Last week  I made my most ambitious soap to date and I was finally able to slice it. It turned out better than I hoped! This colorful design, scented with cannabis flower fragrance oil, was made using one of my favorite soap making techniques, the drop swirl. This technique simply involves pouring alternate colors of soap directly into the mold in a back and forth motion. Check out this video from Modern Soapmaking to see how it’s done. Soaps made using this technique are like snowflakes, no two are ever alike. And there is no way to know what the soap will look like until you slice it.

Handmade soap

There are so many creative soap makers that inspire us. Check out some of our favorite finds on Pinterest! (Are we pinning buddies there? We should be.)

• Rocking the stars – Lynnz Artisan Soaps and Candles used a beautiful color combination for this drop swirl.
• French lavender & litsea – I love the simplicity of this soap from Tree Frog Soaps.
• Sun kissed – This might be my next challenge! Handmade in Florida dropped melt and pour soap into their cold process soap. The result looks like stained glass!

Good, clean fun

If you’re not following us on Twitter, here’s some of the fun you missed:

• Help an urban bird – Cities are home to 20% of the world’s bird species. These innovative bird house give them a helping hand.
• How did this happen? – I didn’t plant anything in my fire pit this year so the four different types of squash that are now growing out of it where a happy surprise. I suspect the seeds came from my composting efforts.
• Setting your face on fire for beauty – Don’t try this at home. Actually, don’t try this at all. It just seems dangerous.

Previous musings from Emmet Street you might have missed

Instead of setting your face on fire, try a simple cucumber yogurt face mask. You’re face will feel refreshed and your skin will actually feel tighter. While you let the cooling mask do it’s work, sip on a delicious glass of water infused with cucumber, lime & mint.