Soap, Delightful Soap ~ A Few Simple Ideas

Remember how I told you we finally attempted soap making after so many years of dreaming about it, dear friends…?

Well, I thought I would share some pictures of our little soaps with you, and also some sweet and simple ideas for wrapping them beautifully…

  

 Soaps make such wonderful presents, particularly as hostess gifts!

Don’t you just love the smell of all natural soap…?

I will let you in on a little secret…we found some wonderful natural soap base from a local soap company (The Soap Barn), and thus our soap making experience was simple and very enjoyable!

 

Although I would very much like to try making soap from start to finish someday, I am quite happy to potter about with nothing but essential oils, some dried herbs/flowers and ready-made soap base – yes, in this instance, I am happy to “cheat’’ a little – for now, anyway!  {{smiles}}

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I have included our recipe for you should you wish to make your own sweet soaps…I found it in the lovely Ideas magazine, November 2015...I did ''tweak'' a few things, though...

~ Simple Soap ~

You will need...
  
white soap base (the 'melt and pour' variety)
dried rose buds
rose essential oil
red food colouring
mould
spraying alcohol

To make...

Cut the soap base into 1 x 1 cm cubes and place in a thick-based pot over a very low heat, stirring constantly till melted.  
Use a metal spoon or spatula to stir, placing it in a jug of warm water when not using to prevent the soap residue from hardening.
Mix a few drops of the essential oil into the soap base and stir to combine.
Dip the tip of a wooden skewer or toothpick in the food colouring and then into the soap.  
Stir again and repeat to add more colour, if you prefer.
Transfer the coloured soap mixture to your mould, and spray with alcohol to prevent bubbles from forming on the top.
Leave to stand for a few hours until set.  
Before the soap sets completely, make holes in the surface using a wooden skewer and insert rosebuds into the holes.
Leave the soap to stand overnight to harden completely. 
Turn the soap out of the mould the next day and cut up.

~ A Few Wrapping Ideas ~  

One of my favourite ways to wrap soaps is to use fabric and ribbon or lace…   
I shared this idea a few years ago, so do hop over to this post to see how to wrap your soaps with fabric…

Beautiful paper is of course lovely for wrapping soaps in, and I like to use good quality scrapbook paper…  
Wrap your soaps as you would a gift, and add ribbon or lace if you wish… 

A little strip of patterned paper is also lovely around soap, and is handy as recipients can see straight away what it looks (and smells!) like!  
This is our coffee soap, which is scented with vanilla essential oil and contains fresh coffee grounds…

 Broad lace…ah, just gorgeous for wrapping soaps!
Secure lace at the bottom of the soap with double-sided tape...

 

…A white doily and some narrow pink ribbon…a pretty and simple way to wrap a soap!  

…Or simply decorate with dried flowers such as rose buds which we placed on top of our rose scented soap…

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Do you have any lovely ideas for decorating and wrapping handmade soaps…?

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May each of you have a truly blessed weekend further!

 

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  This post may be shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Cooking and Crafting with J and J and Modest Monday