Search Results for: alcohol

Fly, Fly Away – Soapy Kidlet Project

January 22, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

This project is a build-on of the Tween concept that I posted this weekend. It is based on a simple embedding idea with the extra touch of making soapy clouds. I hope you enjoy it.

What you’ll need for our Airplane Flying in the Clouds soap:

Clear Melt & Pour Soap Base
Super Pearly White Mica
Large Rectangle Mold
Microwave safe container
Saran Wrap
Spritzer bottle of rubbing alcohol
Fragrance Oil (non discoloring works the best, so no vanillas)
Object to Embed (Example used is a child’s plastic airplane)

Step 1: Cut melt and pour soap into 1” cubes and put into microwave safe container (about 3 oz should be enough for one bar). Cover with saran wrap and microwave for 30 second intervals until soap is melted.

Step 2: Stir in the Fragrance Oil. Suggested usage rate is .25 ounces of fragrance per pound of soap. This equates to less than one dropperful for 3 ounces of soap.

Step 3: Set aside about 1/2 cup of clear base and add a pinch of Super Pearly White Mica for the “cloud” layers.

Step 4: Pour a small amount of your Super Pearly White base into your Rectangle Mold to resemble a thin layer of clouds. Make sure not the cover the entire bottom of the mold. Spritz with alcohol to get rid of any bubbles and let it cool slightly before adding the next layer.

Step 5: Pour a thin layer of clear on top of the white “clouds” to represent the clear air. Spray with alcohol and let cool slightly.

Check back tomorrow for the final reveal of our Airplane Flying in the Clouds!

Tween Soap for Disney Radio

January 18, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Welcome Disney Radio Listeners! Thanks for listening to my interview today. Here is the easy project we talked about on the radio. For some of the other kits, including the Mineral Make Up Kit or the Bath Bomb Kit, head to the Bramble Berry site by clicking here. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments or by emailing me at the “Contact Us” link at Bramble Berry.com

Happy Soaping!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Trinket or non-sharp embedding toy
1 pound (16 ounces) Bramble Berry melt and pour soap, clear
1/2 ounce Pearberry Fragrance Oil
Soap mold (or Tupperware or anything you find like an empty yogurt container)
Rubbing Alcohol
Optional: soap safe colorant and soap safe glitter

Directions

1.Check the fit of your trinket in your mold. Make sure that it fits. You can use a yogurt container, a tofu container or a tupperware – just make sure your barrette or eraser or cute lip gloss container fit into the mold.

2.Cut the melt and pour blocks into 1 x 1″ cubes. 3.Melt the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.4. Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of fragrance or essential oil. Remember, if you use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look less clear and look more yellow/orange. You can use skin-safe glitter too.5. Pour the soap base halfway up into your mold.

6. Spritz your barrette/trinket/eraser part with rubbing alcohol.

7. Embed your item into the soap.

8. Pour the rest of the soap all the way up. Tip: If you’re doing another color in the back of your soap, allow your first clear layer to harden before pouring the second, colored layer. Make sure that you use only food or soap safe colorants (like food coloring, micas, or Labcolors).

9. Do one last spritz with alcohol for a finishing touch.

Wait for the soap to harden, wrap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the appreciation of your tweenager.

Valentine M&P Project using 3D Molds

January 15, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

I went to the store to get a birthday card for my Dad today (Happy Birthday, Dad!) and was a little shocked to see Valentine’s Day Cards. Wow! In less than 30 days, Valentine’s Day will be here. We whipped up this quick and simple melt and pour soap to get you in the mind to “Think Pink” and get ready for the romance. If you need a refresher on how to make melt and pour soap, check out the tutorial here.

What you will need:

White Melt and Pour soap base
Clear Melt and Pour soap base
2 Different Non-Bleeding Colorants, Pinks or Reds
Glitter
Rubber Heart Embedding Mold
12 Bar Round Silicone mold
Fragrance
Spray Bottle filled with Rubbing Alcohol

Directions:

1. Cut up and melt about 5 ounces of the Opaque melt and pour. Separate into 2 containers and color each with one of the 2 colors. We did one with Non-Bleeding Red Liquid and the other with Red/Blue Mica. Note: you do not need to fragrance these. You will have some soap left over and they will work best with other projects if left unscented.

2. Pour this into the Rubber Embedding Heart mold. Doing half the hearts one color and the other half the other color.

3. Set this aside to harden. Do not put into fridge as we want our layers and embeds to adhere well. We also need to slice these and frozen/cold soap does not slice well.

Once you have given the hearts time to harden, you can go to the next step.

4. Disassemble the 3-D mold and lay flat on counter. You can prop the molds if needed to keep flat.
Note: this mold has been discontinued and substituted with out 12 Bar Round Silicone Mold

5. Cut up and melt some clear Melt and Pour (this you can and should fragrance) and pour a little into each half of the 3-D mold. Wait for this to thicken and get a nice sturdy skin.

6. While you are waiting you can un-mold the little hearts. These are too thick to fit into the 3-D molds evenly. You will need to slice them up into thinner pieces. Lay them flat on one side to slice. If you put the point down and slice it will get smooshed and not look like a heart. (Note: Updated Instructions on 12/21 to include mold in Supplies List that does not need to be cut down)

7. Once the clear soap pour has hardened, spray it with rubbing alcohol and place a heart or two on top of the clear. Spray again with alcohol.

8. Pour another little layer of clear soap to cover the hearts and “glue” the pink embedding hearts into place. Make sure the molds are not filled all the way to the top though.

9. Once this has hardened, you can give it another squirt with alcohol and sprinkle a little layer of glitter onto the soap if you want to get festive.

10. Assemble the molds and put on the rubber bands. There should be a little gap between the two halves. The two halves should not meet each other.

11. Get the rest of your Opaque soap (remelting if needed) and add your fragrance to this as well.

12. Squirt down into the closed mold with alcohol 1 to 2 times then pour in your opaque soap.
Note: this mold has been discontinued and substituted with out 12 Bar Round Silicone Mold

13. Stop when the soap comes just above the top, tip the mold side to side and give it a few good taps on the counter. This helps remove any air bubbles that get trapped in the mold. Then fill the mold up the rest of the way. If you fill it all the way it gives you a nice “stump” that comes in handy for un-molding the soap later.

14. Set soap aside to cool. Again, since these are doing double pours and embedding, you do not want to put the soap in the fridge/freezer.

15. Once the soap has cooled (ideally overnight) you can unmold it. Use the little stump at top to help wriggle the soap out.

16. The soap will have a little ring around it where the two halves of the mold came together. You can get a small sharp knife and carefully slice this off.

17. Spray with alcohol to get rid of any unwanted fingerprints.

18.You are finished! Give the soap to someone you love or put it into your own shower to make sure you start every day with a smile on your face.

Money Soap for Last Minute Gifts

December 19, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

A bribery idea – Trying to get your kids to wash their hands more? In this project we put a dollar bill in a lip balm container then embedded it in a bar of soap. Once the soap is all used up you get the dollar that has been safely stashed in the lip balm pot. This is a perfect last minute Christmas Gift or Stocking Stuffer. No more hastily shoved dollars in cards – instead, make this easy soap to give any amount of money (or jewelry or secret messages) and reap the rewards when your child can’t wait for bathtime!

What you will need:

Clear Melt and Pour
Clear Lip Balm Pot
Money
Rubbing Alcohol in spritzer
Fragrance
Mold

Instructions
1. Cut melt and pour soap into 1” cubes and put into microwave safe container (about 5oz should be enough for one bar). Cover with saran wrap and microwave for 30 second intervals until soap is melted. Stir in the fragrance oil at approximately .25 – .5 ounces per pound of soap (new to melt and pour? Click here to be taken to TeachSoap for basic instructions).

2. Pour the clear soap into your mold until the cavity is about 1/3 of the way full and spritz the soap with alcohol to get rid of any floating bubbles

3. Get your closed lip pot container w/ the note or money folded up inside and spray it on all sides with the alcohol and set it down into the melted soap base and give the whole bar one more spray to make sure there are no pesky little bubbles.

4. Let the soap sit for a few minutes until there is a skin on top that is semi-stiff when touched. Then take the rest of the melt and pour soap (pop back in the microwave if needed) and add your color, stir until color is mixed through. Then spritz the top of bar of soap with your alcohol.

5. Make sure that your colored melt and pour is not too hot (it is not steaming and you can comfortably press and hold your hand against the bottom of the container) then pour the colored melt and pour over the bar of soap, filling the mold up the rest of the way and give the bar one final spray to pop any bubbles.

6. Let your bar sit and harden for a few hours before removing (the longer you wait the easier it will be to remove from the mold). Wrap with saran wrap and prepare to amaze and delight the recipient of the Hidden Monday soap.

Voila! You have a nice bar of soap with a fun hidden surprise inside!

Mistletoe Soap – Part Three – The Berries

December 12, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

In the first part of this project, we worked on making and embedding the mistletoe leaves and in the second part, I showed you how to finish the soap with a ribbon for hanging.

Here are some alternatives and including how to add berries (just in case the plain green leaves aren’t good enough for you!).

In the example to the right, we just pierced a hole in the ends of three cut-out soap leaves with an embroidery needle. Then we threaded them on a piece of red embroidery floss and tied a knot to keep them in place. Don’t tie your knot too tight or the string can break through the soap.

Hang this up in your doorways for the ultimate conversation starter and room deodorizer.

To add little white Mistletoe berries, melt a few ounces of clear melt and pour soap and add Pearly White mica. Using a dropper, make little groups of three dots of soap in the base of the brownie pan.

Once they’ve set-up (which will only take seconds), spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour your your green soap as directed in step 1. Just be extra careful that your soap isn’t too hot or else you’ll melt all of your little dots. The ideal temperature is around 120 degrees for most of the Bramble Berry melt and pour bases.

You can also add little berry dots using this technique right before you embed the leaves in your mold (do this before step 4). The image at the top of the first mistletoe post is an example of this technique.

And finally, you can use some of your home made soap paint to add little berry dots. Instructions for making soap paint can be found here.

There are lots of options for making your home look and smell good with soap for the holidays. I hope you enjoyed this three part tutorial on making Mistletoe Soap.

Mistletoe Soap – Part Two – Finishing

December 10, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

In the second part of the Mistletoe soap project, I will show you how to finish your festive holiday soap decoration. If you missed the first part on making the holly leaves, click here to be taken to that tutorial.

step 6: Melt clear soap base (it’s fine if you remelt some of the base you used for embedding the leaves in), taking care to control the temperature so the soap doesn’t boil or steam too much.
step 7: Add iridescent glitter and Holly Berry fragrance (I used .5 ounce of fragrance for a pound of soap for a really bold scent) and mix well.

step 8: Make sure your soap is cool enough to pour so that it won’t remelt your first layer of soap. Usually 120F. Spritz the surface of the the first layer with rubbing alcohol and pour your second glittery layer. Spritz the back of the soap to disperse any air bubbles.
step 9: Cut about a 6 inch loop of ribbon or string.

step 10: Place the ends of your ribbon in the soap. We tried to position ours behind the leaves so the ends would be hidden. Hold in place with a piece of tape or you hand until it sets up.

Step 11:Allow to sit for 24 hours and remove from the mold. Hang above a door a frame or some other high traffic zone and casually wait underneath for someone kissable to walk by.

Mistletoe Soap Project – Part One

December 9, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Here’s a cool twist on hanging traditional mistletoe. This mistletoe can be hung just like the real thing and by adding a little extra fragrance, it scents the room for a pleasant holiday ambiance.

Ingredients:
Clear Melt & Pour Soap Base
Green Mica or Oxide
Holly Berry fragrance
Basic Shape mold
ribbon or string
holly leaf soap cutter (cookie cutter found in kitchen or craft stores)
spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
Optional:
Blue Mix lab color
Pearly White Mica

step 1: Melt about 6 ounces of soap base. Basic melt and pour instructions are here if you’re new to melt and pour. Add green colorant and Holly Berry fragrance (I used about .25 ounce for a nice bold scent). Pour soap into the flexible brownie mold and allow to set-up.
step 2: Remove soap from mold and cut Holly leaf shapes out of the soap slab using your cookie cutter. Plastic or metal cutters work just fine for this project but metal cuts through the soap more easily.

step 3: Melt clear soap base. Hint: To make the soap look a little more clear, add a drop or two of Blue Labcolor. Be careful to not add too much; you don’t want blue soap. I usually dilute the Labcolor in a bit of water to control the amounts and ensure no color clumping. Fragrance your soap. Since you want this to be a overly smelly soap, go with .5 ounces of fragrance per pound of base. Stir and mix in well.

step 4: Pour a thin layer of the clear soap into the bottom of the mold. Spritz with rubbing alcohol.
step 5: Thoroughly spray the Holly Leaf shape with rubbing alcohol and place in the clear soap. Repeat with the second leaf.

In the next installment of this tutorial, I’ll show you how to finish these soaps with ribbon and give you some additional ideas if you want to do a little something extra. Until then, happy holiday soaping!

Painted Ornament Project

December 5, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

The first part of this tutorial was how to create glittery Ornament soaps. Now I’m going to show you how to add details with your own homemade soap paint. I wouldn’t recommend trying to paint over the glitter, you should choose one technique or the other.

Soap paint recipe:
2 parts Liquid Soap
1 partClear Melt & Pour Base
1 part Rubbing Alcohol
1 part Mica or Oxide

This recipe is in parts so you can make as much or as little as you like. We used 1/2 teaspoon to measure out our paint. So our recipe was 1/2 tsp. Clear M&P, Rubbing alcohol, and colorant and 1 tsp. liquid soap.

tools:
small heat proof container
paint brush

Step 1: Measure out the liquid soap and warm it up briefly in the microwave.
Step 2: Add the rubbing alcohol and colorant and stir to mix well.
Step 3: Add the melted clear melt & pour soap base and stir well.
Hint: If the soap starts to cool down and solidify you can pop it in the microwave to warm it up and make it paintable again. If it gets goopy, mix in a little more rubbing alcohol to help smooth it out.
Step 4: Carefully paint your soap ornament. If you paint an area where you don’t want paint, use the carving tool from our melt and pour tool kit to clean it off.

Another Hint: If the paint doesn’t want to stick to your soap, try dusting a little cornstarch over the soap before painting. This gives the soap something to grab onto.

Allow the paint to dry for a day before wrapping in plastic or hanging on your tree. It’s a heavy soap, so pick a sturdy branch. When guests come to visit over the holidays, let them pick their own useful soapy ornament to take home. They’ll think good thoughts about you every time they use their Christmas surprise.

Eco Chic Soap Project – Tutorial

November 24, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Using your leftover soymilk and tofu cartons was never this fun! The environmentally conscious can now recycle in a new and creative way using handmade soap or pre-made organic oil melt and pour base. This project can transform even the most novice crafters into mini, environmentally-friendly Marthas.

What you need:

Herbs, oatmeal, coffee, spirulina, clay, or food-grade charcoal
1 pound (16 ounces)Bramble Berry melt and pour soap, organic base
1 ounce essential oil (we used lavender, orange and eucalyptus)
“Soap mold” (a clean, used plastic food dish, like an empty yogurt
container)
Rubbing Alcohol

1. Prep your herbs and make sure they are the right size for exfoliating gently. Sharp herbs may be too abrasive on the skin.

2. Cut the organic melt and pour blocks into 1 x 1″ cubes.
3. Melt the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.
4. Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of essential oil. Remember, if
you use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look less
clear and look more yellow/orange.

5. Mix in your herbs or additives. Stir until the herbs seem mostly suspended. The cranberry seeds are very light and will float to the surface of your soap so make sure you keep stirring until the soap is thick enough to suspect the seeds.

6. Pour your scented and herb’ed soap into the make-shift mold
7. Tip: Don’t fill your make-shift soap mold all the way up. It helps for easy release to fill 85% of the way to the top and not the entire way.
8. Do one finishing touch of rubbing alcohol to finish off your soap and give it a nice smooth surfaceWait for the soap to harden, get the soap out, wrap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the compliments you get on your innovative way to help save the earth.

Gobble Gobble! Soapy Family Project

November 19, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Thanksgiving is next week! (Public Service Announcement: Bramble Berry is closed from Thursday November 27 to Monday December 1. But, I’ll be working at Otion on the 28th so stop by if you’re in town.) You’re probably preparing to either go to your in-laws or for them to descend onto your house. If you are looking for a fun family project to do together, or perhaps something to entertain your long-lost-cousin who just wants to hide in the corner, this is the seasonal project for you. Plus! It’s an easy beginner’s project so even though the final product looks complex? It just requires you to follow directions.

Items needed:

Jelly Roll Pan
Festive Seasonal Cookie Cutter
Clear Melt and Pour
Soap Kit Syringe Injector
Micas in Fall Colors
Spritzer full of Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol)
Fragrance (suggestions: Pumpkin Spice, Gingersnap, AppleJack Peel, Rum Nut Cake)

Step One
Prepare the Soap for the cookie cutter portion. We used Cappuccino Mica color in clear soap, scented it with Rum Nut Cake. The Jelly Roll pan uses about 8 ounces of melt and pour soap to make a thin layer (thin enough to push through, that is). To prepare your soap, melt it in the microwave on 30 second bursts. Color your soap to preference and add about .13 – .25 ounces of fragrance. Stir well.

Step Two
Pour your soap into the Jelly Roll silicone pan. Spritz with a finishing touch of alcohol. Allow to harden.

Step Three
Gently peel the soap out of the mold. Use your cookie cutter to press out Fall holiday shapes.

Step Four
Prepare your clear soap. Melt the soap in 30 second bursts. Once it’s melted, add fragrance. Be sure to choose a non-yellowing fragrance or at least a fragrance that stays clear.

Step Five
Pour off a little of your fragranced, clear soap into 3 little pots. You want .5 ounces to 1 ounce of soap per pots. Bonus points if your pots can be reheated in the microwave. Color each of these with a fall color. You want these to be bright vibrant colors so they really stand out.

Step Six
Pour a thin layer of clear soap into the bottom of the Jelly Roll Pan. Wait for soap to harden.

Step Seven
Spray the thin layer of clear soap liberally with alcohol. Spray your turkey (or other fall cut out soap) liberally with alcohol. Place the turkey down on the top of the clear soap.

Step Eight
Take your Soap Syringe/Injector and draw up a syringe full of colored soap (remember those little pots of colored soap? Now is the time to use them! If they’ve solidified, it’s okay, reheat and remelt). Pretend you’re Jackson Pollock and start drizzling. Alternate colors. Spray some more rubbing alcohol. Alternate more colors. Syringe, soap, syringe, soap, syringe. Let this masterpiece harden.

Step Nine
Prepare your background soap. It can be any color you want (we used green, gold, white and ivory – they all looked great!) so long as the drizzles stand out from the rest of the soap in a dramatic and impressive fashion. Spray your Pollock strings with alcohol. Make sure your overpour soap is around 120 to 130 degrees so it doesn’t melt your design. Pour the overpour soap gently over the entire pan, filling it 7/8th to the top or as thick as you want your soap to be.

Step Ten
Wait for the soap to harden. This will take at least an hour if not longer. It’s a thick slab of soap at this point. Gently peel out of the mold and cut into squares. I used the handy dandy scraper cutter but you could use a butcher knife.

Wrap in saran wrap, give away at Thanksgiving or use these for fun and easy place settings. Stick a skewer in them to make a sign.

Gift Series – Snowflake Soap Tutorial

November 4, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

The next installment in our Christmas gift project tutorial series are these appealing Snowflake soaps. I love how intricate this project looks. In reality, these soaps are quite simple thanks to the well designed mold. These adorable little soaps can be as cheap as 49¢ each to make.*

update: Now that the entire series is posted learn to make bath fizzies here, lotion here, and sugar scrub here.

Ingredients

Get the kit from Bramble Berry with all the ingredients to make this project. Choose from two great fragrance combinations. Traditional Christmas Forest & Cranberry Fig or a more modern Cinnamon Sugar & Fresh Snow.

Tools:

Microwave safe containers for melting soap
spoon for stirring
spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
M&P tool kits (optional – but they sure make it easier!)

Step 1 Cut up soap into cubes and place clear in one container and white in the other. Melt the soap in the microwave in short bursts until both clear and white are fully melted.

Step 2 Add soap safe glitter, Brilliant Blue color and fragrance or essential oil of choice to melted clear soap. Add fragrance to melted white soap. I like to use .25 – .5 ounces per pound of soap for a strong scent.
Note: Remember to dilute the LabColor before use! Learn how to dilute the LabColors here.

Step 3 Place one of the colors in the details of the snowflake design. I like to spray a layer of rubbing alcohol into the detail portion area, fill up my dropper or syringe and then gently flow the soap into the detail lattice. The alcohol helps the soap flow smoothly into all the crevices. Once it has set-up (usually just a couple of minutes) scrape away any soap that has overflowed outside of the design area with the dental pick tool in the tool kit or a dull butter knife. Because of the raised design, it’s easy to just scrape the back even with the edges to clean up the details.

Step 4 Spritz the design with rubbing alcohol. Pour other color in the mold – making sure the soap is not so hot that it will melt the detail soap already in there. The ideal temperature for pouring any of the Bramble Berry house bases for overpour is around 120 degrees.

Step 5 Allow to set-up for a few hours or overnight before popping them out of the mold.

If you’re giving these as gifts, the organza bags finish them off nicely or you can use a little bit of saran wrap and a heat gun to achieve professional looking soap at your own kitchen table. Print out your labels from our holiday label designs and you’ve got the perfect stocking stuffer or handmade gift.

* the fine print: to get to our 49¢ each price we factored in one mold, 2 pounds of clear, 2 pounds of white M&P soap base, 1/2 ounce glitter, 1 ounce of fragrance and 1/2 bottle of blue lab color. In reality we don’t think you would actually use that much color and glitter but just in case. 🙂

Easy Candy Corn Soap Project

October 26, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

This simple soap project was created by Johanna in the warehouse. She is a powerhouse of fabulous ideas – just click here to be taken to a retrospective of her soap designs. This project starts with the same basic steps as Soapylove’s birthday cake soap with the layering concept. Check out that tutorial here if you missed it. Pouring layers using our loaf mold.

Melt approximately 16 ounces of melt and pour soap (Johanna used Goatsmilk Melt and Pour) and color with a yellow color. You could use Canary Labcolor or Non-Bleeding Yellow Oxide. Fragrance this layer. If you use a discoloring vanilla based fragrance, be sure to use some Vanilla Color Stablizer. Allow this layer to harden with a thick skin (approximately 5 minutes). Melt an additional 16 ounces of Goat Milk Melt and Pour, fragrance and color it with an orange (such as Liquid Orange or Orange Labcolor). Allow this layer to harden, spray with alcohol and finish off the layers with another pound of non-colored (but fragranced) Goat Milk Melt and Pour.

Unmold your soap and slice into inch thick slabs with a scraper/cutter or a large knife. Then, carefully cut a basic triangle shape with a sharp paring knife.

Finally, bevel the sides using the clean up tool for that authentic Candy Corn look. Johanna used our new Butter Cream And Snickerdoodle Fragrance Oil for a close approximation to the sugary sweet candy scent.

There are many possibilities with basic layers – do you have any ideas using a loaf mold and creative pouring? Share them with us in the comments, we love to hear from you!

Technique Tip : Dusting with Mica

October 21, 2008 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Mica is a beautiful colorant that makes glycerin soaps, bath products, and cosmetics shine. But there’s another way to use it which will bring out another dimension to your soap designs!

When I made the Gloomy Ghosts Soapsicles in the picture above, I wanted to create a faded effect to look like fog and mist. The process of both embedding my soap ghosts and making a smooth 3 color transition was really beyond me, so I had to figure out a new way.

My solution was not to use mica in the soap, but ON the soap. I made a clear bar with the ghosts inside, then dusted mica on the outside of the soap. It worked great because I could totally control the amount of color, creating a nice foggy look.

To do this, simply take a soft brush blush. Put some mica on a plate or just use the inside of the lid of your mica jar. Get some mica on your brush, tap off the excess and softly brush it onto your soap. You don’t have to prep the soap with alcohol or anything. Fresh glycerin soaps will have a slight tackiness anyway. It goes on subtley at first, so you can build up the color until you get the brightness you like.

For the Gloomy Ghosts, I used Bronze Mica for the top part and Violacious Violet for the bottom.

Here are 2 other designs I used this technique on. The navy marbled bars have Bronze Mica dusted here and there to add some dimension, and the Coat of Arms Soap has Heavy Metal Gold just to highlight the beautiful detail of the crest.

Sometimes a difficult challenge turns into a simple solution. Try this technique with your next soap – it’s fun, easy, and you’ll get great results!

Debbie, Soapylove

Tutorial: Textured Headstone Soap

October 16, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

To complete the set from Monday’s post, here is how to make a cool headstone with the same mold used for the Crypt Soap. This is a really fun way to add some technique to a soap but without needing any artistic ability. If you can dab, you will have great results. Try it with the kiddos!

What You’ll Need:
5 oz White Melt and Pour Soap Base
Black Oxide
Dragon’s Blood Fragrance Oil

Halloween Trio Mold
A small cup

A paintbrush (flat stencil brush works best)

1) In your small cup, melt 1/2 ounce of white soap base. Stir in a generous pinch of black oxide. It won’t dissolve completely, but the lumps will give your texture more dimension.2) Take your stencil brush and dip into soap. Dab soap into mold, creating a rough texture. It can be really random and sloppy since it’s good to have some light areas and some heavy areas.

3) In a larger cup, melt the rest of your soap base. Stir in some of your leftover gray soap from step 1 to make it light grey. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon fragrance oil. Allow to cool as much as possible (to 120 degrees or less). Pour into your mold and spray with alcohol to pop any bubbles. Allow to harden and unmold. Voila!

To see this technique used on a Coat of Arms Soap, click here.

Check in next week to see how to enhance your soaps even more with a cool mica technique. With melt and pour, the fun never ends!!

See you then!
Debbie, Soapylove