Valentine Hugs and Kisses

Here is a really easy project that looks so much more complicated than it is. As a plus, it's very economical. The hugs and kisses mold is only $2.50 and you can use any plain mold for embedding (we used our rectangle tray mold). The materials to make these soaps work out to be just $1.28 per bar (not including the molds) and you can even make them for less if you make more than 8 bars of soap and soap in bulk.

Here are the ingredients we used:

Clear and White melt and pour soap base
Violet fragrance oil
Black & Merlot mica
Rectangle tray mold (but any plain mold will do)
X's and O's embedding mold
You can use scraps from our last Valentine soap project, or you can make them from scratch using:
white melt & pour soap base
non-bleeding liquid colorant

tools:
microwave safe containers (we like to use a pyrex measuring cup)
droppers
spray bottle of rubbing alcohol


1. Start with your Hugs and Kisses mold and make the embeds. We used white melt and pour for the X and O's and Clear for the lips. You can use which ever you chose, but remember white melt and pour will make black go gray and reds go pink. Bright vibrant colors need clear soap.

2. Next create the soap confetti for the background. If you have left over scrap melt and pour, preferably in non-bleeding pinks or red this is a perfect chance to use them. If not then mix up a batch or two (depending on how many colors you want) using white melt and pour and a non-bleedig color. Pour these into anything that is flexible that you can release. We will be cutting them up into little chunks, so the mold you use and how pretty the soap is does not matter at all. Let these set and harden. You want the soap fresh and pliable so do not put in fridge/freezer. Cut this soap up into little pieces.

3. Now all the pieces are made and we can start assembling the soaps. Think of how you want the embeds to be laid out. You do not want the X's and O's to be cut once the soap is finished. If you're using the Rectangle Tray Mold, stay inside the score marks of the mold. Once we start putting the embedded soaps in there will not be much time to change or move them around, so pre-planning is essential!

4. Melt 1 pound of clear melt & Pour base and fragrance with 1/4 ounce of fragrance. Pour about half of the scented clear melt & pour soap into the rectangle tray mold. We poured until the soap just reached the top of the indented rectangle marks. Spray with alcohol.

5. Working quickly, spray your embeds generously with the alcohol and place them where you want in the mold. Remember, we want the pretty sides to go face down especially with the lips - the detailed front of the lips need to face down.

6. Let these set a minute or two until the clear has hardened or has a thick skin. Then spray with alcohol and pour the rest of the clear - it should come just high enough to cover the embeds.

7. Once that layer has set you can get the little scraps of soap that we cut up in the first step. Spray these with alcohol and sprinkle them evenly over the soap. Ignore the score marks this time... spread evenly everywhere.

8. Finally melt 1/2 pound white soap base and add 1/8 oz. fragrance. Spray the soap layer in the mold with alcohol again and then immediately pour carefully over the scraps, filling the mold to the top. You need to pour slowly, evenly and close to the soap or the force of the pour will move around your scraps. The ideal temperature to pour with the Bramble Berry house melt and pour bases is around 125 to 130 degrees. If your soap is steaming or is so warm that you can't put your finger in it, the soap is too hot and will melt the pink little chips. It's a cute look but won't get you the soap pictured in the top picture.
9. Wait 4 to 6 hours for the soap to fully harden before carefully popping out and cutting your perfectly lovely Valentine's inspired bars.

Voila! adorable soaps perfect for Valentine giving.

FDA Globalization Act '09 - Update

The FDA Globalization Act of 2009 was officially introduced on Wednesday the 27th. While this Act would have been introduced eventually, the political cover afforded by the Peanut Butter scare made it perfect timing (even though the Peanut Butter Salmonella problem could have been prevented under existing regulations regarding best manufacturing practices and had the 12 positive tests in 2007 and 2008 been properly dealt with. CNN story here).

No matter what the reasoning, the FDA Globalization Act is on the table to help an agency that is woefully underfunded to deal with the realities of an increasingly global society with imports flooding the United States from countries with more lax regulations around safety. The current iteration of this bill imposes fees and more regulations primarily on the food and drug industry. There have been substantial changes made from the original draft that circulated in 2008. Specifically (full copy here), it appears that much of the feedback the micro beauty business gave in 2008 (read about a Coalition of Small Business & Suppliers that went to Washington DC on your behalf here and here) was incorporated. Yay for a team of committed individuals helping to enact positive change!

Salient points for the FDA '09 Act are:

Registration - Like having a business license with your city, you will need to register your bath and body business with the FDA (page 115 - 116)

Inspections - Besides registering with the FDA, they are not asking for inspection of your facilities.

Fees - Under the current draft legislation, there are no fees to register your business or submit your ingredient decks (aka: list of ingredients used in your products)

Ingredient Listing - When you manufacture a product to sell, you need to submit your ingredients for the overall product. You will not need to submit for each individual fragrance, provided the base does not change. (page 119)

Adverse Events - Right now, reporting "Adverse Events" to the FDA is voluntary. This means that if one of your customers reports that your lotion gave them an allergic reaction that sent them into the hospital (highly unlikely) that the FDA would currently like you to report this but they do not make you. In the future, reporting serious Adverse Events will be mandatory within 15 days of the event. See below for full definition of Adverse Events. (page 122)

There are a group of committed business owners, advocates and vendors working diligently behind the scenes to proactively monitor the situation. Between The Soap Guild, The Indie Beauty Network, Essential Wholesale, WholesaleSuppliesPlus and Bramble Berry, we've got your best interests at the forefront of our monitoring and actions. We will keep you up to date as we hear anything.

• Press Release regarding release of FDA Globalization Act of 2009 here
• CNN story on peanut butter contamination history here
• The term ‘serious’, with respect to an adverse event, means " resulting in death, a life-threatening experience, inpatient hospitalization, a persistent and significant disability or incapacity or a congenital anomaly or birth defect."
• I'm not a lawyer. You should read the bill yourself to make sure you agree with my interpretation of the data
  

FDA Globalization Act - Comment

There is a robust discussion going on in the "Comment" section above this post here. Just in case you don't read the comments, I love what Ria from beauty by Saria had to say about our joint efforts to keep the micro beauty business safe and undisturbed. Here are her thoughts:

I am proud of the business I have built for myself.

I am proud of all the wonderful fellow business people I have met through various blogs, forums, etc.

I am proud to be a member of such an amazing group of people.

Most of all, I am proud that we stuck together as one united front and fought for what we knew was right.

We didn't worry about the fact that our businesses may compete with each other.

We didn't worry about the fact that we were taking on the government of the United States.

We didn't worry about the people who said nothing could be done.

We just plowed ahead- led by some of the most fearless and knowledgable people- to try and reach our goal.

At the end of the day- we did just that!

Together we accomplished what I don't think anyone has ever done before- we banded together, stood strong and changed a bill that would have served as our order of execution.

Never in my life have I been so proud to be associated with such an inspiring and caring group of people.

Thank you for leading us in a fight - that if fought alone - would have been lost...only through the leadership displayed by a hand full of brave folks, we united and made something happen.

So while I am proud of many things I have done in my life, I am most proud and honored to have been a part of something so important and amazing.

You have shown me that we CAN make change- that we CAN win!

With many thanks and all my gratitude!

Rose Melt and Pour Soap

Hoping to receive roses for Valentine's Day? Make them last even longer by using some of the petals for soap. This is an easy project - you just need soap, roses, red color and fragrance or essential oil.

What you'll need:

Pyrex
16 ounces Melt and Pour Base (clear or white)
Roses (dried or fresh)
Rosehip Jasmine Fragrance Oil
Optional: Red Coloring (food coloring is fine)
Soap Mold (plastic Tupperware works great)

Step 1: Melt 8 of opaque ounces of soap in the microwave on 30 second bursts. Scent soap with approximately 1/8 ounce of fragrance or essential oil. Stir in well. Pour half way into molds.

Step 2: Melt another 8 ounces (clear soap for a contrasting look) of soap in the microwave. Fragrance this soap. Color this soap with a few drops of food coloring or soap coloring like mica. Pour into mold. It should swirl and mix nicely with the non-colored soap. Then, take the 4 ounces that are left from Step 1 and drizzle the rest of the soap into the mold. Finally, complete the look by drizzling the last of the soap in fun and varying patterns. I used a flexible Jelly Roll pan but you can use anything that is flat and has "give" (this means no glass pans).

Step 3: Sprinkle roses on top of the soap for a lovely and different appearance.
Optional: Mix dried and chopped-up roses into soap for a scrubby feel.

Tweet that you're reading this post by clicking here and share the rose-colored fun with everyone.

One Superbowl, Comin' Right Up

The Superbowl is coming right up. If you're throwing a Superbowl party, consider repurposing this Celebration Soap project with the colors of your favorite team. Show your excitement by making the Celebration Soap and giving it away as party favors or just using it yourself.

For the Cardinals, the colorant choice is easy: Merlot Mica matches their bird perfectly. You would follow all the instructions here and just make your stars with Merlot Mica in clear soap. For the Steelers, their logo has primary colors: yellow, red and a navy blue. To match that logo, I'd recommend Yellow Non Bleeding Liquid colorant, Red Non Bleeding Liquid Colorant and Antique Blue Mica. I'd recommend primarily clear soap to get the most bold colors possible.

What you'll need Clear Melt & Pour, White Melt & Pour, (non-bleeding) colors, Champagne Fragrance Oil, Milky Way Oval Mold, Rubber Star Mold and Silver Glitter.
Follow the instructions here for an easy Superbowl Party soap. Or click here to watch the video of me making this soap for an even easier step-by-step.

Champagne Face Masks

Wondering what you're going to do with all your Valentine's Day leftovers after the big day? Fear not and plan ahead. If you have leftover champagne and mimosas are not your thing, do the next best thing and beautify your face. Like wine, champagne is made from grapes. The high antioxidant and polyphenol content in grapes that is often touted as a health winner is also good for skin. So, save that last bit of the champagne... for your face.

Here's what you'll need:
Rhassoul or Bentonite Clay
Champagne
Milk Powder, Half & Half or Creme
Optional: Lavender Essential Oil

Buy everything you need here!

 

Recipe # 1

2 ounces Clay (Rhassoul or Bentonite)
1/2 ounce Champagne
1/2 ounce Half and Half
5 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Recipe # 2
1 ounce Clay (Rhassoul or Bentonite)
1 ounce Milk Powder
1 ounce Champagne (the real deal, not the fragrance oil)
10 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Recipe #3
1 ounce Clay
1/2 ounce Champagne
5 drops Lavender Essential Oil

Directions: Choose a recipe and measure out all the ingredients. Mix together. Put on face for 15 minutes until dry. Rinse with warm water.

See how great your skin feels as the clay helps to remove toxins and the milk acids smoothes and soothes. Champagne is chock full of antioxidants that help prevent free radicals from damaging our skin. Champagne also contains Tartaric Acid which is an ingredient commonly used to lighten skin. Since there is no preservative in the recipe, if there is any left over, store it in the fridge to help prevent growth and rancidity. Shelf life is approximately 2 weeks when stored in the refrigerator.

Tweet that you're reading this post by clicking here and share the bubbly fun with everyone.

Bath Fizzy Class at Otion

I'll be teaching a Valentine Themed Soap & Fizzy class at Otion this Saturday. I'd love to see you there ($25; you'll leave with 4 bath fizzies and 4 bars of soap) but if you can't come, here is a tutorial on making romantic rose Bath Fizzies (with fresh roses!).

What you need:

1 Pound Citric Acid
2 Pounds Baking Soda
spritzer filled with Witch Hazel
Fragrance: Baby Rose, Rosehip Jasmine or English Rose
Simple Heart Mold
Rose Petals (fresh or dried), torn into small bits

or: Chocolate Bath Fizzies

1 Pound Citric Acid
2 Pounds Baking Soda
spritzer filled with Witch Hazel
Simple Heart Mold
Grated Milk Chocolate & Cocoa Butter
Fragrance: Turkish Mocha, Dark Rich Chocolate, Chocolate Espresso


1. By volume, measure out 1 cup Citric Acid and 2 cups Baking Soda. Use your fingers to break up any clumps that might be in the mixture. The goal is a smooth and small grained mixture.

2. Put in 1 Tablespoon of rose petals, torn up into small sizes. Alternatively, if you'd like to go with chocolate, use a cheese grater to grate up Chocolate bits and put 1 Tablespoon of grated up Chocolate into your Citric Acid and Baking Soda mixture.

3. Optional: Use grated up cocoa butter in the Chocolate Bath Fizzy to add to the moisture content of the project.

4. Add fragrance. Since each bath fizzy needs to scent an entire tub, you'll want to use a good amount of fragrance. 1/3 ounce is a good place to start all the way up to 1/2 ounce.

5. Mix in the fragrance well.

6. Spritz the mixture with 6 squirts of Witch Hazel. Mix in well. Grab some of the mixture and make a fist around it. Does the mixture stay together? If it does, it's ready to mold. If it does not hold its shape, do 3 more Witch Hazel spritzes until the mixture forms a shape in your hand when clenched.

7. Fill up your mold, overflowing. Push down firmly with the palm of your hand. The harder and more dense the mixture, the longer the bomb will fizz in the tub.

8. Use your fingers to squish down the back of the bath fizzy for an eve finish. If the fizzy is lopsided on the back, it will break apart when you push the fizzy out.

9. Carefully tip the mold over. With the mold less than one inch off the table (as close as you can to the table without sitting on the table), gently tap the bath fizzy out.

10. Let the bath fizzy air dry for 12 to 24 hours before moving or wrapping.



Tweet that you're reading this post by clicking here and share the soapy fun with everyone.

I'm at The Soap Guild Forum, this morning!

I'm so excited to be part of the Expert's Panel at The Soap Guild Forum this morning. Don't know about The Soap Guild? Check them out here. PS - They have a great insurance program for soapers! The forum is located here.

Here's an example of the questions I'm answering, all morning until 1 p.m. EST. This is a real question that came in right before 9 a.m. and this is my, on the fly, response.

Q: There are so many directions to go to market your business in today's high tech world and only so many hours a day as well as budget dollars to do it. Where would you guide us as to where to put our energy and dollars? Is it still a cold call world (or warm call) for soapers or is it time to get savvy with technology?

A: Maria, that's a great question. There are a lot of places to spend your time and energy on when you're a new (or experienced) business.

Let's break this down by free (it only costs your time) and by not-free (you pay cash and potentially your time):

Free

Blogging - I have a firm belief that people buy from people they like. Blogging is a great way to speak to your customers on a daily basis, to let them know what you're up to, to give them a window into your world and for you to ask for feedback about new products or ideas you have. Best yet, blogging takes only your time if you're using free blogging software, like blogger.com (thank you Google for giving it to us for free). My daily blog, www.soapqueen.com runs on free software from Google (blogger.com)

Cold Calling - Again, sales is all about relationships. There is no cheaper or better way to get your product in front of customers than by showing up at their doorstep (with an appointment of course), with your wares in hand, your price list accessible and your humble and sincere desire to introduce them to your products. If you're not cold calling once a week to at least one place, you are doing you and your business a disservice.

Relationship Management (Twitter, Facebook, Flickr) - There is a new term popping up in business called "Community Manager". This essentially means that one person is in charge of managing your brand and reputation to potential customers through all the social networks that exist online. Managing your brand through Twitter (my user name is @brambleberry You can see my tweets here: http://twitter.com/brambleberry), Facebook (a great relationship builder that allows for real-time conversations) and Flickr (post photos that are interesting to you, comment on others) is key to making your business successful in this age of technology. And best yet, these free tools allow you to connect with people all over the world! Talk about opening doors...

Not-Free

Traditional Marketing - Traditional marketing is that you pay a PR firm $2000-$5000 per month to connect with press on your behalf. This method is slowly going by the wayside as companies can duplicate these efforts in-house with some elbow grease and talented communicators. For a new business, I'd recommend being your own PR firm and sending out "pitches" with samples every week - even just one pitch per week to one media outlet will eventually pay dividends.

Advertising - Again, traditional print media is starting to show some signs of frailty. It's still a great way to get your name out in front of potential customers. But, when you have a limited budget, I would spend that limited budget on packaging and on your brand before spending money on advertising. Once you have the brand and packaging totally fleshed out, then start to advertise. Bramble Berry has advertised with Better Homes & Gardens publications, Herb Companion, Herb Quarterly, Teen Vogue and many other publications with varied success.

Blanket Sampling - If you have an extra $10,000 lying around, making up samples and press kits and sending them to targeted stores and media outlets is a great way to get press and business if you are ruthless about following up. That's the key - follow-up. How many times have you given someone samples and not followed up? You told yourself that if your product was good enough that they would have called you. That's not the case. Store managers and reporters are busy, busy people. You need to do the follow-up yourself. If you want to develop a marketing plan and have that $2000-$10000 to invest, let me know and I can answer another question about that later.

Spud Soaps are Back

Duane and Nancy, from Nature's Best Soaps, live in Idaho. They are famous for their novelty Potato Soap called Spud Soap and, of course, the unique idea is selling all over Idaho. I even picked up a spud bar at the Boise airport a few years ago. It was thrilling to randomly see their soap in the airport and I'll admit to a bit of maternal pride when I bought the soap.

A while back, their custom potato soap molds were producing some puzzling looking soaps (see our blog post here and Duane and Nancy's here). They were having some problems with the new silicone mold itself as well as their recipe. So we pooled the soaping community together and asked for suggestions to be posted on their blog, Squeeky Clean. Thanks to some fabulous suggestions by fellow soapers, their soap is back and better than ever.

The infamous and custom spud molds.Fresh out of the mold. The final products- aren't they "spud-tacular"? Duane and Nancy's number one selling Spud Soap is made with real potato that is soothing to the skin, molded into the shape of a potato and has actual "eyes".

A note from Duane and Nancy: "After finally tweaking our recipe by reducing some of the Crisco and replacing it with the Palm Kernel Oil, we have achieved a soap that pops out of the mold with very little cleanup needed. We also have increased the temperatures from 120 to 140 degrees. That has helped to stabilize the purple color in our huckleberry spud soaps. We appreciate the time everyone took to give us suggestions and opinions as to what to try."

Tweet that you're reading this post by clicking here and share the soapy fun with everyone.

It's Ba-Ack!

When we switched to our new shopping cart, we were euphoric. We even popped the champagne in the offices (a first). Alas, it wasn't meant to be ... yet.

We knew the new site would have some issues, despite lots of beta testing. We didn't expect it to have so many issues. Wowzers! We still have more work to do on the new site and there are some kinks to work out before we give it to you again.

So, for now, we're headed back to the old, tried and true, Bramble Berry site. Yes, it will still be the old shopping cart without the bells and whistles but it will be the old shopping cart that works each and every time.

We'll get back to the grindstone on your new and improved shopping cart and while we're doing that, I hope you get back to soaping with Bramble Berry products. You can buy them in our trusty, tried'n'true shopping cart at www.brambleberry.com

The Fine Art of Packaging

The White Aisle is a small stationary company out of New Hamshire that resembles all that is classy and beautiful. These are my purchases that I absolutely could not resist this last summer. As I pulled out my last 'thank you' card (sniff sniff), I took a moment to reflect on the exquisite packaging and the implied value it creates.


Golden Nugget Bath Crystals

I tried to resist these cute little button soaps but to no avail (I need no more soap, probably for an entire lifetime). Notice the tiny button on the ribbon matches the soaps. I love the extra attention to detail.

My staff roll their eyes every time I buy more cards (see another card splurge here). They "forbid" me to by more cards until I use what I have (which is a glorious drawer full). They did give me grief for this purchase but, I just couldn't help myself. You all know I'm sucker for good design! And, the cards are all gone now ... so, I'll definitely be needing more!

New Shopping Cart Walk-Through

January 24, 2009, 19:00: The new shopping cart was kicking out too many errors for my comfort level so we're back to the old shopping cart. But, we're working on it behind the scenes and I'll keep you posted. It could be a day ... it could be a month. Ya' never know with coding errors. In the meantime, enjoy a trip down memory lane with our tried'n'true cart.

It's Bramble Berry 4.0! Over the next 48 hours, Bramble Berry's (www.brambleberry.com) online shopping cart will be on ... and off. We're migrating servers as we prepare to upgrade our shopping cart for the fourth time since inception (thus, the Bramble Berry 4.0). The site is due for an overhaul and your 29 comments on the "Make It Easy!" post made it clear that this was a priority in 2009. The switch to the new servers will take one to two days. Over this weekend, www.brambleberry.com might not come up for you or, if you're served by one of the hubs that's already done the switchover, you'll be able to see the site and place orders. For those of you wanting to place orders over the weekend, we have staff working to take your phone calls. Our phone number is 360-734-8278 or 1-87-SOAP-STUFF. We think the new site is a huge improvement and hope you do as well.

Navigating our new site

Ideally, you won't notice much changes in our site or layout. That's phase two. But for now, what you will notice is:

Shopping cart contents & totals on the left hand side of your screen. Adding new items to your shopping cart is easy! Click the button on the size of item you are purchasing, confirm quantities (1, 2, 3 ...) and click the "Add to Cart" button. The new site is fairly intuitive but just in case it's not, there are full and clear instructions below on how to check-out.


There are clear confirmations about your shopping cart additions. Once you've added the item to your cart, a little note shows up at the top of the page stating what you added and the quantity. The item then appears in the shopping cart on the left hand, top side of the screen.

Check out is now faster. To check-out, click on "Shopping Cart Contents" (top left hand side of screen). This takes you to the screen below. If you have a coupon, this is the time to add it. Type in your sale code or coupon code and hit "Apply Coupon." This is also the time to check your quantities and all the items in your cart. There are Quantity change options and Remove options if you see errors in your shopping cart (or dear goodness, choose to change your mind about any of our amazing products). You can check out with your credit card or PayPal (1/23/2009 - 4:30 PM - I'm lying. You can't check out with PayPal. Yet. You will be able to shortly). If you click the PayPal button, you'll be taken to PayPal to complete your transaction. If you click the "Checkout" button, you'll be taken to the next screen below.

Our site will remember you. The better, new and improved website allows you to register as a new user. The new shopping cart will remember you each and every time you order, keep track of your orders, allow you to track your orders and save you the time it takes to enter your bill to and ship to address each and every time. Register. It's a good thing.

Tax Button. If you live in Washington state and you don't have a business license, I'm sorry. You do need to pay tax. If you don't live in Washington State and don't have a business license, don't worry. You don't need to pay tax. Keep the box checked and skip the rest of this explanation.

If you do need to pay tax, this little box is for you. To calculate your sales tax, uncheck this box. The box says: Change this selection if you live in Washington State AND you are NOT tax exempt.

If you live in Washington State, have a business license but haven't given us a copy of that business license, we legally still need to charge you tax. You can fill out a "Reseller's Certificate" to become a tax-free zone with Bramble Berry. You can find that certificate here. Fax it to us at 360-752-0992

When you've confirmed your shipping address is correct and made the tax versus no-tax decision (and for 99% of our customers, it's not much of a decision. Most of you are non-taxable), click the "Continue" button on the bottom right hand side of the page.

Shipping Method. You must pick a shipping method if you would like to continue forward. We greatly prefer Fed Ex to UPS and have only the Fed Ex and Priority Mail options on the shopping cart. If you really, really feel strongly about getting your products via UPS, we gladly ship however you want and have daily UPS pick-up. Just write us a thoughtful note requesting UPS in the Notes section (the one with the big arrow below) and we'll get you switched out.


Once you choose Fed Ex or USPS, another drop down menu magically appears. Choose your specific method (2 Day, Ground etc...). You must select your shipping choice from this menu before (again with the magic), the "Continue" button appears on the bottom right.

Choose your payment method - Credit Card for online credit card processing or Phone/Fax. Click the "Continue" button.

Check out by putting in your credit card or gift certificate information. If you're paying via phone (calling us because you don't feel good about putting your credit card online), just click the "Complete Order" button and call us with your credit card. If you are like 97% of our customers and are checking with with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover), enter your card number, expiration date and the 3 digit code (or 4 digit code for American Express). Then, click "Complete Order."

You'll be taken to a page that looks like the one below. Click the "View" button on the right bottom to view your order.

Tracking your orders is easy! All you need to do is log into your account, click on "My Profile" and click on your recently placed order. It will bring up a copy of your order and on the bottom left of the order is a "Track Order" button. Click this and your tracking number will pop up.


This is still a work in progress. Your suggestions and feedback matter. I'm listening. We're listening. Tell me how we can improve your shopping experience and we'll work on it. In the meantime, I hope you like the Bramble Berry 4.0 shopping experience.

Fly, Fly Away ... Again.

If you missed Day 1 of our embedding project, catch up by clicking here.

Step 5: Spray your embedding object with alcohol and place your object where you want it to be in the mold (usually centered). A note about choices for embedding objects: hard objects may pop out of the soap in an uneven fashion when washing, potentially scratching enthusiastic children. Use common sense and age appropriate toys when making Embedding Toy soaps, please.















Step 6: Continue alternating layers of Super Pearly White and Clear Soap Base to get your desired cloud effect. Remember to let each layer cool slightly and spritz each layer with rubbling alcohol.

Step 7: After the mold is filled to the top let the mold sit for a few hours before unmolding. The longer you wait the easier it will be.
















Look how cute this bar turned out! This is a fun project to include the kids on. It's also a sneaky way to get your children to love their baths. The more scrubbing they do, the sooner they can claim their prize!















I'll post a photo later, taken in our light box, that really showcases the cuteness of this soap. My skills at lighting and photography at home are minimal at best.

Fly, Fly Away - Soapy Kidlet Project

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!