Yesterday, I finally started making holiday soaps. The first ones I made were these adorable goat milk snowflake soaps scented with peppermint essential oil.
Here is exactly how I made the soaps pictured here. Obviously, there are several ways to vary this project, such as fragrance, soap base, mold shape, and color.
I used:
- Silicone muffin pan (6-cavity)
- Approx. 20 oz. Goat Milk Soap Base
- Cornflower Blue Mica
- Peppermint Essential Oil (second distillation)
- Small Metal Snowflake Cookie Cutter
- Alcohol in a Spray Bottle
- Measuring Cup, Spoons, Etc.
First, cut up approximately 8 oz. of the goat milk soap base. (I used the craft store variety that comes in a 2 lb. block and has score marks for the ounces. I did not actually weigh for this project, so weights are approximate.)
Place the pieces into a Pyrex (or other heat safe) measuring cup and microwave in short intervals (<30 sec.) until melted. Stir in essential oil and mica. (Tip: Dissolve the mica in the essential oil or a small amount of alcohol first to avoid clumps.)
Pour the blue soap into the six muffin cups, dividing equally. Allow to cool.
Once the blue layer is set up, but not fully hard, use the cookie cutter to cut out snowflakes.
Melt the remaining 12 oz. of soap base and scent with essential oil.
Allow the white soap to cool enough so that it will not melt the snowflake cut outs. (Make sure it is not steaming.)
Spray the blue layer and cut out holes generously with alcohol and pour the white soap on top of the blue layer and into the snowflakes, dividing evenly.
Allow to fully harden, then unmold.
Voila! You have a lovely soap to impress your guests or to give as a gift.
All of the supplies here can probably be found in your local craft store. For a multi-color project like this, make sure your colorant is non-bleeding. I used the Cornflower Blue Mica from Brambleberry. I also bought my peppermint essential oil there. They have the best soap making supplies, but the shipping on the soap base can be cost prohibitive. However, if you can swing it, it is well worth the money. Their bases are amazing!
Thanks for sharing this! These are lovely.
YES, thank you for sharing. The soaps are beautiful.
Thank you.
These are wonderful. I will definitely give them a try. Love your site, btw!!
the little cutouts are great for little hand soaps too! very nice…
Greta
I was looking for something easy to make as little stocking stuffers and hostess gift sets; this fits the bill perfectly; thanks for sharing; Happy Holidays
Lovely! Did you make 6 soap bars with the 20 oz of soap? And can you tell me approximately how much mica and essential oil you used? Thanks for sharing this project!
I did make the 6 soaps with the 20 oz.
I do not measure the mica or essential oil. I added mica until I liked the color, but it does get darker when it sets (which I actually ended up liking better), so bear that in mind.
As for essential oil, I like my soaps lightly fragranced, so my measurements, if I had them, would probably not suit other people. I use a dropper, so it is not a whole lot.
Sorry that I am not more precise about that!
The amount of fragrance recommended by Sweet Cakes Soapmaking Supply is,
“If you’re working with melt-and-pour soap base, add between .3 and .5 oz. of fragrance per lb. of soap (that’s 1-2 teaspoons).”
It will depend on the strength and quality of your fragrance and how strong you like it.
We made soaps like these today. The girls had a great time and I had fun too. Again, thanks for sharing.
You know, I gotta tell you, I truly relish this site and the informative insight. I find it to be refreshful and very informative. I wish there were more blogs like it. Anyhow, I felt it was about time I posted a comment on All Things Hold Together » Blog Archive » Snowflake Soap Tutorial – I just wanted to tell you that you did a awesome job on this. Cheers mate!