Handmade Soaps for Mother’s Day

What do you give the mom who has everything?  She has the best daughter in the world what more could she want?  I say that in jest.  She does have a pretty great daughter, but I would not be one without her.  My mother instilled my love of being an individual and desire to create unique gifts that are tailored to fit the recipient.  This year for Mother’s day the kids made her a hand painted flower pot and I still wanted to make her something from me.  She is in the middle of redecorating her bathroom and that is where I got the idea to make her bars of hand soap.

Supplies:

• Soap Molds
• Soap Base
• Soap Dyes
• Fragrance
• Glass Containers or a Double Boiler
• Oven Mitts
• Spoons

Directions:

Place cubes of soap to be melted in glass containers.  Place in the microwave.  Heat for 30 second increments until melted.  My microwave needed about 20 seconds to melt one cube.

Once the cubes are melted add the color to the soap.  Start by adding a few drops and stir.  Add additional drops to create the desired color.

Pour small amount in the depression in the mold. Fill to the top of the first level.  Allow soap to cool slightly.  This will prevent comingling of the colors.

Repeat this step for each of the bar molds.

Once the molds are all cooled, you will need to melt additional soap to fill the remainder of the molds.  I add the fragrance at this time.  You could add it to the first layers of the soap.

Fill mold to the top and allow to cool , for approximately one hour then de-mold.

 You will want to repeat this step for each of the bars.

Once you have all of the bars unmolded, place them on a pretty tray. There you have it, beautiful soap that smells great, is very pretty and extremely easy to clean up.  Since it is soap all you have to do for cleanup is to run under hot water.  I must say this was one of the cleanest and best smelling projects I have ever created.  I will most certainly do it again.  The colorant and  the fragrance can be used multiple times and the molds can be reused too.

NikiMeiners

Niki is known for her distinctive, high quality creations that feature a diverse mix of styles and highly creative approach to even the smallest detail. Her creations are simultaneously beautiful and functional.

Visit her site at www.365daysofcrafts.com or her blog, Niki Meiners – Live a Life Handmade at www.nikimeiners.wordpress.com