Pressed flower soaps, birthday parties and the competitive gene

For anyone who has followed my sunflower growing this summer, it will come as no surprise when I admit that I'm, well, just a little bit.... competitive.  What can I say?  It's in my genes. I come from one of those families where Monopoly eventually had to be banned because it resulted in too much bloodshed.

Nowhere is my desire to win more apparent than in the arena of birthday parties.  Yes, I did say, birthday parties and anyone who doesn't recognise this as a competitive sport is sadly out of touch with the modern world.

This weekend I felt I was on gold-medal territory.  For my daughter's sixth birthday she wanted a make-up party and I went into overdrive.  The kitchen counter became a hair salon, the living room a walk-in-wardrobe and the kitchen table a powder room and make-up lab.

My piece de resistance?  Homemade pressed flower soaps.  Remarkably simple, yet great show-off potential in the style of 'what, this old thing?'. 

For eight small soaps, all you need is two 100g bars of pure glycerine soap which you cut into three and then melt in a plastic jug in the microwave on full power for 1.5 minutes.

After it has melted you can let the children add scent.  We used a few drops of lavender oil.  I would have loved to have made my own scent from flowers but having read Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I have, unfortunately, begun to associate such activities with homicide...

The children place their pressed garden flowers in the bottom of the soap moulds - small blossoms work well so we chose Alchemilla mollis, geranium petals and Aster 'Little Carlow'.

For the soap moulds we used an ice cube tray (anything which is pliable enough to pop out the soaps when they're set will do).  You can also add soap dyes at this point but I was on a budget so they had to make do with the au naturel look.

An adult then pours the melted soap into the moulds and afterwards more pressed flowers can be added to the top.  The soaps then go into the fridge for half an hour until they've set enough to be popped out.

The finished product should be used quite quickly as the pressed flowers will start to brown a little, but for a quick 'wow, you're the best mother in the world' fix, this works wonders.

We also created homemade chocolate lip gloss - but now I'm just showing off....

Comments

[Helen at Toronto Gardens]

Wow, you're the best mother in the world. I forgive you for the gardening tools. Please come be my mum. I should warn you, I'm a little older than you are...

[Dawn Isaac]

Not sure homemade chocolate lip gloss will even be enough to gain forgiveness for the tools, but I'm trying...
Happy to be your mum - now go to your room and do your homework - oh and don't forget to put the bins out!

[Martyn Cox]

I'm very impressed. I'm hoping to be a quite good (not necessarily best) dad this evening, when I take Louis den building in Epping Forest.

[Dawn Isaac]

Respect! I reckon if you also make a fire on which you roast a wild boar caught with your own hands you will be in with a shot for the title.

[Karen - An Artist's Garden]

Thank goodness my children are all grown up - the thought of birthday parties as a competitive sport is too much to comprehend.

What I cannot get over is a make up party at the age of 6 - I am seriously out of touch.

Your pressed flower soaps are a delight.
K

[Liz]

Haha - I remember the competetiveness of birthday parties ...... although I'm saying this with the smugness of 'the mum who won'!!! (I did ace birthday cakes and themed parties - the Harry Potter one was the best!) but I never did home made soaps and chocolate lip gloss, so I take my hat off to you as the very worthy overall winner! :)

PS> I wandered into your blog from elsewhere (but I've forgotten where I was!) and I'm very glad I did - I loved it!

[Liz]

Forgot to mention ......... if you got banned from playing Monopoly, have you ever played Risk - the world domination game?!!! (it's great - mainly because I usually win :0

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Liz - you have trumped me - I have never managed a homemade celebratory cake - it's my birthday blind spot.

Ah yes, Risk - the only board game found in Saddam's palace... Luckily we were ignorant of this as children otherwise the warfare may have become a little too realistic.

And thank you so much for the kind words - and for taking the time to read my ramblings.

[Icklebabe_com]

Wow! this birthday party lark has got tough since i had my first (she is just coming up to 14, makes me feel so old!) we just used to invite kids around for pass the parcel and dodgy sainsbos barbie cake... I have new little baby girl so am now scared! ;))

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Karen - It's a scary world - you're best off out of it!

Icklebabe - be afraid, be very afraid...

[JamesA-S]

What? no celebratory cake? Thank goodness there is a small chink in your perfectly pressed gingham armour.
I sculpted a remarkably lifelike dinosaur for my son's fifth birthday party (years ago). We even made our own fondant icing. A very sticky process.

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

More chinks than armour, but I talk a good game...

I have been sub-contracting my cake creations to the lovely Mr Waitrose, but I now realise I should have been commissioning Maison Alexander-Sinclair - look out Jane Asher is all I can say, your cake crown is in jeoparday

[Jo]

I'm hoping that I'm at the end of my party hosting days now. My daughter has just started high school, so surely she won't want a party next year. I've got until July to work on her.
The soaps are a great idea. I might have a go at those myself.
By the way, I've just read through your blog from the beginning and it's a great read. So many ideas for parents of younger kids than mine. Oh how I wish I had those days back again. I think it was Oscar's first day at school yesterday, wasn't it? I hope everything went well.

[flowers to Philippines]

That is looks adorable,It's perfect to used as souvenir in the party.

~Ashley~

[Liz@VioletPosy]

You deserved to win for those they are gorgeous. I have another batch of soap to make this weekend, I know what I'll be putting in them now :)

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Liz - you can also add small plastic toys to the centre of the soap - although that would obviously have less of a horticultural theme!

[florist Philippines]

Pressed flowers is a great idea to give as souvenir.

~Ashley