DIY Valentine’s Day Gift Idea for Natural Lavender Sea Salt Soap

Valentine’s Day is less than a month away. So if you’re planning on making homemade Valentine’s Day gifts, now is the time to start getting your craft on! Here’s my latest DIY bath and body project for making your own natural handmilled lavender sea salt soap!

Natural Handmilled Lavender Sea Salt Soap Recipe

© Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen

Ingredients:

Four bars of natural or handmade unscented soap (weighing 4-4.5oz. each)
12 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons Dead Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon Himalayan Pink Salt
1 teaspoon Hemp Seed Oil
1 teaspoon Shea Butter
1 teaspoon Cocoa Butter
1 Tablespoon Lavender Essential Oil
1 teaspoon peppermint essential oil
Organic Lavender Flowers (optional)

Supplies:

Wilton 6-Cavity Silicone Heart Mold Pan (Also used in my DIY Solid Sugar Scrub Heart Recipe and Handmade Valentine’s Day Soap Recipe)
A medium pot
Spatula or Spoon
Tablespoon and teaspoon measurements
Large Bowl
Cheese Grater
Plastic Cling Wrap
Pretty Packaging (waxed paper, washi tape, baker’s twine)

Instructions:

Use your favorite scented or unscented soap bars for this recipe or collect at least 1lb. of leftover soap slivers. If you are using scented soaps, adding a fragrance at the end is completely optional. Though you can compliment the existing fragrance by adding a complimentary essential oil.

Start by grating your soap bars into a large bowl using a cheese grater. Then take your grated soap and transfer it into a medium pot – you may have to press the soap down a bit to get it to fit. Now place the pot on the stove and add 12 level Tablespoons of milk. Turn the heat on the stove between medium and medium-low and stir the soap and milk mixture occasionally so it does not burn. Once the soap starts to melt stir in the shea and cocoa butters. (You can see photographs of the step by step process for handmilling soap here.)

Once the soap has fully melted, stir in the hemp seed oil, salts and essential oils. Mix well and remove from heat. Then spoon the melted soap mixture into the mold. This recipe should fill all six heart shaped cavities of the mold. Press the soap into the mold as firmly as possible. It helps if you also sprinkle just a bit of additional salt on top of the soap in the molds as it will allow you to press the soap more firmly into the mold without pulling it back out with your utensil. (As shown in the above photo of the bottom of this soap once removed from the mold.)

For quick release of your soaps, place your soap filled mold into the freezer for 30-45 minutes until hardened through. Once you remove the mold from the freezer, slowly pop out your hearts onto a baking sheet or tray, then set aside for several days until they have dried completely and are no longer soft. At this point you are ready to wrap your soaps for gift giving!

I wrapped my soaps tightly in plastic cling film by first placing a small amount of lavender flowers – for aesthetic reasons – onto a square of plastic wrap. I then placed the top of the soap bar down on top of the lavender and then wrapped the plastic cling wrap tightly around the soap bar. Next, I labeled the bottom of the soap with a handmade, heart shaped label I made.

Finally I gift wrapped each bar of soap I had made. I did this by wrapping a strip of waxed paper around the soap bar and fastening with a strip of decorative washi tape.

I then wrapped baker’s twine around the bar – adhering the first wrap of baker’s twine around the soap to the top of the bar with a small square of washi tape – then tying the second wrap around into a simple bow! Once you have labeled and/or wrapped all of your soap they are ready for gift giving!

Want more DIY Valentine’s Day gift ideas? Then be sure to visit my DIY Valentine’s Day Gifts board on Pinterest!