I made some soap!

I have been wanting to try my hand at making homemade soap for years, but never got around to it. I finally decided to bite the bullet and head to the craft store soap aisle. I came home with a 2 pound brick of goat's milk melt and pour soap, some fragrances, and a heart shaped silicon mold (I think it's supposed to be for baked goods, but it worked perfectly!).  I just used melt and pour soap, because I am not skilled enough to start from scratch. Maybe someday. I couldn't decide what kind to make, so, obviously, I made 6 different varieties. I didn't want to make a whole batch of soap and decide I didn't like the fragrance. One bar of each scent is way less commitment.

The neat thing about melt and pour soap is that it's just that... you melt it, add your chosen mix ins, then pour in a mold. 

All of the fragrances were so nice. The cinnamon oatmeal smells like a yummy cookie, the vanilla latte is the perfect kitchen soap, and the lavender and the sweet orange are great natural fragrance choices. I love oatmeal as a mix in because it is slightly exfoliating and it makes the soap super pretty and natural looking. If you are making more than one variety like I did, make sure to get everything all ready to go before you melt the soap. You don't have a lot of time until it starts to set up. 


I melted the soap according to the package directions. I used 12 oz (2oz per bar). I could've used more, it was about halfway up the sides of the silicon mold, but I wanted to do small bars for my first time. I got 6 paper cups (don't use plastic because you might need to microwave them if you don't work fast enough and the soap hardens a bit) and poured 2oz into each one.Then poured each one into the mold.Wait for it to harden, then pop out and use.



Then I added the mix-ins to each one:
Lavender mix ins: few drops of purple coloring, 10 drops of lavender essential oil, and a large sprinkle of dried lavender buds (which I got in the spice section of Target). 

Vanilla Latte mix ins: a few drops of vanilla soap fragrance, a tablespoon of ground coffee. 

Sweet Orange mix ins: 10 drops of sweet orange essential oil and a few citrus scented soap petals. 

Cinnamon Oatmeal mix ins: dash of cinnamon, a few drops of vanilla soap fragrance, and about a tablespoon of ground oatmeal (I ground a few tablespoons of oats in my blender until it was a fine powder. I thought you needed a fancy blender for this, but my cheap, crappy blender did just fine) 

Almond Honey Oatmeal mix ins: I added about a tablespoon of ground oatmeal and a few drops of almond honey soap fragrance. 

Almond Poppyseed: the same as the almond honey oatmeal except I added poppy seeds instead of ground oatmeal. 





The heart shape makes it perfect for Valentine's gifts. I know I'm not a soap expert, so if I can do it, you can do it. Try making some soap!