Home-made Shaped Soaps - A Lovely Budget Friendly Gift, Perfect Stocking Stuffer At Christmas Or Simply A Bathroom Decoration!
As the new year is now here, we are all looking for ways to save a penny or two following the pre-Christmas splurges on the present purchasing, adding to the already overloaded boxes of decorations while making the annual statement "I know I said I wouldn't buy anymore but just look at how cute this is and how great it would look over here" and the gastronomic amount of food shopping trips made in the several "Christmas food shops" despite the shops only being closed for a couple of days! Come January 2nd, you open the purse and quite literally moths fly out! It's a subtle hint that the pre-Christmas splurging and spending needs to be reined in. The problem is, friends and family still have birthdays and other celebrations in the couple of months that follow Christmas so how do you give something nice as a gift while maintaining a budget and also making it unique and personal?
Over the next few months I will be uploading a number of blog posts and videos showing you exactly how you can do that! Let's take a look at the first idea below.
Things you will need to make these lovely home-made shaped soaps, that make the perfect budget friendly gift for just about anybody:
A selection of silicone moulds in various shapes and sizes. I made these for Christmas!
White soap base if you are not adding colour to dye it or clear soap base if you plan on adding colour
Non-staining food grade colouring (optional)
Fine edible glitter (optional)
Equipment you will need:
Access to a microwave
Pyrex glass jug or clear glass jug that is heat-proof
Cellophane bags, ribbon and tags to package the end product
Method:
1. Once you’ve decided which moulds you wish to use (I personally prefer the snowflake moulds, they are just so pretty when dusted with glitter), lay them out on the surface in front of you.
2. The soap comes in a block that needs to be cut so empty it out onto the chopping board and cut it all into small cubes, about an 1'' by 1'' and fill the jug with the cubes. If you find the cubes are too big for the jug you are using, feel free to cut them smaller.
3. Place the jug in the microwave and heat at intervals of 30 seconds until the soap has melted, this will probably take a few minutes.
4. While the soap is melting, add your dried flowers or fruit etc to your moulds if you are using together with your glitter. You can either use a brush to dust glitter over the inside of the cavity of the mould or add a teaspoon directly into the soap once it had melted. You will need a maximum of 1 teaspoon of dried flowers, or a couple of small pieces of dried fruit etc. Make sure that whatever you add to the cavity in the mould covers no more than one fifth of the cavity to leave sufficient space for the liquid soap.
5. Once the soap is melted, if you are using pure white simply add several drops of your essential oils (and glitter if you are using), stir well and pour the soap into your moulds. If you are colouring the soap, add a few drops of the colouring until you get the desired colour, your fragrance (and glitter if you are using), and pour into your moulds.
6. Set aside and leave to harden for a couple of hours.
7. Once the soap bars are hardened, remove from the moulds. They are now ready to be placed inside the cellophane bags and packaged ready to gift to your family members and friends.
These home-made soaps are ideal for anybody needing to sort out a budget friendly gift, be it at the last minute or for somebody who is wanting to make a number of gifts in advance as they will keep for a long time and don't take up a lot of room being stored (they are also fun to make, smell amazing with the essential oils and are very personal) and can be colour co-ordinated to the recipients personal taste.
Stay tuned for further recipes and blog posts relating to budget friendly ideas for gifts, the ingredients for some you may already have in your kitchen cupboards or pantry! If you like this post, please click the like button and feel free to leave a comment. As always, if you have anything specific you wish me to do a blog post on, please send me a quick email to lauralou5586@gmail.com or feel free to send me a message on any of the social media channels linked on the main website.
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