Mother's Day DIY: Stone Soap + Gift Labels
With Mother's Day approaching in a few short weeks (May 8th), I've put together a fun DIY gift idea for the awesome mommas out there. I had seen some very cool soap rocks at Anthro and a few other stores and fell in love with everything about them...except the cost. I wanted to see if I could make some myself for less, so that is what I did! As you can see, I went with more translucent crystal-esque rocks instead of the milky opaque gemstone ones from the stores. To achieve this, I used the "pour and mold" glycerin soap base in clear which was necessary to get the look I was going for. The entire process was an experiment, so I didn't take too many photos of the process, but don't let that stop you from trying this very fun project for yourself!
Materials Needed:
Material Notes: Okay, so apparently you can use food coloring instead of proper soap colorants (according to Martha). That surprises me - as food coloring often stains my hands - but perhaps it gets neutralized in the glycerin. Anywho, I just wanted to call that out if you're on a budget and have some food coloring already in stock on your shelves.Another optional material is that silicone mold. I found it fairly useful to have one, but you can also use old juice or milk cartons, some non-stick pans, and pretty much any type of silicone mold or tray as well.
Directions:Note: Repeat Steps #1-3 a handful of times until you have a variety of colored soaps molded.
Step #1: Chop a handful of the glycerin base cubes into small pieces. In a microwave-safe container heat the glycerin pieces in the microwave on high, stirring every 15-seconds until it's completely melted (this should only take around 45 seconds total). If you don't have a microwave, just melt in a pot on lo-med heat.
Step #2: Add 1-2 drops of the liquid coloring into the bowl and gently swirl the container with your hands to mix the color into the glycerin. For some of my molds, I fully mixed in the color, and for others I just slightly let immerse with the glycerin (which resembled that gradient you can often see in crystals as they go from clear to colored).
Step #3: Pour the melted glycerin into your mold and let it set. Since the soap can take a few hours to set at room temperature, I decided to speed up the process by sticking my mold in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes each time.Repeat Steps #1-3 for each color of soap you'd like to have present in your soap stones. Once you have at least 4 or 5 colored molds to choose from, you're ready to continue on.
Step #4: Use a knife to cut chunks out of each of your colored molds. Vary the angles of your cuts and the size of the pieces. Group similar colors together and layer them in the mold. Repeat Step #1 and pour the clear melted glycerin into the mold. If you want to add any color, feel free to do so, but don't use too much as you already have the colored pieces present and it can get too dark, which may hide some of the pretty color details inside each soap stone. And honestly, please don't worry about these directions not being too specific. It was a lot of fun experimenting with the possibilities of the glycerin soap and thankfully you really can't screw it up.
Step #5: You'll need to let your final mold (aka the giant brick) set for a while. I'd recommend that you allow at least an hour in the freezer or overnight at room temp. Regardless of which method you choose, make sure to touch the soap to confirm that it is nice and firm before removing it from the mold.
Step #6: Once your brick of cool-looking soap is nice and hard, start chopping it into gem shapes. I went with a rectangular bar soap-sized shape first and the used my knife to add in the diagonal gem cuts. Every stone has it's own shape, so you can't mess this up either! If your knife isn't doing the trick, you can also use a vegetable peeler to get accurate cuts.
Step #7: Once your soap has been cut, package that beautiful handmade soap stone! In a small box, wrapped in plastic, or even a nice plastic bag would work well for the packaging. Any scraps can get re-used into other soaps either as whole chunks or they can be melted down again. This really is a fun project - hope you guys all enjoy the experimental portion of it as well!
Lastly, if crystals are YOUR thang, you would probably like these posts too: Gemstone Cupcakes // Agate Cookies or Cheesecake // Crystal Cake