREATIONS:

FIRST HOUSE:

 

  

{It's important to let this dry overnight and harden.
The embellishments are very heavy and the frame has to be strong 5/25/17}

{After rolling a tiny snake, twist it back on itself
 several times to create the foliage.}

{After I had laid that carefully made kitchen floor and fridge, I realized I needed to take them out and color the walls of the kitchen (and rest of the house) first. This was one of many things I learned during this first house. 5/25/17}

{Originally I liked that mostly everything could come out of the house, but it got very annoying. Every time you'd open the house things would come pouring out and get scuffed or damaged. 5/25/17}

As though that wasn't enough... There were a few things I wanted to do differently, so I decided to try again... This time I specifically wanted to complete the inside first before the outside (you'll notice I did it the other way around the first time), I wanted to have siding in that blank space between the roof and bricks, I wanted to add a sink in the bathroom, I wanted to glue down all the furniture (soap glue), and I wanted to have windows... Yeah that's "all".

SECOND HOUSE:

First I hollowed it out like last time, but I changed the way it opened so I'd have more attic room.

The different colorants acted differently in the soap (did that just blow your mind?).

• Powder colors: blue, green and orange micas (Nurture Soap), black oxide (Nurture) and Fired Up Fuschia (Bramble Berry) - these were easiest to work with
• Yellow is a liquid glycerin oxide (Bramble Berry) - 2nd easiest, albeit a little messy
•  Brown: cocoa powder (the dough would get really gooey and I'd have to let it rest before using it), 
• The bricks are a combo of Really Red mica (Nurture) and paprika. 
• There's also a comparison of the plain dough and dough with TD added (the TD causes the dough harden up quickly).

{Using water to "paint" the dough helps it have a smooth shiny surface 5/25/17}

{You can see here where the pink room is surrounded by a bright white border, and the brown attic room isn't. As I finished adding the color to each room I would put a TD soap dough border so that the edges looked crisp and clean. 5/25/17}

/

Then I started making all the do-dahs for the house. But I sort of forgot to take pictures after awhile. 

{Originally the couch cushions came off, but they were glued down 5/25/17}

{This is the same concept as the foliage outside of the first house. Keep gently twisting the two snakes until they double on themselves then put them in the soap pot 5/25/17}

{The bath room sink! Using the toothpick to add little holes I then inserted a tiny faucet and knobs. The same is true for the water in the basin 5/25/17}

{My older son loves cats! In the background you can see the trashcan in the kitchen and what was going to be a stove. I ended up changing it to a table with a fruit bowl 5/25/17}

{Painting stripes on the cat using rubbing alcohol and black oxide 5/25/17}

{A banana, orange and apple (with a leaf!) 5/25/17}

Ok so here's where things start to go a little sideways on me. When I got to the exterior I decided that the door wouldn't look right crammed next to the window, and I didn't want to take the shutters off so I added a gable... or a wing or something. I mean... what? Why did I start a home renovation project when I was so close to being done? I also had 3 different shades of red brick and... AND... I forgot to add the hinges until after I'd already laid the brick...

{Between these pictures quite a lot of time and work passed, but I was irritated with myself, and at that point where I sort of hated the project, so I didn't take pictures. I had to remove the brick on the house, measure and carve out the side rooms, glue them to the main house so they didn't fall off, add the shingles, the siding and redo the bricks, and add the door. As I re-read this entry I realized I didn't spend enough time here stating how deep my despair was during this phase :) To make matters worse the bricks were a blend of colors (as I stated above), but I was out of one of the colors so I made do as best as I could. 5/25/17}

{To make the roses I rolled a small snake, squished one end flat and used the flat side to start the roll of the flower. 5/25/17)

{In front room a dog sits pawing at the door. The living room has wood floors and there is a blue cushion on the orange couch, a small end table with a plant on it and a tall floor lamp. On the wall hangs a framed picture of a field, with blue sky and clouds. Upstairs the striped tabby is sleeping on the nicely made yellow bed. On the dresser is a small plant (cactus?) and two books. On the other side of the house the orange curtains are flapping in the breeze of the open kitchen windows. The trash can is next to the fridge with its magnets and on the kitchen table is a bowl of fruit. This kitchen has a checked floor pattern like the first house. The side room has a broom and mop to keep the house tidy. Upstairs in the bathroom a rubber duck sits on the edge of a claw-foot tub full of bubbling water. The pedestal sink and the toilet both have water in them too, and on the wall hangs a mirror. In the attic the cobwebs hide an old trunk. 5/25/17}

I'd say the most difficult thing was the little rubber duck on the side of the tub. Laugh if you will but that thing gave me so much grief. Second most difficult thing was just forcing myself to finish after I added the side rooms, because I didn't know what to put in there and my brain went on strike. The third most difficult thing was the hinges. On the first house I added them really early on in the process so by the time I started using them they had dried and were plenty strong... These kept breaking because I demanded too much too soon. 

My favorite things were probably the rubber duck (of course the most difficult thing ends up being my favorite), the books on the dresser and the bowl of fruit on the table. Oh! And the little mouse, even though he's from the first house.

I had soooooo much fun and I hope this inspires other people to make other amazing things!

{The first house took me an entire day. You can actually see the light change in the photos! The second house took about 4 whole days and somehow the production took up about half the space in my living room. By the time I was done I was pretty tired of it. I kept wanting to stop, but there was always one more thing to do! Now that a couple of weeks have passed (and my husband and kids remember what I look like) I'm considering doing this same thing with a mushroom house! 5/25/17}