Mother's Day Archives

Heavenly Lilac Bath Truffle Tutorial + Free Printable

April 26, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Bath Fizzies

Bath truffles are essentially bath bombs with extra skin-loving oils and butters. They add more hydrating properties to the tub than typical bath bombs while still producing fizz. These Heavenly Lilac Bath Truffles are made with cocoa butter and shea butter to moisturize skin. Lilacs are currently in bloom here in the Pacific Northwest, and the Lilac Fragrance Oil captures their romantic scent perfectly.

These bath truffles make a great Mother’s Day gift. Just make sure to handle them with care, as they are rather delicate. To give these truffles a finishing touch, download the free Heavenly Lilac Bath Truffle labels here. Then print them on Waterproof Label Paper to attach to jars, or on card stock to attach as a tag. I found I was able to fit three truffles in the Tall 8 oz. Bail Jar.

I used a combination of Party Pink Mica and Lavender Mica to give these truffles a light pinkish-purple color. In my tests, these bath bombs did not leave color on my tub. I have found that wiping down my tub prior to taking a bath reduces color from transferring. (AKA: keeping a clean tub) The trick to bath truffles or bath bombs that contain a large amount of solid butters is making sure the bath water is hot when placing the product in the tub. If the water is not hot enough to melt the butters, it will inhibit the fizz of the truffle. Do be careful when getting out of the tub, as the butters in this recipe can leave the bottom of the tub rather slippery.

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Mother’s Day Project Inspiration

April 13, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8th, which will be here in no time. As a mom, handmade gifts from my kiddos are my favorite. Give me a macaroni necklace over a store bought necklace any day. =) If you’re looking for a handmade bath and beauty project for Mother’s Day, I’ve rounded up some of my favorites to treat your mom on her special day.

The gift of relaxation is the perfect way to pamper mom. The LoveSpell Solid Bubble Bath DIY creates feminine bubble bars with plenty of sparkle. To use, break up the bar under running water to add big fluffy bubbles to the tub. To see this project in action, check out the How to Make Solid Bubble Bath video on Soap Queen TV.

The LoveSpell Solid Bubble Bath DIY creates big fluffy bubbles in the tub.

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Spring Project Inspiration

April 8, 2015 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Bramble Berry News

Spring is the perfect time to create projects inspired by nature. The outdoors become filled with blooming flowers, ripe produce and fresh scents. This time of year translates perfectly into bath and body projects with bright color palettes, botanicals and floral fragrances. If you are looking for spring inspired projects, I’ve got you covered! If you’re brand new to creating your own bath and body products, I’ve written a handy guide to starting out. You can find this free guide here.

Dried herbs and flowers are a great way to add the look of spring to soap. In the Juicy Orange and Sweet Rose Cold Process Soap, rose petals and dried orange peels accent an orange in-the-pot swirl. Chamomile herbs add texture to the cheery Yellow Chamomile Cold Process Tutorial. Floral fragrances are also a fantastic way to celebrate spring. In the Modern Cherry Blossom Tutorial, the soft Cherry Blossom Fragrance Oil gives a soft feminine scent. If you love the powdery and light scent of lilac, the Layered Lilac Loofah Cold Process smells incredibly realistic. If you’re new to soapmaking, here’s a FREE Beginners Guide to Soapmaking.

Top left, clockwise: Layered Lilac Loofah Cold Process, Yellow Chamomile Cold Process, Juicy Orange & Sweet Rose Cold Process, Modern Cherry Blossom

Did you know it was easy and inexpensive to make your own bath fizzies? It is! Here are some perfect spring tutorials just for you. Dried flowers are also the perfect addition to bath bombs and teas. In the Lavender & Clay Mondo Bath Fizzy, dried lavender and lavender essential oil create a calming bath experience. Looking for a tropical getaway? The Pikake Flower Bath Bombs smell of traditional Hawaiian leis. Fresh herbs infused with essential oils add scent and moisture in the Mother’s Day Bath Tea Tutorial.

Top row: Lavender & Clay Mondo Bath Fizzy
Bottom Row: Pikake Flower Bath Bombs, Mother’s Day Bath Tea

If you’re looking for more projects to show mom your love this Mother’s Day (it is coming up soon, my friends), the Gentle Gel Serum is incredibly luxurious. Made with Carrot Seed Essential Oil, the serum is great for mature skin. The Pink Salt and Shea Bath Bars uses pink sea salt and a fresh floral scent to create a wonderfully feminine melt and pour soap. If your mom enjoys cosmetics, the soft and shiny Rosy Red Lip Gloss gives a sheer tint inspired by fresh roses.

Top left to right, clockwise: Gentle Gel Serum, Rosy Red Lip Gloss, Pink Salt and Shea Bath Bars

With fresh blooms comes gardening! If you are a gardener, your hands may be in need of some extra TLC. Scrubby soap is perfect for removing dirt and dead skin build up from working outside. The Handmade Soap for Gardeners made with coffee grounds is super exfoliating. If you prefer gentle exfoliation and a beginners DIY project, the Minty Clay Melt and Pour Bar, made with poppy seeds and peppermint essential oil leaves skin soft and fresh smelling. Love a minty scent? The Cranberry Seed Foot Scrub is perfect for both feet and hands. If you’re new to melt and pour soapmaking, here’s a FREE Beginners Guide to Melt and Pour soapmaking.

Top Row: Minty Clay Melt and Pour Bars
Bottom Row: Handmade Soap for Gardeners, Cranberry Seed Foot Scrub

What kind of spring inspired projects are you making? I would love to see your photos on the Bramble Berry Facebook page!

The results are in: Winners of #BBEarthDay and #ShowMomLove

April 22, 2014 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This past month at Bramble Berry, we’ve held more contests than a carnival! We had two running simultaneously, and now it’s time to reveal the winners.

Show Mom Love was inspired by Mother’s Day, and it encouraged participants to show off a beautiful handmade gift they had made for someone else. Winners could receive a Soap Crafting Kit to send to their mom for Mother’s Day. #BBEarthDay was inspired by a different holiday — Earth Day! Participants were asked to show off a creative recycled mold. Both contests ended yesterday, so we’ve rounded up the winners below. Take a look to see if you won, or if you need a little soapmaking inspiration.

#ShowMomLove Contest

Just in time for Mother’s Day, the Show Mom Love contest was all about gift giving. Using an Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest account, we asked people to show us a gift they had made for someone else. It was wide open, and wasn’t limited to just soap! We had dozens of wonderful entries, but the following 8 took home the prize:

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Mother’s Day Tribute Soap

May 17, 2009 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

Tanya Chappell is a soaper from Australia. Her recipe is currently featured on the Aussie Soap Supplies site and was recently published in Saponifier Magazine. I thought it would be appropriate to share her Mother’s Day Tribute Soap – because it’s too darn cute not to.

Don’t know how to make cold process soap? It’s easy but there are some safety things to review before diving in. Learn the basics here and here, buy ‘The Everything Soapmaking Book’ here and buy the how-to DVD here. There are also lots of tips and tricks at TeachSoap.com

See Tanya’s Recipe below

Sweetpea Delight Cold Process Soap

This soap has a creamy base colour with a pink and mauve swirl.

Ingredients:
300 gram Coconut Oil (30%)
250 gram Olive Oil (use light) (25%)
250 gram Rice Bran Oil (25%)
150 gram Palm Oil (15%)
50 gram Shea Butter (I used refined) (5%)
142 gram Caustic Soda (sodium hydroxide) – approx 5% superfat.
270 gram* Filtered Water, plus 1/4 cup aloe vera juice (added to oils)

(Total liquid content is discounted by approx 5% from full amount – I found when soaping at a higher discount – about 15% – that the FO accelerated trace somewhat)

20 gram/ml Brambleberry’s Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil
Tussah Silk Fibre (optional) – about a small cotton ball sized wad – a little goes a long way.

Colours:
Pink & Blue Ultramarine Oxides dispersed in liquid glycerin; Titanium Dioxide powder 1/2 tsp.

Method:
Add silk fibre to water and sprinkle caustic soda on top of silk carefully! Follow all safety procedures for mixing lye solution. Silk will dissolve as the lye dissolves; stir occasionally. Allow to cool to 30 degrees.

Add TD (titanium dioxide) powder to either oils or aloe juice depending on whether it is liquid or oil dispersible. Bring oils to 30 degrees. I soaped a little cooler to help slow trace down a bit. I add my aloe juice to my oils before mixing in the lye solution (just a personal preference, and may help keep the batter a lighter tone in the finished product).

Follow instructions for an ITP swirl. I used about 1 cupful of batter for each of my two colours – colouring one 15 drops pink and the other with 15 drops pink and 5 drops blue .
I used a Nizzy 12 bar divider mould and after pouring in the soap batter I waited until it had reached a thick trace then swirled top of soap with a chopstick to get the texture in the pic. Then place dividers and cover for gel.

Best wishes, Tanya Chappell. Thanks for letting us share your recipe with the soaping community.

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 10, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Thanks to the creative team at Otion for making this homage in soap for Mother’s everywhere. And, a special loving wish for our amazing, wonderful and spirited Mom. She’s the best!

The background story about my Mom is that she was my first soap salesperson. When I was 16 and making soap in her kitchen, she would take those bars of soap and buy them for for her friends and then force those same friends to buy even more from me.

She helped get me my first store that I sold in. It wasn’t even a store. She convinced the local gym to put my soaps in a basket and put them out for sale as an “honor system.”

And through almost every Bramble Berry move (we’ve moved 5 times!), she’s come up to help by moving boxes but more importantly, treating the staff to her delicious sandwiches. She makes some yummy creations for us.

Both Erik and I are so lucky that our Mom supported us, cheered us on and has been our biggest supporter for years.

Thanks Mom. We love you!

Part of the Disney Family

April 24, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Disney Family.com included our Mother’s Day Soapmaking Kit in their list of 10 Great Mother’s Day Gift Ideas. Woohoo! Check us out (here’s the link) along with 9 other fabulous gift ideas for Mom.

“Pamper Mom with a gift you made yourself! These all-in-one soap kits give you everything you need to create a custom set of soaps. Use their Mother’s Day heart molds and gift tags to give this batch a special touch.” Get your Mothers Day Kit here (Mickey Mouse not included)

Mold on Sale

April 2, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Whoops! When I posted the final Mother’s Day Soap photos yesterday, I forgot to mention that the custom Rose Mold is on sale for $7.70. It is made out of a flexible silicone-like plastic which helps with ease of unmolding.

Click here to see all of the Monthly Specials. There are also special Mother’s Day labels available for download to match the lip balm and soap projects at the linkas well.

Mother’s Day Soap – Final Photos

April 1, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

If you missed the instructions on making this soap, you can find them here.

Mother’s Day Rose Soap Project

March 26, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Mother’s Day is coming right up (Sunday, May 11th). It’s never to early to shower the woman who gave you life with gifts galore.

We’ve designed some easy soap, lotion and lip balm projects around the flavor fragrance Passionfruit Rose. It’s an edible fragrance oil so it can be used in all manner of products, not just soap and lotions.

A big shout out to the Otionites who spearheaded the fun creativity of this project.

You’ll need:

Flexible Rose Mold (exclusive to BB!)
Labcolors Canary, Red & Emerald
White Melt & Pour
Clear Melt & Pour
Droppers
Passionfruit Rose Fragrance & Flavor
Rubbing Alcohol in a spray bottle

Step One: Melt 2 ounces of clear melt and pour. Color it with one drop of Emerald Green Labcolor (or any green you have). Draw up the melted green soap into a dropper. Carefully dropper the melted soap into the vines on the soap mold.

Step Two: Repeat step one with a yellow, red or any rose color you’d like. Dropper the melted soap into the rose. If you are using clear labcolors, the bubbles will show through the front of the rose so be sure to spritz away any bubbles that form with rubbing alcohol.

Step Three: Once the roses and vines have set up, carefully tilt the soap mold and outline the vines on the side of the soap mold. Hold the mold steady as the green soap hardens in the vines.

Step Four: Melt the white soap in the microwave. Add Passionfruit Rose flavor fragrance and stir the fragrance in fully. If your soap is steaming, it is too warm and will melt vines and roses.

Step Five: Spritz the vines and roses with alcohol to help adhesion of the white melt and pour layer.

Step Six: Slowly pour the melted, scented white melt and pour into the mold. Spritz the back of the soap, once poured, with alcohol to get rid of any pesky lingering bubbles.

Step Seven: Wait for soap to harden fully. Gently pull mold away from sides of soap and carefully push soap out. Marvel at your creation. Wrap it and label it with love.

Hints for getting layers to stick:

Fresh soap is best
Use the same brand of clear melt and pour as white melt and pour
Alcohol between layers helps adhesion
Pouring layers quickly helps adhesion