Weddings and Soap making.
I'm off to my sisters wedding this weekend. So I looked up weddings and soap on google - I know I seem to be able to talk about nothing else today! But a lovely nice soap makes me happy (it's the little things). I stumbled across another make your own.
For the tutorial below, they use 3lbs shea butter and 2 tablespoons sweet almond oil as the scent. They also added 1 tablespoon natural brown pigment and almond grit for exfoliation. You can find other ingredients and experiment.
You can buy your own mould or cut your own rustic shaped bars which takes a lot less time and is cheaper.
- Materials for Wedding Favor Soap:
- Melt and pour shea butter
- Large (think lobster boiling size) pot
- Molds (OR if you want cut bars you can even use a wax paper lined pizza box)
- Packaging - fabric bags, cellophane, boxes, organza, tulle circles, pretty papers, ribbon, labels, etc
- Optional - essential oils
- Optional - pigments
The above image is of 3 lbs of shea butter. Cut it up into little chunks to speed up the melting process if you like. This is optional though.
So put your shea butter into your pot and start cooking! the butter will eventually start to melt. Make sure you stir often to break up any clumps that form - this is why cutting it up beforehand pays off. It is harder to stir a huge old block of solid soap.
Once it is fully melted and liquid, stir in any colouring and then add your essential oils. Finally you pour it into your pre-oiled mold if you are using the plastic molds - here they used olive oil. If you are using a wax paper lined box of some sort there is no need to oil, obviously.
Leave it about 24 hours so you can be sure they are fully hardened.
If you are cutting bars, use a very sharp knife, not serrated. You can score them lightly and use a ruler to make sure you have uniform bars.
Here are examples wrapped in parchment paper and natural cotton twine and also in little natural cotton cloth pouches and tied with some wool yarn! Be sure to include "handmade by ...." on your wedding favor soap tags so your guests know you made it yourself!
Another quick note - make sure you pick a scent you love, even having the soap around may scent your reception area! (which would be lovely) After your wedding, the scent will always remind you of your wedding day too.
Many thanks to do-it-yourself-weddings.com for theses instructions.
Take Care
Nina
