I started making soap a little over a year ago.  In the beginning, I was a literal "soap making fool", making so many batches I could have supplied a small army. 

As the novelty wore off, I started making soap on an as-needed basis, settling on two basic types.  My favorite is an all-olive oil castille with no scent or color.  Hubby's favorite is a veggie/lard combo scented with whatever herbal essential oils I have on hand, and reinforced with ground oatmeal for scrubbiness.  I've found coffee grounds make a really scrubby soap that is good for handwashing, but I find it too harsh for body soap.

I found a lot of good recipes at www.millersoap.com as well as www.soapdishforum.com.

Here is my latest batch, a mostly veggie soap with a bit of leftover lard thrown in because I had it.  According to my soap calculator program, it is around 5% lye discounted.  My last batch was a bit TOO fatty, according to hubby.  Hopefully this one is better, otherwise I'll have to grate it for laundry soap.  I use a 24" length of 4" diameter black pvc pipe lined with freezer paper as a mold; I'm not concerned about appearances (note the uneven bar sizes) but handling a tube of soap is easier for me than a flat sheet of soap. 

The other photo is the ceramic-over-steel pot I use to mix, my spoon and the hand mixer.  I usually wipe everything off right after pouring, which is a real mess.  I read somewhere to just let the soap "slurry" dry until it becomes soap, so I waited a week and then added water.  After about 1/2 hour of soaking, everything is coming out spotless, and with a lot less effort than when I try cleaning it when the soap is still wet.