Soap-Making Workshop at Horne Creek Living Historical Farm

PINNACLE, N.C. -- Handmade soaps make wonderful gifts and add a touch of luxury to your bath. People who want to learn the basics to begin crafting their own natural soaps can get a crash course on the subject at Horne Creek Farm's Soap-Making Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 28.

The course will be taught by Mary Colman, goat farmer and soap maker at Pinnacle Hills Goat Farm. She and her husband Brian started their farm almost eight years ago, with two Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goat doe kids and a Great Pyrenees puppy. She started making goat milk soap about a year later because she had many skin issues, particularly itching.

Colman's very first batch was oatmeal honey goat milk soap, hand stirred for at least an hour. She explained, "It actually turned out really nice and from that first bar of soap I learned how good goat milk was for my skin. Did you know that goat's milk has over 50 nutrients, minerals, acids and enzymes? Vitamins A, C, B1, B12 and E? Goat milk has a pH level similar to that of human skin. It is gentle and soothing and leaves your skin feeling silky smooth."

Since that day, Colman has made thousands of bars of soap which she and her husband sell from their farm website www.pinnaclehillsgoatfarm.com. You can also find her and information on her products on Facebook.

She is active with the Surry County Farmers Market, serves on the market's board and is a well-known vendor at the farmers markets in Elkin, Dobson and Mount Airy. Colman is also a fixture at events at Horne Creek Living Historical farm, often bringing along a goat or two to showcase their role in her products. Her soaps can be found for sale in the Horne Creek Farm gift shop year-round.

Making an easy two-vegetable oil soap the old-fashioned cold process way using distilled water, lye, and ingredients found in the grocery store, will be demonstrated in the workshop. At the end of class, all participants will take home a bar of soap and handouts on soap making. Class size limited to 10 people. Participants must be 16 and older and costs $20 per person, plus 7% sales tax ($21.40). Pre-registration is required. The class will be held in the visitor center at Horne Creek Farm 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For additional information and to enroll, please call (336) 325-2298. Horne Creek Farm is located at 308 Horne Creek Farm Rd., Pinnacle, N.C. It is within the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.