It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas...

...which is discombobulating, because it's still 95 degrees outside.  C'mooooonnnnn, Fall!

Here's a sneak peek at my holiday themed soaps, which will be available in late October:

ooo, shiny!

That's We Three Kings in the back and O Tannenbaum in the front.  I'm quite pleased with how the color turned out in O Tannenbaum -- I was going for a "blue spruce" effect, and chromium oxide blended with some blue-grey mica turned out really nice.

Now, you've heard of "comfort food?" Next up is "comfort soap":

Pumpkin Pie

Click on the picture to make it bigger -- see the little speckles throughout?  That's ground oatmeal.  It soothes the skin, provides gentle exfoliation, and because of its natural linoleic acid content, the lather is that much fluffier!  Don't worry, Jess, I'm saving you a bar.

And now for the party shelf:

On the left, Apple Cider.  On the right, Cranberry.  The guest linen closet smells AMAZING, I have to tell you.

Just don't expect to find any linens.

4 Down, 1 to Go

The Pumpkin Pie batch has just been insulated and put to bed for the overnight gel stage.  The ground oatmeal in it smells like comforting carbohydrates, ha ha!

The Apple Cider bars turned out fantastic -- it's the coolest swirl I've done yet.

The Cranberry soap is still in a 10-pound loaf, waiting to be cut into bars.

Monday I'll make the pièce de résistance -- O Tannenbaum, which smells like a blue spruce with the color to match.

I'll have pictures for you Friday!

Now, where on earth am I going to store another 160 bars of soap?