Etsy Twitter Team Back to School Sale

The Etsy Twitter Team is having a back to school sale now through September 7th. Have a look and see if you find anything you need. Aquarian Bath is offering a free lip balm with the purchase of 2 lip balms of equal or lesser value during the sale. Just leave a comment with your 3rd balm during check out. Not sure what to try, how about my Fever Blister Balm as one of your choices? This is a very cooling and soothing balm with Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemon Balm and St. John's Wort, made especially for people with lip sores.


Be sure to check out the Etsy Twotter blog for all the other great offers. I especially like these tote bags from HandMadeBySandi. Mention 10% off using "Back to School" in Notes to Seller. Sandi will donate portion of proceeds to Back to School items for kids!

The Fair Share Garden Progress Report

I am relaxing after a busy morning at the Fair Share garden. We accomplished a lot today. The most exciting part for me was planting two of my Neem trees that have out grown their pots. They were about 4 or 5 feet tall. When I first got them they were tiny in a flat rate priority box. I was inspired to plant them in the ground after a friend told me that his Neem tree on Daytona Beachside grew so huge than he had to cut it all the way back so that it would not over shade his other plants. I believe he said that the trunk was about six inches across. I had been under the impression that Neem was too sensitive to withstand Central Florida winters. I'm very happy to know that it can go directly into the ground and be left uncovered during the winter.

Joel, Jason, and Moira did a great job planting.


Here is one of the Neem trees, planted, watered and in it's new home in the Fair Share Herb Spiral. Neem is an amazing medicinal tree from India which has a number of uses. I use neem oil, primarily in salves and in my Neem Oil Shampoo Bar that I formulated for people with dandruff and other scalp problems.


In addition to planting the Neem trees Jason also added the dates to the Sundial.


This morning the videographer from Project Hope also dropped in to finish the B-footage for the final shoot at the garden. Project Hope is producing a half-hour documentary on how to plant a vegetable garden. This film will be distributed freely to promoting backyard gardens as a way to stretch food budgets during hard times. Moira and I both had a few minutes on camera. You may only see my hands picking pumpkins or beans, but Moira had a very important role demonstrating to kids how to eat yard long beans fresh out of the garden.

We also had a chance to make plans for the upcoming Hallowgreen event which will be taking place October 31st in Daytona Beach. There will be a number of kids activities and fun. Be sure to check back later for details.

Fair Share also has a new website. You can check it out at WeDigFaireShare.org. The website is complete with a blog and links to our new Twitter page, Facebook Fan page, and Facebook Cause page. Please feel welcome to join us!

Activity of the Day: I Just Made a New Soap Mold!

I'm so proud of myself. I just made a new soap mold. It was a little bit of an afterthought, because my main project of the morning was to make plant presses. I figured that I might as well pick up the materials for a redundant mold while I was at the hardware store though. This is the second soap mold that I have made. My husband helped me with the first mold, but my design for that one was a bit awkward. That one works, but it is kind of bulky. I use it for double and triple batches. I designed the new one based on a similar one that I had purchased, which is simple and easy to use. This one is just a bit deeper that the other small mold I have. This mold will be used mostly for small batches of soap.



Moira was my helper today. She is my sanding specialist who is also learning to build craft projects at Home Depot. Home Depot has a great program to offer free kid's craft projects the first Saturday of the month.



This mold is perfect for making bars that fit nicely into Kraft soap boxes. Putting soaps into boxes is Moira's other big thrill. She is my #1 employee!



Visit Aquarian Bath on Etsy.

Public Service Announcement: ALL True Bar Soap is Made with Sodium Hydroxide AKA Lye

Soap is created through a chemical reaction called saponification. Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into soap. Sodium hydroxide or "lye" (NaOH) is a caustic (alkali) base. During saponification the alkali base such reacts with a fatty acid side chain of an ester molecule from a fat or oil. Oils and fats are fatty esters in the form of triglycerides. When Sodium Hydroxide is used a hard soap is formed. The alkali (OH group) breaks the ester bond and releases the fatty acid salt and glycerol. The fatty acid salt has a hydrophobic (water fearing) and a hydrophilic (water loving) end. In this way the molecule (soap) can mix with oils or water to act as emulsifiers thereby mixing with water and oils to clean. Many people ask if soap can be made with out lye OR claim that true soap can be made without lye. The answer is no, true soap cannot be made without using lye.

Modern cold process soap making yields a glycerin-rich soap. This kind of soap was once called 'lye soap'. Many people think of lye soap is unpleasant and harsh to use. This is because in the past people made soap with too much lye, and it remained in the bar of soap irritating the skin. Without the scientific data and scales available today, the soap makers of the past approximated the amount of lye to add to the fats. If not enough lye was added, the mixture was soft and not usable. If too much lye was added, some extra lye would remain in the soap but the soap could be used. Therefore, the preference was to add extra lye to ensure the soap would be usable. Using modern calculations and methods, when made correctly, no lye remains in the bar of soap.

All bar soaps and shampoo bars are made at AquarianBath are made with Sodium Hydroxide.

Happy Art Day! Enjoy A Few Beautiful Artists

The second Friday of August is Art Day! I hope you can take some time today to appreciate or create some art! I would like to take this day to celebrate some of the talented artists I know. I hope these works will brighten your day.

I love dragon flies. This is a mixed media paperweight by Pimp and Paint. Be sure to check out her beautiful blog.


Below a print by Tamara Garvey of Savannah Georgia: Sapphire Sky with Birch Forest.

The beach photograph is one of Barbara Gordon's Aquamarine Dreams photos. I love all of her beach photography.

Below is a photo by a local artist Buddy Hatcher from the Art Consortium Group that I belong to. We show together the first Friday of the month in Daytona Beach on Beach Street. This Blue Heron shot was taken at the Port Orange Bridge. Buddy has this image available as a photograph matted or framed or as a print on a canvas.