Search Results for: alcohol

New Year’s Eve Party Favors!

December 21, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Wash Away 2009 – Hidden Surprise Soap

The idea with this fun project is to wash away 2009 and start fresh and clean in 2010. I originally got this hidden surprise soap idea from Soapylove’s Halloween tutorial. For this project, I painted 2009 on top of the soap so it would wash away in the first use. After 3-4 washes, 2010 will slowly appear to ring in the new year! This fab soap is appropriately scented with our bubbly, Champagne Fragrance Oil! I’m posting this a little earlier than New Year’s so you have time to make these favors for your friends and family.

Ingredients

Clear Melt and Pour
White Melt and Pour
Champagne Fragrance Oil
Basic Rectangle
Light Gold Mica
Heavy Metal Gold
Brownie Pan
Craft KnifeSoap Paint
2 parts Liquid Soap
1 part Clear Melt & Pour Base
1 part Rubbing Alcohol
1 part Light Gold Mica

ONE: Melt 5 ounces of white soap base in the microwave (in 30 second intervals) and pour the soap into the brownie pan mold. Spritz with rubbing alcohol to eliminate bubbles. Let cool for 15 minutes.
TWO: Once the soap has cooled, release it from the soap mold and place it on a cutting board. Use your craft knife to cut out the numbers 2010. You can either trace them using this technique or cut them by hand. I printed out 2010 from a Word document and traced the numbers. Set the numbers aside to use later. Hint: Bigger, more bold, sans serif fonts are easiest to trace. Oh, and no coffee before cutting. The shaking won’t add to the smooth look of the numbers.

Variation: Want to shave some time off of this project? Try using cookie cutters to cut out the numbers or our Alphabet Mold to easily create your soapy numbers.

THREE: Melt 4 ounces of clear soap base in the microwave (in 30 second intervals). Mix in 1 ml of Champagne Fragrance Oil and 2 heaping pigment scoops of Heavy Metal Gold Mica. Mix well.

FOUR: Pour thin thin 1/8 inch layer into one rectangle cavity and spray with rubbing alcohol. Let the thin layer cool in the mold which should only take about 5 minutes. While this layer is cooling, frequently stir the remaining soap so it doesn’t form a skin; we’ll be using it soon.

FIVE: Spritz the first layer of soap with rubbing alcohol and pour another thin layer of soap on top. Spritz your numbers with rubbing alcohol and place them into the thin layer of soap. Let the soap cool for about 5 minutes. Then fill the mold up the rest of the way with your gold soap.

Hint: The numbers should look backwards and read from right to left when you put them in the soap (we don’t want backwards numbers in our final product).

SIX: For a finishing touch, paint 2009 on the top of the soap to be washed away. After a couple of uses, 2010 will appear into soap giving you a “clean” start into 2010.

Soap Paint: In a small mixing bowl, combine 2 parts liquid soap, 1 part clear melt and pour soap, 1 part rubbing alcohol, 1 part Light Gold Mica. Heat in the microwave for 15 second, mix well and start painting. Check out our Soap Paint tutorial HERE.

Did you notice my little penguin friend giving me a hand? Check out his other penguin friends here. They are just too cute for words!

Soapylove Tutorial: Checkered Cookie Soaps

December 14, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

On this very rainy and chilly day, baking cookies sounds like the perfect project. But there’s just one problem – the last thing I really need right now is a jar full of cookies staring at me. As Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist anything, except temptation.” So today I’m bringing you the fun and satisfaction of iced cookies without the calories (or the dough that refuses to roll out nicely!). Enjoy!

Supplies:
1 lb Naturally Clear Soap Base
Sweet Treats Colorant Set
Delectable Desserts Fragrance Set
Soap Injector Tool
Checkered Heart Mold
Pyrex cup, 4 small mugs or cups
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol, knife, cutting board

Directions:
1. Fill one cup half full with hot water.

2. Now melt 1 oz of soap base in a cup (15 seconds in the microwave). Stir in a few drops of Pink Frosting colorant, then a drop or 2 of White Icing colorant. Draw up some soap in your injector tool and very gently fill the checker indentations.

TIP: If you spray the mold with alcohol before you start filling the squares, the soap will flow into the corners much easier.

3. When done, squeeze excess soap back into mug, then draw up hot water to clean.

4. Repeat for other colors, using Buttercream Yellow and White Icing colors. Any pattern looks great – you can’t mess up!

5. Allow to harden. If you dripped onto any squares accidentally, use a toothpick or skewer to pick soap off. If the edges seem harsh, use your finger to smooth the soap lines back down.

6. Now melt 12 oz of clear soap base. Color with several drops of Buttercream Yellow. You don’t want to start with Bakery Beige because sugar cookies are a soft color. Add one drop of Bakery Beige to get a more tan tone. It’s better to be light in this case. Now add 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Frosting fragrance oil and stir well.

7. Let the soap cool to 120 degrees. Then spray your checkered soap with alcohol and pour in beige soap. Only fill half way so they’re more like real cookies. Allow soaps to harden overnight and pop out.

Put these in pretty treat bags and tie with ribbon. Your friends will LOVE this no-calorie surprise!

-Debbie, Soapylove

Candy Cane Soap Tutorial

December 11, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Are you having guests over this Christmas? Sneak these Candy Cane Soaps into the guest bathroom for holiday ambiance. Just tell the little ones not to eat them, they look and smell like the real thing.

This project involves mixing melt and pour with glycerin to give it a softer, pliable texture. As soon as the soap is cool enough to handle, it’s cut into strips and molded into candy cane shapes. Timing is crucial for this project. Once you pour the soap into the mold, don’t walk away! The cooler and harder the soap, the more difficult it is to mold.

Once you start twisting and molding the candy canes, work quickly. We recommend having a soaping buddy for this process. If the slab of soap becomes too cold, it becomes very difficult to twist the soap without breaking.

Ingredients
6″ Silicone Slab Mold

7 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Soap

3 oz. White Melt and Pour Soap

2 mL Peppermint Essential Oil

1 oz. Liquid Glycerin

Red Mica
Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter
99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

ONE: Melt 3 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 10 second bursts. Add 1 mL of peppermint essential oil and 0.5 ounces of liquid glycerin. Stir together. Pour the soap into the mold and spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to eliminate bubbles. Let the layer cool for about 5 minutes. If the soap has a skin on top that can support more soap, it’s ready for the next layer.

TWO: Melt 3 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Base in the microwave using 10 second bursts. Add 1 mL of Peppermint Essential Oil and 0.5 ounces of liquid glycerin. Stir together. Add about 1/16 teaspoon of the Red Mica and mix together. Once the red soap has cooled to 125 degrees F, spritz the white layer of soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol and pour the red soap into the mold. Let the soap cool for about 5 minutes.

THREE: Once the soap has cooled enough to unmold but is still warm, remove it from the mold and place it on a cutting board. With a craft knife and ruler, cut the soap into thin strips.

My creation

FOUR: Place two of the freshly cut soap strands on top of each other (so they look like a checkered board) and squish them together as much as possible.

FIVE: Gently twist the soap and curl the top so it looks like a candy cane. Timing is very important. You need to work quickly to mold the candy canes while the soap is still pliable. You’ll have about 5 minutes to do all of the twisting before the soap gets too hard to be pliable and breaks.

SIX: Once all the candy canes have been twisted, melt 4 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base using 10 second bursts. Mix in about 1/4 teaspoon of Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter. Feel free to add more glitter if you prefer. Dip the candy canes in the sparkly soap. Then, you can either lay the soap flat on a silicone mold to dry, or create a “hanging contraption” as shown below to allow the soap to drip off. Allow the soap to fully cool and harden. Enjoy!

Candy Cane Drying Contraption: We came up with a silly contraption to dry our candy canes, and you probably have the supplies in your home to make one too. We used 2 medium sized jars (or mugs), a ruler, a chopstick (or skewer) and salt to weight the jars so they don’t tip over.

Candy Cane Soap Tutorial

These candy cane soaps look and smell just like the real thing!

Author: Soap Queen

Recipe type: melt and pour

Ingredients

6" Silicone Slab Mold
7 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Soap
3 oz. White Melt and Pour Soap
2 mL Peppermint Essential Oil
1 oz. Liquid Glycerin
Red Mica
Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter
99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle

Instructions

Melt 3 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 10 second bursts. Add 1 mL of peppermint essential oil and 0.5 ounces of liquid glycerin. Stir together. Pour the soap into the mold and spritz with 99% isopropyl alcohol to eliminate bubbles. Let the layer cool for about 5 minutes. If the soap has a skin on top that can support more soap, it's ready for the next layer.
Melt 3 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Base in the microwave using 10 second bursts. Add 1 mL of Peppermint Essential Oil and 0.5 ounces of liquid glycerin. Stir together. Add about 1/16 teaspoon of the Red Mica and mix together. Once the red soap has cooled to 125 degrees F, spritz the white layer of soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol and pour the red soap into the mold. Let the soap cool for about 5 minutes.
Once the soap has cooled enough to unmold but is still warm, remove it from the mold and place it on a cutting board. With a craft knife and ruler, cut the soap into thin strips (about ¼ inches or smaller).
Place two of your freshly cut soap strands on top of each other (so they look like a checkered board) and squish them together as much as possible.
Gently twist the soap and curl the top so it looks like a candy cane. Timing is very important. You need to work quickly to mold the candy canes while the soap is till pliable. You'll have about 5 minutes to do all of your twisting before the soap gets too hard to be pliable and just breaks in your hands.
Once all the candy canes have been twisted, melt 4 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base and mix in about ¼ teaspoon of Fine Silver Rainbow EcoGlitter. Feel free to add more glitter if you prefer. Dip the candy canes in the sparkly soap. Then, you can either lay the soap flat on a silicone mold to dry, or create a "hanging contraption" to allow the soap to drip off.

Soapylove Technique Post: Embed Problems

November 28, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

When I was working on the latest Soap Queen tutorial for the Lucky Star Soaps, I made a batch and ran into a problem. There was a strange bubble trapped over my pretty embedded hearts. See that silvery film over them in the picture above? Well, I’m going to tell you how to avoid that and save you hours of anguish! (okay… make that “a few minutes of puzzlement.”)

The way you make the Lucky Star Soap is to pour a layer of the main color, let it set, then place an embed on the hardened layer and top off the mold. This way, the embed is floating inside the star.

The first time I made the soaps I put the embed directly on the hardened layer, then poured soap on top of it. Unfortunately, the heated soap didn’t get all the way underneath the embed, creating an air pocket. That is why there is that silvery air bubble, which is really distracting.

It’s easy to avoid this. Anytime you are placing an embed into your design, pour some heated soap in first, then place your embed into the soap, and continue to fill your mold. This way, the embed is completely encased in soap with no chance for air pockets. Another way to guarantee a seamless look is to spray your embed with alcohol before placing into the melted soap.

I have included photos of other embedded projects which use this technique. They can all be found in the “Soapylove – Squeaky Clean Projects” book. Have fun!

-Debbie, Soapylove

Glitter Cut Out Soap Tutorial

November 23, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Here’s what you’ll need
Scalloped Rectangle Mold
NOTE: The mold shown in this tutorial has been discontinued. The kit now contains the 12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold.
Wassail Fragrance Oil
Merlot Mica
Liquid Black Colorant
Liquid Brown
Clear Soap Base
Iridescent Glitter
Your Choice of Micas
Leaf PDF OR Leaf Cookie Cutters
Hair Spray
Craft Knife

ONE: Melt 4 ounces of clear melt and pour soap and mix in 1 ml of Bramble Berry’s favorite new fragrance oil, Wassail. It smells like hot, spiced Christmas Punch and has notes of tangerine, juicy apple and orange zest spiced with ginger, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and clove. Are you drooling yet?

TWO: Stir in a couple drops of liquid black colorant and 1 mini scoop of Merlot Mica and pour the soap into 1 cavity of the scalloped rectangle mold. Allow the soap to cool for 4-6 hours

NOTE: The Scalloped Rectangle Mold has been discontinued. It has been substituted with the 12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold.

Variation: OR stir in a mini scoop of Brick Red Oxide. Try mixing the oxide with a little rubbing alcohol before adding it to the soap. This will eliminate any clumping of the colorant.

THREE: Melt 6 ounces of clear melt and pour soap and mix in 1.5 ml of Wassail fragrance oil.

FOUR: Stir in a couple drops of liquid brown colorant and pour the soap into the brownie pan tray mold. Allow the soap to cool for 20-30 minutes and pull the soap out of the mold.

FIVE: Now it’s time to make our cut outs and you have a big decision to make. Are you going to use a cookie cutter or a stencil? Below are both variations…

Using a cookie cutter: Press your cookie cutter into the soap. Pull the cookie cutter out of the soap and pop out the soap piece. Then, smooth the edges with your finger.

Using a Stencil: You can either use our PDF template or leaves you’ve collected. Cut the paper around the object and place it on the flat square of soap. Lightly cut the paper with your craft knife so it leaves an outline on the soap. Then, remove your paper and follow your original outline and cut all the way through the soap. To see this demonstrated, check out the Soap Queen TV episode on how to make monogram wedding favors.

SIX: Spritz your cut out piece with hair spray and sprinkle glitter onto the piece of soap. (Did you miss the ‘How to color glitter’ post? Click here to review it and learn how to make all kinds of fun glitter colors.) The hair spray will help the glitter stick to the soap. Dump the excess glitter into a bowl for later use.

SEVEN: Melt 1 ounce of clear melt and pour. Use a dropper and place a drop or two of melted soap in the center of your scalloped rectangle soap. Then place the glittered cut out on top of the melted soap and let cool (about 5 minutes).

EIGHT: Give the soap a final spritz with hair spray to make sure your glitter sticks.

Glitter Cut Out Soap Tutorial

These glittery soaps are perfect for fall!

Author: Soap Queen

Recipe type: Melt and Pour

Ingredients

Slim Broad Rectangle Mold
Wassail Fragrance Oil
Merlot Mica
Liquid Black Colorant
Liquid Brown
Clear Soap Base
Iridescent Glitter
Your Choice of Micas
Leaf PDF OR Leaf Cookie Cutters
Hair Spray
Craft Knife

Instructions

Melt 4 ounces of clear melt and pour soap and mix in 1 ml of Bramble Berry’s favorite new fragrance oil, Wassail. It smells like hot, spiced Christmas Punch and has notes of tangerine, juicy apple and orange zest spiced with ginger, cinnamon stick, nutmeg and clove.
Stir in a couple drops of liquid black colorant and 1 mini scoop of Merlot Mica and pour the soap into 1 cavity of the scalloped rectangle mold. Allow the soap to cool for 4-6 hours. OR stir in a mini scoop of Brick Red Oxide. Try mixing the oxide with a little rubbing alcohol before adding it to the soap. This will eliminate any clumping of the colorant.
Melt 6 ounces of clear melt and pour soap and mix in 1.5 ml of Wassail fragrance oil.
Stir in a couple drops of liquid brown colorant and pour the soap into the brownie pan tray mold. Allow the soap to cool for 20-30 minutes and pull the soap out of the mold.
Now it’s time to make our cut outs and you have a big decision to make. Are you going to use a cookie cutter or a stencil? Below are both variations.
Using a cookie cutter: Press your cookie cutter into the soap. Pull the cookie cutter out of the soap and pop out the soap piece. Then, smooth the edges with your finger.
Using a Stencil: You can either use our PDF template or leaves you’ve collected. Cut the paper around the object and place it on the flat square of soap. Lightly cut the paper with your craft knife so it leaves an outline on the soap. Then, remove your paper and follow your original outline and cut all the way through the soap. To see this demonstrated, check out the Soap Queen TV episode on how to make monogram wedding favors.
Spritz your cut out piece with hair spray and sprinkle glitter onto the piece of soap. (Did you miss the ‘How to color glitter’ post? Click here to review it and learn how to make all kinds of fun glitter colors.) The hair spray will help the glitter stick to the soap. Dump the excess glitter into a bowl for later use.
Melt 1 ounce of clear melt and pour. Use a dropper and place a drop or two of melted soap in the center of your scalloped rectangle soap. Then place the glittered cut out on top of the melted soap and let cool (about 5 minutes).
Give the soap a final spritz with hair spray to make sure your glitter sticks.

Stenciled Glitter Soap

November 20, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Here’s what you’ll need to make this versatile, easy-to-make soap:

Scalloped Rectangle Mold

(Note: This mold has been discontinued.

It has been replaced with the 12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold.)
Cranberry Fig Fragrance Oil
Merlot Mica
Liquid Black Colorant
Clear Soap Base
Leaf PDF
Hair Spray
Craft Knife

Printing your homemade stencils: Download the PDF file here or choose your own Fall design. Print the design on sticker labels. Allow the ink to dry then use your craft knife to cut out the design or lay the paper design over contact paper. Keep in mind that you will be able to use both the cut out and the silhouette for your stencil.

ONE: Melt 4 ounces of clear melt and pour soap and mix in 1 ml of your favorite fall fragrance oil (we used Cranberry Fig).

TWO: Stir in a couple drops of liquid black colorant and 1 mini scoop of Merlot Mica and pour the soap into 1 cavity of the scalloped rectangle mold. Allow the soap to cool for 3-4 hours. You can use any combination of colors so long as they are dark enough to let the glitter really shine.

(Note: The Scalloped Rectangle Mold has been discontinued. It has been replaced with the 12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold.)

Color Variation: OR stir in a mini scoop of Brick Red Oxide. Try mixing the oxide with a little rubbing alcohol before adding it to the soap. This will eliminate any clumping of the colorant.

THREE: Cut out your leaf design with a craft knife. Then remove of the backing and adhere the sticker to your soap.

FOUR: Spray the top of the soap with hair spray to make sure the glitter adheres to the soap.

FIVE: Sprinkle the soap with your colored glitter and let dry for at least 5 minutes. Do one solid color or an array of colors like I did. Get creative with this part.

SIX: Once the glitter has dried onto the soap, dump the extra glitter on the soap into a container to use for another soap or project. Then, carefully peel off the backing and marvel at your creativity. Give it another spritz with hair spray to make sure the glitter really sticks.

Soapylove Tutorial: Lucky Star Soaps

November 13, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

If you love bright colors and plastic jewelry (or did when you were a kid, like me!), then this soap project is for you!A sweet little heart is floating inside the new Soapylove stacked star.It’s simple and fun, and I bet Martha Quinn* would love them!

Makes 4 stars, instructions are for the yellow style.

Supplies:

1 lb Naturally Clearsoap base

Non-bleeding liquid red colorant

Sunshine Yellow from the Jewelry Box Colorant Set

Cherry Pop fragrance oil from the Candy Jar Fragrance Set

Stacked Star Mold

Small heart polymer or fondant cutter

Small plastic storage container or lid, approximately 6″x6″ or smaller

Knife, cutting board, bottle of rubbing alcohol, Pyrex measuring cup

Instructions:

Melt 3 oz of clear soap, color darkly with liquid red colorant. Pour into plastic storage container (or into the lid, like I did), to 1/8″-1/4″ thickness. Allow to harden and unmold.

Cut red soap sheet with heart cutter.

TIP: to prevent your cutter from splitting at the seam, wrap the seam in tape before using.

Melt 12 oz of clear soap and stir in a few drops of Sunshine Yellow colorant and Cherry Pop fragrance oil. Fill mold to second star, spray with alcohol to pop any bubbles, and allow to harden.

Remelt remaining soap if a skin has formed but make sure it’s not above 120 degrees (or too hot to touch with your bare fingertip). Spray hardened yellow soap with alcohol, then pour a thin layer of soap into the mold.

Quickly spray a red heart with alcohol and put into the hot soap. Spray again with alcohol and top off mold. Repeat for remaining cavities.

Allow to harden overnight at room temperature. Pull away sides of mold to create an air pocket, then invert and push on back until soap pops out.

For pink and purple variation, I used Sparkle Dust from the Jewelry Box Colorant Setand non-bleeding purple colorant for the hearts and stars, then Fiery Fuchsia colorant with Pink Strawberry Fragrance Oil for the soap bar. You can create another layer of soap plus an embed to add more dimension to your design, too!

*Do you remember Martha Quinn? She was a “VJ” on MTV. The good ol’ days! 😉

Have fun!
-Debbie, Soapylove

Christmas Tags – Don’t Throw ‘Em Away!

November 12, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

What do you do with all of your Christmas tags? We like to use ours!

Ingredients
Clear Soap Base
Brownie Pan Tray Mold
Liquid Green
Yellow Mica
Iridescent glitter
Merlot Mica
Red Blue Mica
Kumquat Fragrance Oil
Microwave safe container
Cutting board
Freezer or wax paper
Craft knife (exacto)
Cookie cutters (optional)

ONE: Melt 8 oz clear melt and pour soap base. For a fun lime green color, add 4 drops of Liquid Green and 1 mini scoop of Yellow Mica and mix well. Then, for an extra special touch, add 3 scoops of iridescent glitter.

TWO: Once the colors are fully mixed in, add your favorite Christmas fragrance oil. We chose Kumquat. What? You don’t get kumquats in your stocking?

THREE: Pour the soap into a brownie pan mold and let cool (approximately 20-30 minutes).

FOUR: Remove the cooled soap from the mold and place on a cutting board.

FIVE: You can use a cookie cutter or use your craft knife to cut out Christmas tag shape. Get creative and remember they don’t have to be perfect. Once you have your Christmas tag, cut out a letter or object in the middle either by hand or with a cookie cutter. Depending on the size, you should be able to get 6-8 tags out of one sheet.

SIX: For an authentic Christmas tag detail, use a straw to cut out a hole at the top for the ribbon. Use your finger to smooth out the edges of the soap.

Tip: If you decide to use a cookie cutter, just smooth out the edges of the soap with your finger when you’re done. My cookie cutters didn’t leave me with the smoothest edges. Yours might be better than mine.

SEVEN: Melt 3 ounces of clear melt and pour and add 3 mini scoops of Red Blue Mica and 1 mini scoop of Merlot Mica. This is my favorite combination for an awesome hot pink color. We’ll be using this color to fill in our letters.

EIGHT: On a flat surface, place your soap on top of your smoothed out freezer paper or saran wrap. Firmly press the soap so that it sticks to the freezer paper. We’ll be pouring soap into the center and we don’t want it to leak.

NINE: Spritz the green soap with rubbing alcohol and fill in the hole with the hot pink soap. Spritz again with alcohol to get rid of any air bubbles. If you go outside the lines don’t panic, just use a scraper tool to scrape off the soap once it has hardened.

Natural Hand Germ Busters

November 9, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Early this morning I was on the Martha Stewart Sirius Radio Show discussing all natural hand sanitizers. Since it’s officially cold and flu season, we’ve been busy testing all natural “germ busting” recipes that you can take on the go! Our goal is to share natural recipes that you can make in your own home without most of the chemicals that are in most sanitizers on the market. Here’s what we’ve been working on. Enjoy!

Please note that all the recipes contain the maximum-maximum we’d ever recommend for usage rates. You can use less for your recipes or if any sort of irritation occurs. Each ml is approximately 36 to 40 drops if you are using drops.

Recipe 1 “Thieves Oil”
3 tablespoons water
2 ml Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil or Cinnamon Leaf
4 ml Lemon Essential Oil
4 ml Eucalyptus Essential Oil

*Directions: Mix all of the ingredients together. Shake and use.

This type of recipe is dated back to the 15th century. Thieves covered themselves in something similar to this oil so they could steal from plague victims and dead bodies without catching the disease. Studies about ‘Thieves Oil’ have also tested essential oils like Oregano & Thyme and shown they are effective against a host of bacteria (Journal of Essential Oil Research [J. Essent. Oil Res.]. Vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 517-523. Sept-Oct 1998.). With this recipe, you’ll need to shake the bottle each and every time you use it because essential oils and water don’t naturally mix. Cinnamon Bark and Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil can be irritating to skin. If any irritation occurs, double the water (use 6 Tablespoons) to decrease irritation. If irritation continues, switch out the Cinnamon Leaf EO with Tea Tree Essential Oil.

Recipe 2
1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol
3 tablespoons Aloe Vera Water/Juice
2 ml Cinnamon Leaf EO
3 ml Tea Tree EO
3 ml Lemon or Lemongrass EO

*Directions: Mix all of the ingredients together. Shake and use. Since Alcohol is a natural emulsifier, this recipe will turn white and not require shaking each and every time before use. Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil can be irritating to skin. If any irritation occurs, double the liquid (use 6 Tablespoons) to decrease irritation. If irritation continues, switch out the Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil with Tea Tree Essential Oil. This blend is based on the research in the Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery (2009) available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Recipe 3
3 tablespoons Aloe Vera Gel or Liquid
5 ml Lemon EO
4 ml Tea Tree EO
Optional: 2 ml White Thyme Essential Oil

*Directions: Mix all of the ingredients together. Shake and use. Can also be used on furniture (but do a small test patch before you spray it all over your grandma’s heirloom antique chest of drawers).

Naturally Emulsified
1 ml White Thyme Essential Oil
1 ml Litsea Essential Oil
2 ml Orange Essential Oil
1/2 C. Aloe Vera
1/2 Teaspoon Lecithin

*Directions: Combine the lecithin and the essential oils together in a small container. Slowly pour the essential oil mixture into the aloe vera while stick blending the mixture. This will naturally help emulsify the mixture (think salad dressing). Lecithin is typically found in health food stores and is a natural emulsifier. It has a shocking yellow color. This blend will go salad dressing thick and will not easily spray unless the spritzer is very hearty. Because of its lotion like texture, this recipe is best used on hands and body rather than furniture.

If you have favorite recipes to share, let me know. This is an area we could all use helpful tips and tricks in to keep us as healthy as possible this holiday season.

Here are some great links that really helped me with my research: Thieves Blend, Fungus Killed by Essential Oils, Antimicrobial Essential Oils, Antibacterial Soaps, Tea Tree oil antimicrobial, Tea Tree Oil & Fungus, Tea Tree Oil.

Marvelous Soap Marbles

October 15, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

These marbled soaps make the perfect gift or favor for any occasion. And if they’re not cute enough as is, you can fit 5 of these little guys into one of our new soap boxes. The best thing about this soap project is that you can pick any color combination for customization that fits your occasion. This project may look tricky but anyone can do it – even beginners!

Ingredients

White Soap Base (12 oz)
Fiery Fuchsia (Soapylove’s Jewelry Box)
White Tea and Ginger Fragrance Oil
Injector tool (PJ’s Tool Kit)
Soap Sphere Mold
Droppers
Swirling tool (toothpick or spoon will work)
3 rubber bands
Hot Water
Spritz bottle of rubbing alcoholThis tutorial demonstrates the swirling technique. You can see the same concept of this technique on Soap Queen TV. Check out the video here for some helpful tips and tricks on swirling if you haven’t seen it already.

Aligning your sphere mold: Super important tip –When you take your mold out of the package, make sure to mark each end (top and bottom) with a permanent marker so you will always know how to line it up. The mold is lined up correctly when it comes out of the package. If they are aligned incorrectly you will have wonky spheres.

ONE: Have all of your tools ready to use including a cup of hot water. We’ll be using the hot water to clean the injector tool when switching soap colors.

TWO: Melt 12 ounces of white soap base and separate evenly into 2 containers. I used clear, heat safe glass mugs from a thrift store. They worked perfectly for this project.

THREE: Add 1 ml of fragrance oil to each batch and mix well. I used the delicious and popular White Tea and Ginger but you can use any fragrance oil that you want. A non-yellowing fragrance oil would be preferable; we want our white soap to stay strikingly white!

FOUR: Add 6 drops of the Fiery Fuchsia to one of your containers of white soap. Mix well. The other container of soap will remain white.

FOUR: Using your injector tool, drop a pea sized drop of PINK soap into each cavity of the bottom half of the mold. Have your alcohol spray bottle handy and spritz any air bubbles that surface. Immediately clean the injector tool in hot water.

FIVE: Use the clean injector tool to drop a pea sized drop of WHITE soap on top of the pink soap. Then swirl the soap together using any object you can find (toothpick, small fork, pick, spoon, etc.).

SIX: Repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 until the bottom half of your mold is filled. Then let soap cool for 10-15 minutes. Remember to clean you injector tool when you’re done with each color. It’s not much fun to clean if the soap has hardened.

SEVEN: Once the soap has cooled, spritz the soap with rubbing alcohol to ensure the layers stick, and place the other half of the mold on top (remember to line up the mold using your two dots from step one). Then secure the mold using 3 rubber bands. Trust me – the rubber bands will make life much easier when filling up the rest of your mold.

EIGHT: Reheat your pink and white soap in the microwave and refresh your hot water for round two. It’s time to fill up the rest of our spheres.

NINE: Use your clean injector tool and fill up each top cavity with white soap about half way. The nozzle of the injector tool fits perfectly into the hole of the mold. Immediately clean your injector tool. Then fill up the mold the rest of the way with the pink soap. OR alternate pink and white soaps until the sphere cavity is completely full. Let loose and have fun with it!

Hint: Because this mold was created for ice cubes, you might see a sphere filling up with soap other than the sphere you are currently filling. Just keep plugging away. The great thing about this project is that is doesn’t have to be perfect. The uneven colors are what make these marbled soaps POP!
TEN: Once your soaps have cooled (about 4-6 hours). Pop them out of the molds. Yes, there is a little clean up required. Just scrape off the edging with your fingernail and smooth the soap with your finger. I haven’t figured out how to get rid of the bubbles on the bottom of the soap so let me know if you have any suggestions. I just smoothed them out with my fingers and they looked great!

Tip: If you have trouble popping the soaps out, put them the mold in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes. They should pop right out after that!

Variations…ONE: I used liquid black with sparkle gold mica in clear soap marbled with fiery fuchsia in white soap.TWO: The brighter pink color was Fiery Fuchsia in clear soap marbled with plain white soap.If you do this project with any cool and fun colors, let me know. I want to hear about all of your soapy successes!

Soapylove Tutorial: Delicious Layered Soap Cookies!

October 10, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

We’ve been working behind the scenes together for quite some time now on the new Soapylove supply line getting all of the colors, fragrances, molds, and soap bases just right before we were totally happy and ready to put the Soapylove and Bramble Berry seals of approval on them. Now that they’re out, expect some fun tutorials and projects on how to use this fun line of products.

To introduce you to some of our favorites (but it’s hard to pick your favorite when they’re all your babies!), I have put together this easy and super adorable project. The scalloped rectangle mold is used to look like yummy old fashioned cookies and can be made in two “flavors”: vanilla/strawberry, and chocolate/vanilla!

Supplies:
Sweet Treats Colorant Set
Delectable Desserts Fragrance Oil Set
1 lb. Naturally Clear Soap Base, cut into small cubes
1 lb. Bright White Soap Base, cut into small cubes
Scalloped Rectangle Mold
Rubbing alcohol in spray bottle
Cutting board and knife

For the strawberry/vanilla combo, for each soap you are making, melt 3 ounces of clear soap base (20 seconds on high in microwave). Stir in a few drops of Buttercream Yellow colorant. Then add a few drops of Vanilla Frosting fragrance oil and a few drops of Vanilla Stabilizer.

Pour in a layer of this soap, just to 1/4″ thickness. Allow to harden at room temperature.

Now melt 3 more ounces of clear soap base and color with a few drops of Pink Frosting colorant. If you would like a softer shade, you can stir in a drop or two of the White Icing colorant. Now add a few drops each of Strawberry Jam and Vanilla Stabilizer.

Check soap temperature to make sure it is no hotter than 120 degrees. Now spray your Vanilla layer in the mold with alcohol and pour in the Strawberry soap until 1/4″ from the top of the mold. Allow to harden completely.

Briefly reheat the Vanilla soap for 10 seconds or so in the microwave. Check the temperature again, spray the Strawberry layer, and top off the mold with soap. Allow to harden.

Gently pull sides of mold away from the hardened soap, invert and unmold. Voila!

For the Chocolate version, use clear soap base with Bakery Beige for the “cookies”, then white soap base or clear base colored with White Icing colorant for the center. I recommend the Chocolate Fudge and Vanilla Frosting fragrance oils.

Make sure to check back here at The Soap Queen often because I’ll be back with lots of great projects featuring the new Soapylove supplies! See you then! — Debbie

Flexy Fast Fall Pumpkins

October 1, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Ingredients
Flexy Fast Molding Putty
Clear Melt and Pour Soap
Sunshine Yellow (from Soapylove’s Jewelry Box)
Fiery Fuchsia (from Soapylove’s Jewelry Box)
Sparkle Dust (from Soapylove’s Jewelry Box)
Liquid Non-Bleeding Green
Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil
Butter Cream and Snickerdoodle Fragrance Oil
Vanilla Color Stabilizer
Droppers
A Perfectly Small Pumpkin (mine was 5.7 ounces)
Microwave safe container
Stir spoon
Vinyl Gloves

ONE: The first step to this project is making a pumpkin mold out of the Flexy Fast Molding Putty. Never used Flexy Fast Before? Check out Soap Queen TV to see a full tutorial.

Mixing your Flexy Fast: Flexy Fast comes as 2 parts, Part A and Part B. The usage rate is 1:6 (B:A) by weight or 1:20 (B:A) by volume OR mix a golf ball size of the white stuff to a marble size of the pink stuff. With vinyl gloves on, knead the two components together until fully incorporated. You’re done when you have a nice bubblegum color with no pink streaks, which will take about 1 minute.

Molding your Pumpkin: Carefully form the putty around your pumpkin. Really press the putty into the pumpkin to ensure that you get all of the realistic details and to release any air bubbles. Make sure there are no holes in the putty that the soap could potentially leak through. More thick is better than thin on this project so don’t be shy about forming a thick mold.

TWO: The soap, color and fragrance quantities may slightly vary depending on the size of your pumpkin (my pumpkin was 5.7 ounces). For the stem, melt about ½ ounce of clear melt and pour and add a smidgen of Liquid Green (not even a whole drop). Mix well. Use a dropper to fill the stem part of your mold with green soap and spritz with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.

THREE: Melt about 6 ounces of clear soap and add your favorite fall fragrance. I used ½ ml of Pumpkin Spice, ½ ml of Butter Cream and Snickerdoodle and 1 ml Vanilla Stabilizer to keep my orange color bright and vibrant. It smells like pumpkin pie!

Variation Fragrance: ½ ml Pumpkin Pie Cybilla, ½ ml Cream Cheese Frosting and 1 ml Vanilla Stabilizer. Delicious!

FOUR: Now that our soap has been scented, add 20 drops of the Sunshine Yellow and 1/2 drop of the Fiery Fuchsia from Soapylove’s Jewelry Box Color Set (it helps to put a drop of the fuchsia on your spoon and drip half of that amount in the soap). The Fuchsia is really strong so it just takes a teensy bit compared to the Yellow. Mix well until you have the perfect pumpkin orange. Then add a pinch or 2 of Sparkle Dust to give the pumpkin an extra festive touch.

FIVE: Check the temperature of the soap and make sure it’s no hotter than 130 degrees (we don’t want to melt our green soap that’s already in the mold). Spritz your green stem layer with rubbing alcohol to ensure the layers stick then pour the sparkly, orange soap into the mold and give it a final spritz with rubbing alcohol.

Tip: If the soap seems a little too big just cut it in half for smaller version. Even though it’s half the size it’s still equally as cute.

Easy Sea Turtle Soap Tutorial

September 17, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Ingredients
White melt and pour
Clear melt and pour
Green jojoba beads
Sea Turtle Mold
Salty Mariner Fragrance Oil

One: Melt 3 ounces of clear melt and pour soap base in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Do not add any fragrance oil at this time.

Two: Stir in 1 tablespoon of green jojoba beads and pour the soap into the turtle part of the soap mold. Spritz with rubbing alcohol to eliminate any bubbles. Note:The jojoba beads will float to the top which is perfectly normal. If your jojoba beads are melting, it is because your soap is too warm. Cool your soap down to 130 to ensure the soap does not melt your jojoba beads.

Three: Melt 12 ounces of white melt and pour soap base and mix in .25 to .50 ounces of Salty Mariner Fragrance. Or choose any fragrance or essential oil combo you want (might I suggest our helpful ‘Clean’ fragrance categoryfor some ideas?). Once the white soap has cooled to 120 degrees and the turtle has a thick skin on the back (better to support the weight of the white soap), spritz the turtle with rubbing alcohol (to help the layers adhere) and fill up the mold with the white soap. Spritz the freshly poured soap with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.

Four: Let the soap cool for 12 hours. Pop the turtles out of the molds and enjoy! I just love how the jojoba beads give the faintest hint of a full outline but don’t totally overpower the fun texture that the white soap has.

Variation: Below we used our all natural Spirulina Powder, Clear Melt and Pour and our Seashell Mold.

Mmmm…Caramels…

September 15, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Last Monday, my girlfriends and I started the Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman. We’re doing a two week liver detox that consists of lean protein, fruit, cranberry water and lots of veggies and greens (no alcohol, no coffee, no flour, no dairy among other delicious food categories). Yum, yum (cough, cough)! It’s an extreme and rigorous two weeks but in the end, my liver will be clean as a whistle. Thank goodness for my girlfriends though; I don’t think I would have lasted one day on my own.

In anticipation for our last day of the diet (which is next Sunday the 20th- not that I’ve been counting), I bought these decadent Honeyed Lemon and Tarragon Fleur de Sel Caramels from La Bella Caramella.

Did I mention I’m getting a 1/2 pound box? Yes, I will be sharing with the other liver detox troopers. These will be a perfect (small) treat for after our celebratory salmon dinner on Sunday to rejoice that our 14 days of Liver Detox is over, and yes, feel proud of ourselves for sticking to it in spite of numerous opportunities to fall off the wagon. Hopefully this will help bring us back to normal eating in the real world. Whether or not they help usher in our new and improved eating habits, they will taste delicious! Five days until Caramels & Carbs …

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