After going to a doctor’s appointment in the city we decided to stop in a sporting good’s shop nearby to see of they had any untreated plastic worms that I could use in my soap. I admit that I got kind of upset when I read some of these packages. Did you know that some use lead? We’ve come so far, yet we’re still using a carcinogen to bait our food? *shaking head* I truly never knew. When I lived in CA Gramps swore by his Rapalas when fishing at the lake, so I’ve never even touched one of these worms. Lol. (Real worms and shrimp yes, but I seriously try to block that out. *dramatic shudder* I’m that kind of girl that said sorry to every fish I caught that we kept. Lol.) Anyway, after reading that and so many with other fun chemicals I’m really reluctant to try any that don’t mention additives. Who knows what may be on or in those?! If I can’t guarantee to my customers that they’re chemical free, can I really stand by my “pampering with natural benefits”? Granted this is my overly fun soap for kids – a brown speckled clear soap scented with Dirt FO and fake worms in them, so I’m not really working the benefits corner, but at least there will be beneficial components. I want to be able to stand by every ingredient in every item, even the whimsical stuff.
Since I was rather bummed I decided to limp through some retail therapy at a Dollar Tree and see if they had any fun toys to embed. Um, have you ever looked at their toy creatures? Freaky!! Absolutely creepy. *cracking up* A plastic snake shouldn’t be a big deal – I grew up raising spiders and frogs, so come on – but I literally wiped my hand on my jeans after touching those. I can’t figure out why they creeped me out, but the rational part of me is having a giggle fest over it, so I doubt I’ll be able to forget about it anytime soon. *grin*
I found a place that sells the molds to make your own plastic worms for bait. I in theory could make soap worms then. However, is it really that spectacular of an idea to go to that much work? I admit that most of my soaps never sell. My poor husband has used everything from banana cream “cakes” to watermelon dinosaurs and cars. *grin* He’s a good sport, except when the taxes have been done and he sees what a loss my business has been. Ouch. So I have to be more conservative with my experiments and have been encouraged *wink* to try to make soaps that might be big sellers. Um, I usually aim for that, but…lol. Now I have a merry-go-round in my mind of how much would the approximate cost be, a guesstimate on if it might be successful, and how I could change it if something goes horribly wrong and it looks like I went insane while making the soap. I mean, I had drunk duckies and that horrible incident with the play dough improvised mold dams coming loose and embedding in the lump of coal soaps. *cracking up* I’m learning to plan out alternative uses for my ideas. I really can’t think of other product uses for whole or chopped up plastic worms. *grin*
What do you think? Worth trying to make soap worms? Are soap worms even creepier than plastic ones? Should I just do a more solid brown soap with the Dirt FO and call them “Mud Pies”? I really appreciate any thoughts on this. I love the idea, but don’t know if it’s really “all that”. (Apparently I can’t resist going “Old School” right now…) I thought Monsters Away Spray would be a seller, but haven’t sold a single one, so I’m having a small confidence crisis anyway. 😉 Also, if you’re commenting anyway, would you mind telling me if you’d like more DIY recipes and tips?
In the meantime, I’m going to go geek out over some food soap molds I found. *grin*
Georgia's Pampering 
I am really surprised that the Monsters Away spray didn’t sell. I think your products are creative & fun. You just need more of the right kind of exposure, (plus we are in an economic downturn so sales would naturally be down.) I’m thinking that perhaps the soap worms wouldn’t be that much extra trouble if you just poured them when you are making other kinds of soap. They can be a hodge podge of whatever you are making that day. just use the extra for the worms, It’s hard to say since I dont know what all goes into the making of it, so it may be more complicated than I think. Did you try Oriental Trading post for worms? I wonder if gummy worms would work? yea, probably not. 🙂 As for recipes and such, I always love them, but the honest truth is I dont think I would ever have time to make any of it.
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Thank you for the encouragement! I think you’re totally right on the reasons – plus I don’t live in a strong artisan-type community. Sometimes it’s hard to not think it’s me or something. 🙂
I love that we think alike! I was munching gummy worms before the jaw issues and thought of using them. Lol. It should be safe initially, but they might melt from the heat and they will probably cause the soap to harbor bacteria. I found some of the bath tea I made when I first started up (I have too many hidey holes lol) and some parts grew mold, so now I know first hand that it really can happen. (I was skeptical, but who wouldn’t be? It’s clean stuff! *grin*) I think I will get the mold and use the over pours, like you said. They will be more whimsical than realistic, plus I won’t have to worry about them feeling weird once exposed and touching skin.
I don’t make the recipes often either, especially for myself, so I understand. I won’t worry too much about posting them frequently then. Thank you!! 🙂
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Oh, I forgot to add that I found some cool snakes at Oriental Trading, but not really worms that can be embedded. They have fluffy little worms that do cute tricks though, which was amusing. I may make some oddball soaps sometime with various embeds, like their creatures and princess-ish stuff. Those keep popping in my head as just too cute. 😉
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you could do some plastic spiders and other bugs. Not as cute as worms, but the boys especially might like them.??
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Love that idea! That’ll make some wickedly cool soaps 🙂 Thank you!
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