Tag Archives: soap

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before (I write everything in my mind before hitting the app and sometimes the stories never make it to the app lol), but I want to try to make some rubber duck soaps. The examples I’ve seen are so cute! Basically a soap is poured (either guest round or regular round) and a rubber duck gets nestled into the soap before it sets. Then some soap curls or shavings get placed around the duck while the base is still warm, to cover the spot and make it look kind of like a nest (although there are definitely some whimsical takes on the concept).

I planned to do a pink duck with a tiara first for my honorary niece for Christmas. My first versions of products are kind of coveted, so I seldom let them go, but I’ll give them for a gift that’s meaningful to me, like in this instance. Anyway, while grocery shopping they had an end cap with some rubber ducks and we spotted this pink cutie, and thought it would work. Utter failure. Lol. I used to be an intelligent person, but now I’m not so sure…*grin* I never even looked at the base to guesstimate if it would fit in a mold. Yeah, um…not a single mold, even my large massage bars! *cracking up* The only option if I pursue wanting to use her is if I use a loaf pan, but can you imagine that chunk of soap?! It’d take a kid a year to wash enough to pull it out! (Theory is that embeds make kids want to wash, so they can get to the cute toys.)

I had a free delivery deal come up with Oriental Trading, so I ordered some of their ducks. I figured I was going to have a family of ducks that I’d have no clue what to do with, with the way my luck tends to generally run. *grin* I wanted to make sure that I got something whimsical and gender neutral, so I ordered their dessert ducks. There are four versions of cupcake ducks in the pack and they are adorable. Plus, they’re pretty small so they’ll fit perfectly in several molds. *happy dance* I have a kitty recovering right now, but after she’s better I can’t wait to make a batch of duckies and some Monsters Away spray. *grin* Of course a picture of these cute little buggers will finish this post 😉

I am beyond excited at how the cookie sandwich soaps have turned out so far. I was shooting for a chocolate brown color, but the brown pigment I have wasn’t looking overly chocolatey, so I added the tiniest dash of black matte powder. I had never used powder coloring before, but of course I had researched and knew that a tiny bit goes a long way. I didn’t realize that a sixteenth of a teaspoon was a lot in this situation. Lol. I was kind of upset when I was whisking the batch and saw how dark the soap was turning, but you know me and waste…I decided to pour them and I could remelt for something else later, but they’d be in handy wafers instead of a massive clump. As they began to set I noticed that they continued to darken (I think it was actually the settling of everything from all of that whisking since it took awhile to incorporate the powder). I’m so happy with them now though! They look like chocolate grasshopper cookies or York miniatures. I can’t believe it. I still need to make the frosting to sandwich and I’m going to let that look rather whimsical so that these don’t look too realistic. In the picture they’re a little glossy, but that will dull in a bit. I had a lot of trouble getting them to release from the molds and popped them in the freezer to contract, to unmold. Yeah, um…*blush and suddenly looking all around* I popped them in as I prepared the supplies to paint the trees and I lost all track of the entire world once I started painting. After I was down I was on cloud 9 and got on SL for a couple of hours. I came out to make my tea and was tidying up when I saw an empty mold sitting on the counter. *facepalm* I ran over and yanked the wafer molds out of the freezer. I had left the tree mold on the counter since I was going to add the wafer ones after the ten minute cool down, so I’d only do one round of equipment washing (I take extra measures for that, so it’s a real pain to do it in multiple rounds). Thankfully these soaps won’t be ruined, but I need to let them slowly return to room temperature. If the condensation stays on them I run the risk of the fuzz popping up on them. It’s a common issue that occurs because glycerin is a humectant, so it draws water from the air, and then whatever itty bitty particles are in the air stick to the moisture, making the soaps look fuzzy. The fuzz can sometimes be wiped off carefully with a damp towel, but that can leave a mess too, and I’d rather write off a soap’s cost than sell something that I’m not proud to have my name attached to. So, I’m going to set an alarm next time I have to use the last resort of freezing a mold. Lol. Anyway, I think they’re adorable and can’t wait to make (and post) Part 2. *grin* Let’s hope that part turns out well too!

I’ve been playing with the idea of experimenting at cookie sandwich soaps. I’d make two guest rounds as cookies (flat shape like an Oreo instead of regular chocolate chip) and adding a bath whip as the filling. I would probably then package in little gift bags. I thought of making different cream colors and even doing a few macaroon-like coloring, so a few pink, etc. I have a Ho Ho FO which I thought might be good for this, tying in the cookie and cream concept.

I also have been debating on snowmen being my key promotion at the craft event. I thought of doing red and white peppermint swirl snowmen and other wild little combos like that.

Sadly my glitter soaps aren’t as sparkly as I hoped. There is a hint of shimmer as I move them under the light. It was definitely a worthwhile experiment and I realize that part of it is because it was a solid soap base instead of clear. For the outer layer I planned on a clear pour, so I’ll just add some of the iridescent glitter to those too. It was the first time using this flower mold and I was impressed. They have a little detail and are much better than the candy molds I used to use – thicker and massively easier to un-mold. The *cough* lavender of the glitter embeds lightened even more as they set it seems.