crafting with grandma - Easy 10-Minute Homemade Pumpkin Soap

I believe one of the important things we need to teach our grandchildren is to be people who are tender-hearted, kind, and who are quick to encourage others. We do this by modeling what it means to be gracious people who watch for opportunities to lift the spirits of those with whom we come in contact. As they see us do this, they will better understand how they are able to be people who brighten the day of those around them.

One way we do this, is to involve our grandchildren in making small items which they can learn to have on hand, so when they are invited to a friend's house for dinner, they know to take a small gift to their friend's mother as a way to say, "thank-you" for the invite. Or, when they see their teacher at school has had a difficult day, they know to write a note saying what they appreciate and then possibly leave it with a small item they made. Or, when they visit an elderly neighbor, they know to bring a small item to just brighten their neighbor's day; something which will remind them they are not forgotten.

These small items may be simple things like flowers, a picture they drew, or cookies or bread they helped to make. Or it might be something like a bar of homemade soap. This morning as I browsed Pinterest I found a recipe for a simple homemade pumpkin soap which only takes ten minutes to make!

You'd need to buy the supplies for making the soap, but should be able to find them at any craft store. This project sounds simple enough for your grandchildren to make with your help - be careful, the melted soap will be hot - but the finished soap will be easy to keep on hand for those times when your grandchildren need some small, simple item which they then use to brighten the day of others!

They would also make great gifts for Christmas - which is only 100 days away, their mom's birthday, or just because! You'll find the recipe with photo tutorial at this link - I think this soap would brighten anyone's day as it seems like it will smell wonderful!

Enjoy!