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Books and Articles by Kelly Ewing
Kelly Ewing is a writer and editor who lives in the wonderful community of Fishers, Indiana, with her husband Mark, her daughter Katie, her son Carter, and furry canine friend Cheyenne. She has coauthored several books, including The Internet All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, and Direct Mail For Dummies. She has ghostwritten several books and edited more than 75 books on a variety of topics. She also writes articles on sports, travel, and human interest for several newspapers. In her spare time — when she can find it! — she enjoys spending time with her kids, reading, walking, writing, scrapbooking, cooking, and doing crafts.
Articles & Books From Kelly Ewing
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-17-2022
If you want to make your own candles and soaps, you need shopping lists for the basic ingredients for both. Get to know the types of candles you can make: tapers, pillars, or votives — the varieties abound. And when you make soaps, you'll want to know how to fix common problems that affect the appearance and what causes them.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Making candles and soaps at home doesn't call for an arsenal of expensive supplies. Here's a list of essentials candle-making materials you'll need to create your own tapers, pillars and votives:
Double boiler: You can improvise by placing a smaller pot on a trivet inside a larger pot.
Mold: You can buy fancy metal molds at your local craft store, or you can use household items, such as metal cans or yogurt cups.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Homemade tapers candles are an easy, elegant gift idea for Christmas. Whether you make the taper candles short or tall, the candle-dipping process is straightforward: You dip both ends of a wick into melted wax, let cool, and repeat about 20 to 30 times. You don’t do anything special to create the tapered look; it just naturally happens.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Making your own soap, like making your own candles, doesn’t require a lot of supplies. When making melt-and-pour soap, you can get by pretty inexpensively. Follow this list to know the important supplies for soapmaking..
Double boiler or microwave: You need a heat source to melt your soap, so a double boiler is ideal.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
If you’re making candles, you may wonder what each type of candle is called. After all, candles come in a large variety of shapes and sizes. This list helps demystify the terminology:
Container: Container candles burn in the actual container that you pour them into. In essence, the container is your mold.
Pillar: Pillar candles are sturdy and thick.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Sometimes, your finished homemade soaps just don't look right. Disappointment is natural, but chances are you can still use and enjoy soaps you've made. You'll want to make your soaps to look their best, though, for gift-giving and for selling. Check out this list of common appearance problems and how to solve them.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Homemade soaps of layered colors and scents make wonderful gifts — especially if they've been custom-designed for the recipient. In a layered soap, you alternate colors and scents, all in the same bar. Although they look like you spent a lot of time making them, these visually appealing soaps are a snap to create.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Melt-and-pour soaps are so easy to make that you'll always have a stash of ready-made, homemade gifts on hand. To make melt-and pour soap, you begin with soap base from a craft store. Simply cut off the amount of soap base you need, chop it into cubes, and melt them in the microwave. Melt-and-pour soap is naturally translucent, so you can easily create a clear bar of soap.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Scented homemade soaps make great Christmas gifts. If you prefer not to use caustic chemicals while making soap, then hand-milled soaps are your answer. The only special tool that you really need is a hand grater.
The advantages of hand-milling soap are many:
You don’t have to work with lye.
You can buy a bar of your favorite commercial soap at your local grocery store.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Homemade bath oil is a simple gift idea that's easy on the budget. Vary scents and colors to please different friends; combine the bath oil with bath salts and massage oil to make a complete gift basket.
If you want a little lather in your bath, consider buying liquid soap bases to create lather and adding scent, colorings, and your favorite oils.
