Handmade Loofah Soap

I promised a post about the outcome of my Loofah harvest.

If you have been following my blog then you know I grew a small loofah garden this past summer. Loofah is a natural sponge. It grows on a vine and in the same family as the gourd. They grow large and dry out in the Fall. Once they skin is hard and dry, you peel it off to reveal a loofah sponge ready to remove seeds, rinse and use. 

My harvest was small. I had many loofahs appear but never reached maturity. I blame it mostly on the size of the trellis I had it to climb. They need a lot of space to spread. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to have an abundance of sponges to share, but it didn’t happen. 

I found a way to share the small harvest of loofahs with friends by cutting them into pieces and making them into soaps (not my friends, my loofahs). For Christmas I was able to give each neighbor a couple homemade loofah soaps and a set of my crochet washcloths as gifts. They also received homemade cookies. 

The process was easy. 

I first had to find a a silicon soap mold which I ordered off ebay. Then headed out to Hobby Lobby for some melt and pour soap. I chose the natural goat milk soap base. I have never made soap before. I could never accept the process of buying soap to make soap. It just doesn’t make since to me. 

But I did it anyway.

I placed a cut of loofah into the molds. Then I melted the soap and added a drop of fragrance. I used some soap fragrance but you can use essential oils just as well. I poured the melted soap over the loofah in the mold. I actually only filled the molds half way as I failed to get enough soap. I refused to buy anymore and made due with what I had. Once the soaps dried, I popped them out of the mold and they were ready for use.

My husband was my guinea pig. He used one for a week in the shower. He said he liked how soft it made his skin and liked the scrubby texture of the loofah. 

I want to grow more loofah this year on a bigger trellis. They were fun to watch grow and attracted lots of friendly bees. 

If you would like to grow loofah this summer, I have a few packs of loofah seeds for sale if you would like to purchase them from my  Etsy shop or contact me via email or contact form. 

The money made from these will go toward my garden fund.

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My Christmas Run Down

Wow, I am just now settling down to catch a breath after a busy Christmas. My daughter came in on Monday and left today. We did a lot of cooking and baking.

A few weeks ago I found this little cookie cutter at a thrift store. It was still in the box and had a sugar cookie recipe attached.

Since I was looking for a good sugar cookie recipe, I was tickled to find this little charm. Face it, we all need cookie cutters in the house. Could you imagine how happy the world would be if everyone baked cookies at the same time? Think about that.

We wanted to make colorful Christmas cookies like you see in pictures. I have never been good at making homemade icing, much less, cookie icing. 

After searching around on Pinterest, we found the perfect cookie icing and began mixing. After a couple hours, we had a batch of cookies. We boxed them up and handed them out to neighbors. Don’t worry, we kept a small batch. 

The cookies were easy to make and the icing was easy to make. Applying the icing to the cookies was another story. I do not think I want to ever frost a cookie again in my life. We had a bigger mess than a kindergarten class on craft day.

We also made sausage balls for breakfast. I made them this time using pimiento cheese instead of the usual sharp shredded cheese. They were delicious. 

Christmas Eve we headed to my Mom and Dads for family time, food and more sweets. Mom always makes a fruit cake. It is a favorite and we all make sure to take a piece home when we leave. I mean, just look at all that fruit and nut goodness.

My daughter and I wore matching pajamas to mom and dads Christmas eve and made everyone laugh. 

It was fun and it just sorta gave us that childhood feeling again. 

Christmas morning, we enjoyed watching our girl open her gifts. It’s just like when she was little. She will run down the hall and into the living room to see what Santa brought. He was able to get everything on her list this year. I will miss Christmas mornings like this when she gets married one day and starts her own family and traditions. Until them, I will suck up ever moment. Did I mention shes 28? 

Now It’s the day after Christmas. Our daughter has already left to go back to her uptown apartment and we spent the evening taking down the Christmas tree and all the decorations.We are quick to do this so we can get the house back in order in time for our New Years feast we prepare each year for all the family.

Do you take your Christmas decorations down early or leave them up until January?