Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Pretty Hand Made Soap



I have been looking at all the creative soaps in various shops and also on the web, and decided to make some of them.  This is from a craft book written by a Scandinavian author. My soaps did not look exactly like the pictures in the book, but I decided to use them for gifts and hope that the recipients would know it was soap.
This experience increased my appreciation for ladies who make creative soaps, as it was not very easy, even though I used the convenience of melt-and-pour soap base. The layers are poured in a tin can, and the icing is made by using an electric mixer with melted soap until it is fluffy. It is quite a contest to get it on the cake before it hardens. The rose and leaves are also made with soap.


The slices will be wrapped and given away to the ladies in the Ladies Bible Class which meets in my home each week. These little cakes and slices look so nice in the bathroom and are lightly scented with a vanilla-pear soap scent.



I hope you have been watching all the lovely ideas appearing on my blog roll. It is so inspiring to see the creative things people do in their homes that make home living joyful and appealing.

19 comments:

rebekah said...

Lovely!

Bobbie G. said...

What a beautiful idea. I just love the layers on your little soap cake.

Miss Linda said...

These are so lovely! Thank you for sharing them.

Suzanne said...

I think yours came out lovely! I make goats milk soap. But I have never tried to make soap to look like confections--how fun:-)

Joy said...

That is very pretty and creative!

Fiona Ferris said...

Is that your own one? I thought it was from the book! You've done a wonderful job.

Lydia said...

You can see more photos of what others (experts) are doing with soap cake, if you click images on google and type in soap cake.

Yes this is the one I made, and if anyone wants the directions I can include them. The roses are made by pouring soap in a narrow stream on kitchen foil, and just before it is completely dry, while it is still warm, rolled into a rose. The same for the leaves, although you can cut them with kitchen scissors and score with a serrated knife. You can cut the soap with a wide steel knife but it is advisable to get a soap cutter, which costs about 5 to 6 dollars.

If the soap hardens before the whipped frosting is completely applied, just melt it again and start over. Use a paint brush to apply hot melted soap to the underside of the flowers to make them stick on the soap cake.

Divide into slices and let each child have one for washing their hands,

Alexandra said...

Fun and so pretty! I made some cupcake soaps with Ivory soap a while back. I'm still using them. They have lasted a long time. I've been wanting to make a cake just like this. Thanks for sharing :)

Susan @ Oh My! Creative said...

I love pretty soaps - clever idea!

Anonymous said...

what a wonderful craft you show us here...the delightful cake of soap! How charming...and love the little slice of it too...
Lynn M

Anonymous said...

I noticed the photo you posted with this article just a split second before reading the title....and actually did think I was looking at a cake! Well done!

Brenda

Anonymous said...

Lydia,

These are wonderful, and you're right, soap making is a challenge. Please do not re-use any saucepands, bowls or beaters that have been used for soap making in the kitchen; you'll need to reserve these for their new role.

these soaps go for as much as $8-10 Aus at fancy country shops or agricultural shows (regional fares). the loveliest I've ever encountered was a lemon merringue pie (cut into slices that were sold individually as part of the soap making process) that smelt good enough to eat, so richly and tartly lemony!!

Yum!! You may wish to investigate natural olive oil soap making similar to that which has been practiced in Syria for centuries. if you are fortunate enough to be able to purchase Syrian natural olive oil soap, do so.

Fantastic!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lydia,
I made soap from lye solution, palm, olive and coconut oil which had no fragrance until I used essential oils, herbs and spices to scent it.

My favorite one was a rich brown soap made with cocoa powder to get the color and rich clove essential oils to give it an enticing aroma.

I stirred the mix by hand for 4 hours until it traced. Then it had to be poured into a mold, wrapped and left to cool down for 24-48 hrs, cut it into nice bars and then it had to dry and cure for 21 days to be safe.

I love your fancy soaps and really thought I was looking at a culinary specialty of yours until I read the text. So beautiful.

I'm always interested in what you share and really enjoy learning about all the new things you come up with. Thanks for sharing.

Blessings, Janet Westrup.

Lydia said...

Janet, what an amazing amount of work, but how satisfying it must be to make "real" soap. My mother used ashes and rain to make soap, but I never learned how to do that.

If anyone wishes to take on this project, I would advise just making one small cake in a small tin, such as a pineapple tidbits or other short can, or a small plastic container from the dollar store, or a round soap mold with a flat bottom and straight sides. Just use a small amount of your soap base and make one. Its easy to get carried away with it, and can be tiring and expensive if you use the melt and pour soap. I used the white glycerine, which also has coconut and palm oil.

Anonymous said...

After looking up the "soap cakes" on Google I see where you got your inspiration. I really enjoyed the cameo and sea shell molds.

If you like using molds, I found that half gallon paper milk cartons work great and can be cut in as thick a bar as you like or plastic cookie cartons work really well. There are some really interesting cookie cartons if you shop around. The plastic is thin and flexible and the soaps pop right out when hardened.
For small guest soaps the candy molds work really well.

I still like the idea of a slice of layer cake. Again thank you for sharing.

Janet W.

June Fuentes @ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home said...

What a neat project--I then googled soap cakes and couldn't believe how many beautiful kinds of soaps there are! Please post the directions or link to it when you have the time.

Thank you and hope you are having a blessed day.

Many blessings...

Lydia said...

Janet, thanks for the tips on containers for soapmaking. I did not know you could use those things. I find the soap molds VERY difficult to use and these that you mentioned sound a lot more flexible.

Unknown said...

I would love to have a tutorial or the directions for the soap please

Lydia said...

Mary
Someone has made the soap and posted a few instructions here. http://cheznaomi.blogspot.com/2010/04/soap-cake-with-roses.html The idea came from a book called Sew Sunny Homestyle by Tone Finnanger. It might be better just to get the book.