Farfalloni Soaps

Been thinking of which MP project to make. Then, me and my 568 family were talking about pasta in preparation for Peter and K's birthday. From there I came up with an idea of why not I make a soap that looks like a pasta?

I made farfalloni looking pasta (ribbon).  Only when I made the pasta then I learned that the name of the ribbon pasta are Farfalle (bow or tie shape) and farfalloni (larger bow ties).

For the packaging. I used flower shaped plastic beads in gold tie. I really liked this embellishment. I had that embellishment kept somewhere in my craft supplies. I used to make loom bracelets, keychains and plastic bracelets and give it around to my friend's daughters so these are just leftovers from previous crafty projects.  I never expected that to look nice on soaps too.

Fortune Soaps

Hello Everyone.  Chinese New Year is coming so i've decided to make fortune soaps. These are soaps that looks like fortune cookies. Remember the feeling of joy that you get from fortune cookies when you dine in chinese restaurants? I want to bring that same joy to my family and friends too.

Here, i've used an improvised molds made from wax paper. Then I cut round shapes using an old egg molder. I've also used the edge of a mug as a template in folding the soaps into fortune cookie shapes. I included 2 packaging ideas (1 in plastic with gold tie and the other one uses candy boxes in 3 different colors).

The soaps smells so yummy, as I've scented it with bubblegum fragrance.

This is a fun project. I hope that you can include this in your next MP soap making plan.

Christmas Soap Gift Set

My december was occupied with soap making. I prepared soaps for my family and friends. Remember the recycled jelly molds that I used to make cute li'l soaps? I used the same mold again. Then packed the soaps into mooncake PET containers and placed 4 pieces of individually wrapped soaps into mooncake boxes. I am so happy with how the gift sets came out.

Here are the photos of  the soaps I made this month:

Wanna see how? Below is the video:

Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year to all.  This is my last post for 2015.

Wanna know my New Year's resolution? I've decided that I want to actively post videos in my youtube channel. I want to follow a schedule and I think posting a video once every week is manageable to me.  I posted a total of 10 videos from 12 September to-date. If I can follow my new year's resolution, I will need to post atleast 50 videos next year.  (Cough, cough. ahem, ahem) Alright supposed to be 52? Why? Because I plan not to post any video during the Holyweek. The other one? I am not so sure yet but a little bit of leeway would not hurt right? lol.

Tomorrow hello to 2016!

It's not just soaps..It's art.

I love handcrafting soaps mainly because of its science and art.  

Come to think of it, there is nothing so special in handcrafting soaps, right?  Its chemistry is so basic that even kid's can do it (with adult supervision due to safety concerns in handling chemicals).

Traditionally, soaps are produced by combining fats/oils and alkali.  The fats and oils from vegetable, mineral sources or animal origin are degraded into fatty acids using lye and the saponication process would produce crude soap (alkali salt of fatty acid).

Did you know that today, most soaps available commercially are not true soaps but synthetic detergents?  Read your soap labels and if you see chemical names like Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLS) and/or Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate ( SLES) it simply means that the manufacturer had added an anionic detergent and surfactant for its additional benefits on foaming, cleansing and emulsifying properties. 

Enough, with all this technical terms.  Now the fun part - the art behind soap making.  What makes soap making so interesting is that you can add a wide range of additives:  natural colorants or synthetic pigments, mica for sparkle, fragrances and essential oils, fruit and vegetable extracts, and so on and so forth.  Providing you with that wonderful experience obtained from vibrant colors and aromatic goodness while nourishing your skin for that healthy and radiant glow.

With all this additional ingredients in soaps, the bar that you are currently holding could either be classified as a cosmetic or drug depending on the manufacturer's claim and also depending on the regulatory standpoint.  If that soap had moisturizing effects, or that soap will help you to smell nice or would deodorize your body, then that is classified as cosmetics.  If that soap is antibacterial or claims to help to clear acne, claims to make you slimmer or would help to whiten your skin, then it is categorized as a drug.  Bottomline is that, whether it is a real soap, a cosmetic or a drug, manufacturer's are still allowed to name their products as soaps because its main objective is still to cleanse your skin.

Now going back "It's not just soaps. It's art."  I came up with this tagline to always remind myself that when I make soap I am embracing the simplicity soap crafting and its underlying complexities. 

Hera's Rage Soap

It's All Saint's Day!

I recently bought a 4-cavity square shaped mold from an online seller. I was very excited about it, but I turned very disappointed when I received it. Each cavity has L'ese embossed to it. So if i'll use this on my soaps, each one will have this brand engraved to it. Can you believe that?

I want to file a complaint. Luckily, I went back to see the listing and zoomed the photos.
There you go! I didn't notice the embossed wording there before! So to make the long story short, it was my fault. Hence, I didnt file any complaint. lol.

What to do with this molds? Then, I remembered that at the back of my mind I want to make an oatmeal milk and honey soap. Voila! that is my solution.

I cut square pieces of bubble wraps. Placed it in each cavity and molded my soaps there. 

If you noticed my previous soaps were always named with positivity, Nymph's Fantasies, Cupid's Kisses, Aphrodite's Love, etc. Today, with this whole hu-ha in mind, i've decided to name this soap, Hera's Rage. Another reason for that name is that I want to make another version of this with added oatmeal bran. Since its a scrub soap, I want to make that contrast to differentiate this againts my other creations.

See that sheen in front? I used gold mica dust for that. In the end, I enjoyed making this soap. I had left over base so I molded it to make cute li'l flower soap:

I'm sure that you want to learn on how to do this. 

Feel free to watch the video below. 

Hey, it would also not hurt me if you would "like, share and subsribe" to it. :-)

Until next time..

Cute Li'l Airplane Soaps Party Favors

Today is Ate Berna's 50th Birthday celebration.  

This is a surprise birthday party that we had arranged since September.

My task was to prepare 50 pcs of party favors.  

The theme was "Travel" so I've molded airplane soaps in shades of purple (her favorite color).

With the purple color request, I've decided to match it with lavander and lemon scent.

So I packed the party favors in cute boxes.

Here is the video link

Happy Birthday Ate Berns.  More birthdays to come...

Nymph's Fantasies Soaps

I did a quick search to check on what benefits does one get in Lavander essential oils and Lemon essential oils.

Well, I found out that Lavander is one of the most popular aromatheraphy oil because of its calming and relaxing benefits.  While Lemon, helps with mental clarity and reduce stress and depression. 

Combining all this benefits into one, I came up with Nymph's Fantasies Soap and scented it with Lavender and Lemon essential oils. 

Now for the design part.  

I noticed the embroidery in our table runner and the photo below inspired me.

So I decided to make a big curl and embedded it inside the soap.

I used wax paper taped on the four corners and filled it with a very thin layer of soap.  The embed's transclucent effect were obtained through the combination of 30% opaque and 70% transparent melt & pour soap bases.