If you check your books it should give the size on a "standard" wooden box soap mold (makes 28 bars, about 3.5 oz, if I remember correctly), maybe something like 12" x 10" x 4". Remember you need something you can comfortably be able to cover for about 24 hrs to insulate it & keep the heat in, & still be able to cut decent sized bars. I think my reciped called for something like 2-3 lbs of vegetable shortening, plus the oil, water, & lye. Then I just added rose fragrance oil at trace, poured & covered, wrapped & let set.(I wanted to peek so badly, but I waited....) Best of luck! Hazel

I agree with pistil. Add more fragrance oil. I must tell you, though, that I make candles and I have quite a collection of fragrance oils. All of mine are safe for wax and soap/bath products. However, I have found that some of my candle scents that smell wonderful in my candles smell terrible, and I mean terrible, in soap! I am not sure why, unless its the difference in the chemical composition. One that comes to mind is BitterCreek's Water Blossom Ivy. It is a wonderful fragrance that smells great in a candle. It is a fragrance that would be a great soap smell, so I thought I'd give it a try. I used the clear glycerin base. It smelled horrible, no matter how much fragrance oil I put in. The only way I salvaged it was by remelting and using another fragrance oil. So, it may not be you, it may be the particular fragrance oil you are using. Don't give up! Keep experimenting! Susan

Sorry it took so long to get back. There are several essential oil which pregnant women should avoid during pregnany, such as, peppermint, which is a stimulant and used to get labor going. Eucalyptus and Rosemary are also recommended to not use during pregancy. Lavender is used to relax and calm and is used during labor sometimes to calm. Lye, as we all know, is caustic and should not be inhaled even if you are not pregnant. It is a chemical so it should be used very carefully pregnant or not. I am opting to not use during pregnancy, my DH gets to make the CP soap right not :) Regarding FO, they are synthetic chemicals as well and there is not much out there on guidelines on use during pregnancy, I am trying to touch it as little as possible, wearing latex gloves etc. There is so much out there today that can already be harmful during pregnancy that I don't want to add anything else which may harm the developing fetus. Another EO pregnant women should avoid is Pennyroyal (for that matter most women should avoid it) it can actually change your menstrual cycle etc. I am going to read up some more on EO etc during pregancy if I find anything interesting I will post. Elle

Cheri, crayon wax doesn't work well with any wick. Crayons aren't the best option for colouring candles as they make the flame last for a shorter time than expected. You can get good pigment but it doesn't function well for candles. Try looking for candle colorants which are liquid or you could use candle colour blocks. A colour block is basically candle wax (no wick) mixed with A LOT of pigment. It is a very strongly pigmented chunk of wax. You cut bits of and melt them into your candle wax. Both methods work well.