My third class will be melt and pour soap-making. I’ve been making soap on and off for 17 years. My first bars were cold process castille soap. I started soap making shortly after my youngest grandchild was born. Since the other three live 900 miles away, I was determined to be a part of this child’s life.

One thing I wanted was to make certain she had good soap without additives and strong scents. I’m mostly scent free, except for a few scents such as lavender, cedar and saffron, and mint which I find pleasant enough. When I make soap for others, I tend to use the first two and the mint is used with chocolate to make a chocolate-mint soap.

I do have other scents that I use for cleaning and as all purpose air- freshening. But most of my soaps for my use are unscented or lavender. When I give soaps as gifts, I use other fragrances that most people find pleasant. Those are made in small batches.

Back to my class, hopefully I will have all eight slots filled – there has been a good response so far. The class is going to be held in November at the maker space I belong to. Offering classes is a way we engage other members and teach them new skills.

There are classes offered every week in every area of the shop -woodturning, ceramics, hot glass, and others. All the classes are taught by members skilled in the use of the tools and materials. We are all volunteers and no limit is put on how many classes or what we can charge for our expertise.

I usually just charge small fee for time and materials, while some of the others are actively supplementing their income. At the end of the year, the person who is in charge of posting the classes will send out any tax forms that we need to report our class income. This year, I will probably be at the limit and will get a 1099. No biggie, I always report my sales and income.