Hearty Soap & Other Esthetically Pleasing Items

Valentines Day is coming. Are you aware? One time, not so long ago I got a card from the dear husband that basically said "Although you snore like a chain saw, I still love you." This was all I got. I can't remember if I received this cherry of a card for our Anniversary or for Valentine's Day, regardless it left a lasting impression. Needless to say, I was completely unimpressed. He has learned that a insensitive card is not adequate. I honestly can say that if I got a dirty or funny card now it would be different, at the time though (when I hardly saw him due to school and work) it was not appropriate.

Over the years we have become more mature and we don't make as big of a deal about gifts as we use to. When I say "we" I mean me. Clearly, as stated above, he was never big on gift giving (:

I have always had a sour feeling towards Valentines Day. I explained this feeling in last years post. Although I never really liked Valentine's Day, I do find it an important holiday. It is easy to forget the people that are constants in our lives. How easy it is to take advantage of them. I love that you can set a day aside to do something out of the ordinary to spread a little extra love around.

This last week I tried to explain this concept to the boys in my scouts den meeting. We talked about Valentine's Day and all but one thought girls were disgusting. After getting past the cooties conversation we discussed our Moms and Grandmas and how much we love and appreciate them and how much they would enjoy something made from the heart. It is easy to go buy a bag of cheap candy, but it really shows how much you appreciate them when you make something. I decided that we would make some soap. It was so simple and they had a blast with it.

First we started with some glycerin squares. Melt it slowing in a pot on the stove. You can also choose to use a double boiler. We then added some fragrance (they chose from coconut or cucumber melon). After they added way too much fragrance, we added some coloring. The boys were split up into 2 groups. The one group that I was able to persuade did a lovely pink color. The other boys did yellow. We then poured the melted smelly soap into silicon heart molds. Then we had some heart confetti that we pushed down into the soap with spoons. We placed them into the freezer.

While the soap cooled down we made Valentines for whomever we were giving the soap to. The boys all gave them to different people in their lives: Moms, Grandmas, cousins, girlfriend......the last boy did one for his dog. "Are you sure you want to give your soap to your Dog? I mean, wouldn't your Grandma love to receive it?" He quickly responded, "Nah, if you want, I will ask my Grandma to help me wash the dog. That way she can smell it. Does that count?"

The soap was completely hardened just after about 20 minutes. They came out easily and looked great. The boys were excited to take them home. I hope whomever receives them are as equally excited.

 What are you doing for Valentine's Day? The Husband and I will be at Scouts til around 8:00 so I don't think we will be doing much besides gazing at each other in our uniforms. Have you made any fun crafts for this lovey dovey holiday? Here are some fun ones I found on Pinterest.

Adorable Window Dots}Noodlehead

1} Craftoholics Anonymous
2} Pinterest
3} Martha Stewart 
4} My Yellow Sandbox
5} papernstitch
6} Good Housekeeping
7} Tip Junkie
8} Bits of Everything
9} Good Housekeeping

                                                      Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!