One of the amazing things about soap making is the wide variety of different techniques and possibilities. In this episode of Soap Queen TV, I show you how to create one of my favorite soapy techniques…cold process soap frosting! Simply whip together cool oils and lye to create a light and fluffy texture that is great for piping. Soap frosting is incredibly versatile, and works great for soap cupcakes, or soapy flowers.
Facebook Photo of the Week (July 12th ~ July 18th)
This week was the beginning of the Roman Holiday series of tutorials inspired by the art, history, and architecture of Rome. First up is the easy to make Olive Oil and Dead Sea Salt Scrub. The combination of Pure Olive Oil and Fine Grained Dead Sea Salt creates a luxurious body scrub that’s great for your legs and body.
Many of the ingredients used, including Neroli & Shea Blossom Fragrance Oil, are now 25% off until July 25th at noon, PDT. Use the code ROMEDAY25 during checkout. To see the full list of sale items, click here.
Easy Elegant Coffee Filter Flowers
Real flowers are beautiful, but sadly they can’t last forever. These coffee filter flowers (yes, those are coffee filters) not only look like the real thing, but they also have a much longer shelf life! These filter “flowers” are incredibly easy to make, and you can dye them an infinite number of colors using a wide array of LabColors. Make a dozen of them for a bouquet, place setting or cute garland.
LabColor Makeover
Vibrant, reliable and fun to use, LabColors are super concentrated dyes that are fantastic soapy colorants. LabColors are an excellent choice for coloring your melt & pour and cold process soaps.
We’re making some minor changes to our LabColor line, but have no fear — we’ve reformulated them to make them easier to use than ever. To get everything packaged and ready to ship out, we’re temporarily taking all LabColors out of stock today, Thursday, October 24th. You will not be able to purchase LabColors at this time. However, when LabColors come back in stock on Monday, October 28, you’ll simply log in to your Bramble Berry account and place an order for LabColor like normal.
Check the Soap Queen blog on Monday, October 28 to learn more about how to use the new and improved LabColors!
Inspired by the Sea: a Melt and Pour Project
The seasons are changing, and one of the best indicators of that is the stormy grey skies that have blanketed Bellingham Bay. White caps may have replaced gentle waves, but that inspired us to create this ocean-hued melt and pour project. We took inspiration from sea glass, with its transparent blues and greens. To achieve these beautiful gem tones, we used Bramble Berry LabColors, which are super concentrated dyes. Using the same LabColor soap dyes, we created matching muslin bags for packaging the soap. It’s two projects in one!
What You’ll Need:
6.1 oz Clear Melt and Pour Base
4 mL Kentish Rain Fragrance Oil
Diluted Emerald LabColor
Diluted Sapphire LabColor
Tongs
Clothes Pins
Click here to add everything you need for both projects to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! Remember, you can always remove items you don’t need.
COLOR PREP: You’ll use LabColors in both parts of this project. Unlike other colorants, LabColors must be diluted before use. If you’ve never diluted LabColors before, click here to learn how.
The Soap:
ONE: Cut the Clear Melt and Pour Base into 1-inch cubes. Melt in a heat-safe container on 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring between bursts, until the soap base is fully melted.
TWO: Split the soap base into three batches: two weighing 2.3 ounces, and one weighing 1.5 ounces.
THREE: Add the Kentish Rain fragrance oil to the split batches: 1.5 mL in each of the 2.3 ounce batches, and 1 mL in the 1.5 ounce batch. Stir in well.
FOUR: To one of the 2.3 ounce batches, add 9 drops of diluted Emerald LabColor. To the second of the 2.3 ounce batches, add 12 drops of diluted Sapphire LabColor. To the 1.5 ounce batch, add 3 drops of diluted Emerald LabColor and 5 drops of diluted Sapphire LabColor. Mix the soap well.
FIVE: Pour each colored soap batch into the Shell Wax Tart Mold. The Emerald and Sapphire soaps will each fill three cavities, while the blend of Emerald and Sapphire will fill two of the cavities.
SIX: Spray the soap with Rubbing Alcohol to eliminate any bubbles and allow the soaps to fully harden.
SEVEN: To avoid ‘sweating’ or ‘dew drops’ forming on the soap place a few finished soaps in a ziplock baggie before placing them in the muslin bags.
The Packaging:
ONE: Fill two heat-safe containers with 8 ounces (by volume) of water, and one container with about 8 ounces (by volume) of vinegar.
TWO: Set the muslin bags in the container of vinegar to soak.
THREE: Add 40mL of diluted Emerald LabColor to one 8 ounce portion of water, and 40 mL of diluted Sapphire LabColor to the other 8 oz portion of water. Stir well. These are your dye baths. (Again, be sure you are using diluted Lab Color!)
FOUR: Microwave the dye baths for about a minute or until the liquid is warm, but not scalding hot.
FIVE: Remove the muslin bags from the vinegar soak and squeeze to remove excess vinegar.
SIX: Dye the bags by dipping them into either the Emerald dye bath, the Sapphire dye bath, or a combination of both. Three fun techniques that I used are Tie Dye, Two-Color Transition and Ombre.
Two-Color Transition: Dip half the bag into one color. Use a clothespin to keep the entire bag from falling in the dye bath. After a few minutes, remove the bag from the first color, flip and dye the other half of the bag in the second color, allowing the bag to sit in the bath just low enough for the water level to touch the line where the first dip dye ends.
Ombre: Dye 1/3 of a bag in one color, using a clothespin to keep the rest of the bag out of the bath. After a few minutes, change the bag’s position so that a bit more of the bag is submerged. Allow to sit again for a few more minutes, then submerge the entire bag.
Tie-Dye: Use a rubber band twisted around the bag to create a pattern. Dye the bag in a single color for a gradient look, or in two colors for a multi-faceted look.