Feature Friday- Hand-made Decorative Soaps

Create unique decorative soaps using dollar store items!  This give looks amazing in person and is surprisingly easy to make!

easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I needed to come up with a fabulous craft idea.  You see, my sister and I have a silent competition that has been going on since we were little.  We try our best to one-up each other every year.  This year, she is taking Mom to Disney World.  How can I compete with that?  What about homemade decorative soaps?

For the decorative soap I used:

Unscented white soaps from the Dollar Store
Printed fabric
Mod Podge
Wax
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
I first found a fabric with motifs on it that are small enough for the front of the soaps.  I located a fabric that had birds all over it.  Mom loves birds.  So this one was kinda obvious.  I cut each individual bird from the fabric, one for each soap that I was going to make.  Options for this project include using scrap book paper designs or even stickers for the decorations on the soaps.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Take the wrappers off the soaps.  I happened to buy Jergens brand, which unfortunately has the brand name embedded in each soap.  I found that was common with every soap in the Dollar Store.  No problem.  I simply took a paring knife and sliced a thin layer off the front of the soap, creating a smooth surface for my fabric print.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Brush a bit of Mod Podge on the back of each print and smooth onto the front of the soap.  The Mod Podge is simply there to hold the fabric in place until the next step.  You do not need to coat the top of the fabric with Mod Podge.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Now create a double boiler with one pan inside another.  The bottom pan has boiling water.  The pan on top is one that I use only for crafting purposes.  Since clean up of wax can be difficult, I recommend having a pan that is assigned for this type of craft.  I used one small piece of paraffin and melted it fully in the pan.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Now take each soap, held by tongs and dip the front of the soap into the melted wax.  Lift out and allow it to dry.  Then dip it again.  You may want to dip it as many as three times for a good even protective coating.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Since you are only dipping the front of the soap in wax, the soap can still be used and the design will stay intact.  Pretty, huh?
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
So I went back to the dollar store and bought some washcloths, a basket, some bath salts, emery boards and some cute little birdies.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
I added some bubble wrap to the bottom of the basket and covered it with one of the washcloths.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
I then tied up the other washcloths with pretty ribbon and added the rest of the dollar store items, finishing it off with the decorative soaps and a pretty ribbon around the basket.  The little birdies are hot glued onto the basket.
easy craft idea -handmade decorative soaps
Certainly not a good as Disney World, but I’m betting Mom will appreciate the thought.
If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might like my Doodle Frame tutorial.  Another easy gift that you can make with very few supplies.
Or check out my Faux Stained Glass tutorial.  Making stained glass using acrylic paints and school glue.
For over 150 more tutorials for all ages, be sure to visit my Tutorial Page!