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How to Make Hand Milled Soap (With A Charcoal & Anise Soap Recipe from Amanda Gail Aaron)

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March 4, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 51 Comments

Making hand milled soap is an easy way to learn how to make soap for beginners. Keep reading to learn how to make hand milled soap with an easy charcoal & anise soap recipe from Amanda Gail Aaron’s new book, The Complete Guide to Natural Soap Making.

New Natural Soap Making Book

Is soap making a new hobby you’ve been wanting to explore? Have you made soap before but want to learn other soap making techniques? Learn a variety of soap making methods and explore easy to follow soap recipes and tutorials in Amanda Gail’s new book, The Complete Guide to Natural Soap Making.

As we discover in Amanda Gail’s new book, there are many different ways to make soap. New and beginning soapmakers will learn how to craft natural homemade soaps using five different soap making techniques. These natural soap making methods include:

Hand Milled Soap Making
Melt and Pour Soap Making
Liquid Soap Making
Hot Process Soap Making
Cold Process Soap Making

In addition to comprehensive, easy to follow soap making tutorials, Amanda’s book also contains numerous natural soap recipes. Each of these recipes enable you to explore all of the soap making methods mentioned, then further build on that knowledge. In addition, you’ll also gain insight on essential soap making equipment and ingredients you need to get started. The book also contains insider soap design tricks and soap making techniques that will further guarantee your success.

Regardless of your preferred soap making method, you’ll find that soap making quickly becomes an addictive hobby. Therefore it won’t be long until you’re not only supplying natural soaps for your family, but for friends and coworkers too! You’ll also begin to build the foundation for achieving not just your soap making goals, but for starting a business to sell your natural soaps.

What Is Hand Milled Soap?

Two of the easiest ways for beginners to get started in soap making are through melt and pour soap making and hand milled soap making. While most of you are likely familiar with making melt and pour soap using a glycerin soap base, you may be less familiar with how to make hand milled soap.

If you’re looking for an easy (and affordable) way to learn how to make soap for beginners, then I highly recommend you learn how to make hand milled soap. You’ll find, that if you’re already a fan of handmade soaps, making hand milled soap is a great way to use up leftover soap slivers. It also allows you to customize your natural soaps with ingredients that offer additional benefits for your skin type.

Hand milled soaps are created by rebatching unscented (or leftover) soaps on the stovetop or in an oven. This is done to add scent and color, conditioning skin care ingredients or to salvage a botched cold process soap batch. Typically one makes hand milled soap by grating an existing soap bar, then mixing it will milk or water. Once the soap melts, other ingredients can be added to customize the fragrance, color or other properties of the soap.

Hand milling soap is an easy way to learn how to make custom natural soaps. The process is easier than making soap completely from scratch in which you combine lye and soap making fats. It’s also a safer process for anyone who has pets or small children in the home.

How to Make Hand Milled Soap

I hope that you’re as excited as I was the first time I learned how to make hand milled soap. Amanda was gracious enough to share her charcoal & anise hand milled soap recipe from her new book, which you can find below.

Anise & Charcoal Natural Soap Recipe

This stark black hand milled soap is naturally scented with anise, peppermint and lavender essential oils. Formulated with an easy to use hand milled soap base, this homemade soap recipe also contains activated charcoal. The addition of charcoal makes this hand milled soap perfect for acne prone skin, as charcoal works to draw out impurities, oils and toxins from skin.

Following is Amanda’s recipe for charcoal & anise soap (from her book) along with her instructions on how to make hand milled soap. This recipe yields four hand milled soap bars, each weighing approximately 113 grams. It can be made from start to completion in about an hour. You can use pre-bought soap shreds for this recipe. Alternately, you can also grate your own soap from bars of unscented cold or hot process soap.

Equipment Needed:

Digital scale
Glass container
1 (16-ounce) heatproof glass measuring cup
Silicone spatulas
Measuring spoons
Oval silicone mold (with at least 4 cavities)

Ingredients:

450 grams unscented and uncolored soap shreds
1/2 tablespoon charcoal powder
1 tablespoon dried rose petals
4 grams lavender essential oil
4 grams anise essential oil
2 grams peppermint essential oil

Instructions:

Start by prepping the essential oils for this soap. Do this by weighing out each of the three essential oils called for in the recipe. Then blend together in glass container and set aside.

Now wet the soap shreds.

Heat the moistened soap shreds until they become translucent and resemble mashed potatoes.

Once melted, remove the soap from heat.

Working quickly add the prepared essential oil fragrance blend. Then mix in the essential oils and the charcoal powder until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Now divide the rose petals among each mold cavity.

Quickly spoon the the soap into each mold cavity, covering the rose petals. Then use a spatula to smooth the soap down.

Once the soap has hardened, remove it from the mold.

Allow the finished hand milled soap bars to cure for two weeks prior to use.

To use, massage onto wet facial skin. Allow the soap to sit on your face, as you would a mask, for about one minute. Then rinse off and pat dry.

Get Your Soap Making Book

You can purchase The Complete Guide to Natural Soap Making to try all of Amanda’s recipes here!

To discover more natural soap recipes, sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter! You can also follow me on facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram.

Filed Under: Soapmaking Tagged With: activated charcoal, anti-acne, bath and body, book, book review, crafts, diy, easy, essential oils, face care, facial soap, hand milled soap, hand milled soap recipe, hand milled soapmaking, natural soap, rose, soap tutorial, soapmaking, soapmaking books

DIY Glitter Galaxy Unicorn Soap

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February 20, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 1 Comment

We can all use a little more magic in our lives. Bring some of that magic into your shower with this DIY glitter galaxy unicorn soap. Made with a ridiculous amount of eco-glitter, this unicorn soap recipe offers a fun spin on galaxy soaps. And, because it’s made using melt and pour soap base, anyone can tackle this project as a fun weekend DIY.

Sometimes you don’t FEEL like a unicorn.

It’s easy to forget sometimes, especially in times of emotional turmoil, that we are all magical creatures. Since sneaking into my forties, my life has been wrought with its fair share of chaos. Not only is this (middle?) age thing a tough pill to swallow, it’s also brought with it an array of unexpected side effects. Wrinkles, thinning skin, weight gain – and this crazy thing called perimenopause.

I don’t remember my mom ever going through the change before the change. She had a hysterectomy (due to an abnormally heavy menstrual cycle) when I was in high school. So perimenopause – or even menopause – was not a subject that ever came up in those mother daughter talks. Recently I did garner a discussion with her on the topic. As it turned out, my mother started hormone therapy at some point surround her hysterectomy. “Because I was bitchy all the time. Don’t you remember?” “I mean, no? You’re my mother. It’s your job to be occasionally bitchy.”

Sadly, my mother’s need to always be pleasant and helpful resulted in FIFTEEN years of prescription hormone pills. (Made from horse urine, mind you.) That’s ten years longer than is recommended. Of course, her doctor assured her she’d be fine. She wasn’t.

My mother ended up with cervical cancer.

Luckily, surgery seemed to handle the unfortunate consequence of being over-prescribed hormones. Chemo, thankfully, was decided against due to the high probability of toxicity at her age. And later genetic testing put her at almost zero risk of developing other cancers later in life.

The sheer fact, however, that my mother took a prescription to tamper her mood – up to the point it gave her cancer – has stuck with me. Are we, as women, not supposed to be angry? Because there are days I am outraged over so many things. And when women are angry, men say we’re crazy. But we aren’t crazy. We’re coping with life while there’s a war raging inside us.

Recently I learned that it’s NORMAL for perimenopause to cause difficulty sleeping, irritability, loss of libido, vaginal dryness, irregular periods, mood swings, anxiety and depression. In addition, it can also cause RAGE. And for those of us who had severe PMS growing up, in addition to prior episodes of depression or other mental health problems, perimenopause rage is COMMON. And the science backs it up. (Source.)

When we, as women, transition into perimenopause, we also experience (unfamiliar) changes in estrogen. These estrogen changes then directly affect the serotonin levels in our brains. As I’m sure you’re aware, serotonin is a chemical in our brains that regulates mood. When it’s up, we feel happy and elated. Yet when it’s down, we are sad, irritable and depressed. As our estrogen fluctuates throughout this period known as perimenopause, it throws off our estrogen-serotonin balance. This in turn causes a decline in our emotions. So we feel sad. We cry for no reason. Or we’re just really really angry. (Source.)

So, yes. I’ve had quite a few days, especially when those days are coupled with chronic pain, where I feel like I’m going mad. Some days I feel like giving up. I cry over songs and television shows. Other days I’m just pissed at the whole world. (And yes, my ex-husband in particular.) Days that I forget, yes, I am still as magical as a unicorn, even if I don’t feel like it.

Making my glitter galaxy unicorn soap, then seeing it when I take my shower in the mornings, reminds me I am more than just how I feel in that single moment. And in the end, I’ll survive whatever comes my way. (And so will you!)

Glitter Galaxy Unicorn Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

13.5 oz. white melt and pour soap base
5.7 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
.2 oz. fragrance oil, of choice
purple mica or soap colorant, to suit
eco-friendly biodegradable cosmetic glitter, to suit

Materials & Tools:

Rainbows & Unicorns Silicone Unicorn Mold
Digital scale
Glass Pyrex measuring cups
Utensils, for stirring
Spray bottle with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol

Instructions:

I used the same awesome unicorn mold for my DIY glitter galaxy unicorn soap as my super sparkly DIY unicorn air fresheners I made for Galentine’s Day. So if you already have this mold, you’re all set. Otherwise, you get this mold in two days via Amazon. Or you can simply adjust the recipe to fit inside an existing unicorn mold you already have. (Just fill one of the mold cavities with soap base, weigh once it’s hardened, then go from there.)

Begin by weighing out 13.5 oz. of white melt and pour soap base. Cut the base into chunks, then combine in a large glass Pyrex measuring cup. Heat in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each heating, until melted. Once melted, mix in your choice of skin safe purple soap colorant as recommended by the manufacturer. Then stir in .15 oz. fragrance oil. (I used this vanilla free Pomegranate Noir fragrance oil.)

Now pour the melted soap base into each of the six cavities of your unicorn mold. (Each cavity should be around 3/4th of the way full.) Then spritz the top of the soap with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

Set the mold aside and allow the soap to fully harden.

Once the base for your unicorn soap has set up, you’re ready to move on to the next step. Weigh out 5.7 oz. of clear melt and pour soap base. Cut into chunks, then combine in a glass Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the clear soap base in the same manner as the white soap base. Then, once melted, weigh out and stir in .05 oz. fragrance oil.

Now dust spritz the top of the soap in your mold with isopropyl alcohol. Dust with glitter as desired.

Spritz with alcohol once more, then gently pour about half of the clear melted soap base into the unicorn mold. Dust the soap with additional glitter, then pour the rest of soap base into the mold. Spray the top of the soap with alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

Next, use a utensil to lift the glitter up into the clear base as it cools to create a layering effect. While still fluid, spray the top of the unicorn soap once more with isopropyl alcohol. Then dust with a final layer of glitter.

Once the glitter galaxy unicorn soaps have solidified fully, remove the soaps from the mold.

Then wrap each unicorn soap tightly in foodservice film until ready to use.

More Unicorn Soap & Beauty Recipes

If you like my DIY glitter galaxy unicorn soap, then you may also like some of my other unicorn bath & beauty recipes.

For more homemade soap recipes, as well as natural beauty and skin recipes, be sure to sign up for my semi-weekly email newsletter. You can also follow me on Pinterest, twitter, facebook and instagram.

Filed Under: Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and body, bath tutorial, crafts, diy, easy, glitter, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, perimenopause, soap tutorial, unicorn

Easy Melt And Pour Soap Recipe with Solid Sugar Scrub Hearts

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

February 10, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon Leave a Comment

Whether you’ve been making soap for some time, or you’re wanting to learn how to make soap, this easy melt and pour soap recipe is the perfect soap making project! Crafted using both clear and white melt and pour soap bases, this easy soap recipe features a solid sugar scrub heart in the center to exfoliate skin as you bathe. Learn how to make this easy melt and pour soap recipe now as a treat for yourself or to give as year round soap gifts for anniversaries, birthdays and holidays.

An Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipe with A Twist

I’ve always been a sucker for sugar scrubs. Not only are they easy to make, but my dry skin loves the extra attention. Unfortunately, when I first started using sugar scrubs, I almost killed my first husband. This was well before emulsified sugar scrubs were popular. Back when Bath & Body Works had just started selling their original brown sugar scrubs. You remember the ones. They were basically oil and sugar and nothing else. And everyone lined up to try them on their dry hands at sink stations they had set up inside of their stores.

When I first started making sugar scrubs in the way way back, they were just like the ones sold by Bath & Body Works. All oils and sugar. One day in particular, I used one of the homemade sugar scrubs I’d made. My ex-husband, then followed with his own shower. A shower in which, when stepping into the tub, he slipped on the film of oils left behind by my sugar scrub – and almost died.

To be completely honest, I don’t think he was anywhere close to death at the time. Not like when he went to replace the heating element in the oven and forgot to unplug the stove first. That mistake threw him halfway across the kitchen. This time around however, he “nearly” fell, slipping on the oil residue in the tub. Luckily he caught himself mid-fall, just in the knick of time. Of course, however, he insisted he almost and most certainly could have died. So I’ve since stayed on top of wiping out the bottom of my bathtub after every sugar scrub experience.

Solid sugar scrub cubes, however, are an easy fix to the slippery tub scenario. And, when combined with an easy melt and pour soap recipe, the combo becomes an instant time saver. So you can wash and exfoliate in one easy step – even if you hit snooze on your alarm clock five times before finally dragging yourself out of bed.

Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipe (With Solid Sugar Scrub Hearts)

Instructions:

This easy melt and pour soap recipe with solid sugar scrub hearts yields ten soaps weighing around 4 oz. each.

Step #1:

You’ll start by making the solid sugar scrub heart embeds for my easy melt and pour soap recipe first. To do this, use a digital scale to weigh out 3.5 oz. of clear melt and pour soap base. Cut the base into chunks with a sharp knife, then combine in a glass measuring cup.

Step #2:

Now weigh out the 1.25 oz. of refined shea butter. Add to the measuring cup with the soap chunks. Then heat in 30 second increments in the microwave until both ingredients have melted. (I recommend stirring after each heating.)

Step #3:

Cut off a small chunk of the color bar and stir into the melted shea butter and soap mixture until it dissolves completely. Add more color as desired. (Keep in mind that the color will be muted once the sugar is added and the soap base solidifies.)

Step #4:

Now stir in some glitter. You can use as little or as much glitter for this step as you like.

Step #5:

Weigh out .25 oz. of fragrance oil, then stir into the melted soap mixture.

Step #6:

Next, weigh out 5 oz. of sugar. Pour the sugar into the melted soap and shea butter mixture. Then mix well with a fork or other utensil until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Step #7:

Pour the solid sugar scrub mixture into ten of the cavities of your heart silicone mold. Then smooth out the tops with a fork or spatula.

Step #8:

Set the solid sugar scrub hearts aside to cool. Once they’ve solidified fully, unmold the heart embeds.

Step #9:

Now that you’ve made the solid sugar scrub heart embeds, you’re ready to move onto the next step and make the easy melt and pour soap recipe. To do this, weigh out 30 oz. of white melt and pour soap base. Cut into chunks then heat in 30 second increments in the microwave until melted.

Step #10:

Once the white soap base has melted, weigh out 1.25 oz. of the fragrance oil. Then stir the fragrance oil into the melted soap base.

Step #11:

Pour the melted soap base into ten of the cavities of the round soap mold. Fill each cavity about halfway full. (You will have some soap left over. Simply set this aside for use later. Alternatively, you can make half now and half later.) Then spritz the tops of the soaps you just poured with isopropyl alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

Step #12:

Once the white melt and pour soap in your round mold has solidified, Spritz the tops of the soaps once again with alcohol. Then place each of your solid sugar scrub hearts on top of the white soap. Use one heart in each of the ten cavities of the mold.

Step #13:

Reheat the remaining white soap base if necessary. Then spritz the soaps in the mold with isopropyl alcohol once again. Next, carefully pour the remaining soap into each of the ten cavities of the mold around each of the heart embeds. Once you’ve poured the soap around the hearts and filled the cavities of the mold you’re using, spritz alcohol on the tops of the soaps to remove any air bubbles. Set the soaps aside to solidify.

Step #14:

Once the soaps have cooled and fully hardened, unmold them. Then wrap them tightly in foodservice film until ready for use.

To use your easy melt and pour soaps, simply massage onto to damp skin in the shower or bath as you’d normally bathe – scrub side up.

More to Explore

If you like my easy melt and pour soap recipe, then you’ll also love this easy perfume tutorial with free printables to give as gifts to friends, family and loved ones. Or explore all of my DIY Valentine’s Day gift ideas here.

For more easy melt and pour soap recipes, as well as natural bath and beauty recipes, sign up for my semi-weekly email newsletter. You can also follow me on Pinterest, facebook and instagram.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas, Soapmaking Tagged With: crafts, easy, gift idea, heart, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, self care, soap tutorial, soapmaking, solid sugar cube scrubs, sugar scrub recipe, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day gifts, weekend project

Homemade Laundry Stain Remover Recipe for Laundry Stains & Delicates

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

January 18, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 4 Comments

No one wants to deal with dirty laundry – and especially not laundry stains. This homemade laundry stain remover recipe is a great way to tackle your tough laundry chores. Keep reading to learn how to make a natural laundry soap that makes stains vanish. Plus it’s perfect for handwashing your favorite delicates!

Let’s Tackle Your Tough Laundry Stains!

Around five years ago I was inspired to create a homemade laundry stain remover recipe – soap style! Inspired by The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, my own version of this natural laundry soap recipe was suitable for both stains and hand washing those delicate laundry items. However, now that some time has passed, and I’m no longer using palm oil in my homemade soap recipes, I thought a revised version of my homemade laundry stain remover recipe was in order.

Like The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, my laundry bar soap recipe does contain borax. (I mean there’s a reason it’s included in all those powdered laundry detergent recipes. It gets stains out.) However, my new version of this recipe is made using only one soapmaking oil – coconut oil – for its highly cleansing properties. It’s then combined with borax and natural lemon essential oil, for a simple homemade laundry stain remover recipe that not only eliminates stains but is also great for handwashing or laundering when you travel.

As my homemade laundry stain remover recipe does contain borax, I recommend wearing gloves when using this product to avoid skin irritation. Additionally, I also ever so slightly superfatted this laundry stain soap bar. I did this in order to account for any errors that are possible when weighing out the ingredients. This will ensure that there is no unsaponified lye that may be left in this soap otherwise. (However, if you’re extremely confident in your scale’s accuracy, you can make this natural laundry stain remover recipe with 0% superfat or 2.2 oz. sodium hydroxide.)

Finally, I also scaled this recipe back from the original version. Because honestly, unless you work in a laundry mat there’s not way you’re using 3 lb. of homemade laundry soap anytime soon.

Homemade Laundry Stain Remover Recipe

Ingredients:

12 oz. refined coconut oil (100%)

2.18 oz. sodium hydroxide/lye (1% superfat)
4 fl. oz. distilled water (33% of oil weight)

.25 oz. borax powder (sodium borate)
.15 oz. lemon essential oil

Getting Started:

I recommend you use a silicone soap mold with cavities for this recipe. My homemade laundry stain remover recipe creates an incredibly hard bar of soap. Therefore it’s likely that cutting the soap into bars will be a challenge is you use a loaf mold. (Square silicone ice cube tray molds would be perfect for this.) In addition, you will need a digital scale in order to weigh out the ingredients. (This digital bakers math scale is perfect for soapmaking.)

You can easily source 20 Mule Team Borax for this homemade laundry stain remover recipe in most grocery and big box stores. It can be found in the laundry aisle. However, you can also purchase Milliard borax powder online. This brand of borax is made from anhydrous pure powdered sodium borate with no additives or preservatives.

To make this natural laundry soap recipe, refer to my basic cold process soapmaking instructions. I recommended you take all safety precautions when working with sodium hydroxide (lye) to avoid accidental burns or unwanted chemical reactions. It’s important to be 100% sure that none of your containers or utensils are made from aluminum.

Instructions:

Measure out the distilled water in a heat safe container. Then, using a digital scale weigh out the sodium hydroxide (lye) into a separate container. Carefully pour the sodium hydroxide into the water in a well ventilated area. Then stir to combine, mixing until all of the lye has dissolved.

While the lye/water cools, weigh out the coconut oil called for in my homemade laundry stain remover recipe. Gently heat until melted, then set aside.

In the meantime, weigh out the borax and essential oil into two separate containers.

Wait for both the lye/water and the coconut oil to cool down to around 90°-95°F. (Additionally they should also be within 10°F with one another.) Now mix the lye/water into the melted coconut oil using an immersion blender.

Once the soap batter for this natural laundry soap recipe reaches a light trace, stir in the borax and lemon essential oil. (If you have sensitive skin, you may omit the essential oil. Or use another citrus based essential oil or essential oil blend of your choice.) Mix thoroughly until the borax and essential oil are fully incorporated. Once you reach a medium trace, pour the soap into your mold of choice.

Lightly cover the soap with parchment paper if desired, then set aside. You may unmold your natural laundry soap the next day. Allow the soap you crafted using my homemade laundry stain remover recipe to cure prior to use, approximately three weeks. However, as these homemade soap bars are not being used on skin, you can technically use your natural laundry soap after several days have passed. This will ensure all the lye is gone, having fully saponified all of the coconut oil, leaving no lye behind.

Alternate Version:

If you’re not quite ready to make cold process soap, there is an alternate version of my homemade laundry stain remover recipe. You make a natural laundry soap recipe for stains and delicates by simple rebatching ready made bars of 100% coconut oil laundry or all purpose soap.

To do this, grate 16 oz. (by weight) of 100% coconut oil laundry soap. Place into a medium saucepan or pot on the stove. Next, dissolve .25 oz. or borax (by weight) in 6 fl. oz. of water. Combine the water and borax mixture with the grated soap. Heat the ingredients at medium-low until the grated soap melts. Then add .15 oz. of the lemon essential oil. Stir to combine, then pour into molds and allow to harden. Unmold and use as you would the cold process soap version of my homemade laundry stain remover recipe.

How to Use Your Homemade Laundry Stain Remover:

To use simply your natural laundry soap bar, simply dampen the bar of soap and/or fabric and rub onto soiled or stained spots prior to washing. For deep set in stains allow to set several hours to overnight.

More Homemade Cleaning Recipes

If you’re looking for more simple ways to clean your home, then try one of these homemade cleaning recipes. Other Soap Deli News readers love my 3-Ingredient vinegar free all purpose cleaner recipe. Or give this no scrub deep shower cleaner recipe with essential oils oils a try for a clean shower with almost zero effort. Alternately, for tough household odors try my deodorizing room spray recipe with essential oils as well as this natural deodorizing beeswax candle recipe.

To discover even more new recipes from Soap Deli News, sign up my semi-weekly newsletter. You can also follow me on facebook and instagram.

Filed Under: Handmade Home, Lifestyle, Soapmaking Tagged With: cleaning products, cleaning recipe, cleaning solutions, diy, eco-friendly, green cleaning, green living, healthy living, laundry, laundry detergent recipe, laundry soap, lifestyle, non-toxic

Homemade Holiday Gifts & Ideas for Winter

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

December 6, 2018 By Rebecca D. Dillon 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Sticker You. All opinions are my own.

I have to admit I’m a Pinterest addict. I’m always scouring their site for new homemade holiday gifts and ideas I can create. Whether I’m gifting baked goods for the holiday season or homemade soaps, StickerYou always makes it so easy to customize my homemade holiday gifts.

Homemade Holiday Gifts & Ideas for Winter

Designing my own labels for the homemade holiday gifts I create for friends and family is so much more rewarding than simply picking up gift tags at the local big box store. It’s nice to be able to customize my labels so the gifts I give feel more personal. That’s why StickerYou is my go to for custom stickers and labels. They offer fair pricing and exceptional quality without me having to sacrifice the creativity I’ve invested in my designs.

I’m super excited about the labels I received from StickerYou for my gifts this year. And, as always, I’m equally excited about sharing new ideas for making your own homemade holiday gifts!

This year I created two super simple recipes. One for making melt and pour gingerbread man soaps. And another for a fizzy bath salt recipe for cold weather aches & pains or those winter sniffles. What really makes these recipes extra nice, however, is that you can make them both in 30-minutes or less. So order those supplies, schedule a weekend to get together with your family or friends and check off your holiday gift list!

Easy Melt & Pour Gingerbread Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

16 oz. SLS free honey melt & pour soap base
.25 oz. gingerbread fragrance oil
1/4 – 1/2 of one square of Crafter’s Choice brown sparkle color bar for melt & pour soap

Instructions:

Using a digital scale, weigh out the melt and pour soap. Cut into chunks then place inside a large, heat safe glass measuring cup such as Pyrex.

Heat in the microwave in 30-second increments until all of the soap has melted. Then carefully remove the soap from the microwave. (The glass may be hot so I recommend using a tea towel to help out with the task.)

Now cut your color bar in half or into quarters. Stir up to half of one soap color bar into the melted soap base.

Once the color bar has melted completely, weigh out and stir in the fragrance oil.

Place your soap mold onto a small cutting board. Now pour the melted soap base into all six cavities of a silicone gingerbread man mold.

Should you have air bubbles on the soap after pouring, you can spritz the soap with rubbing alcohol to pop the bubbles.

Carefully transport your mold with the gingerbread soaps to the refrigerator to cool.

Once your soap bars have fully solidified, remove from the refrigerator and unmold.

Now all that’s left is to package your homemade gingerbread man soaps as desired to give as homemade holiday gifts.

I packaged mine in white boxes with ribbon, then labeled them with 2″ round custom stickers from StickerYou.

Fizzy Bath Salt Recipe with Essential Oils

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sea salt (or Epsom salt for sore muscles)
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1/2 Tablespoon green jojoba beads
1/2 Tablespoon carrier oil or vegetable glycerin
20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil (or peppermint essential oil for sore muscles)

Instructions:

Measure out the salt, baking soda, citric acid and jojoba beads. Combine in a medium glass bowl and mix well to ensure all of the dry ingredients are evenly incorporated.

In a separate medium glass bowl, add the carrier oil (or glycerin) along with the essential oils. Mix to combine.

Now pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Use a whisk or a fork to combine the liquid ingredients throughout the dry ingredients until there are no clumps remaining.

Finally, spoon your fizzy bath salts into airtight containers of your choice.

I used a glass jar I picked up at my local craft store. However, low profile PET jars work well too!

Now simply decorate your containers as you like to give as homemade holiday gifts.

I used my custom stickers on the wooden lid of my glass jar and carefully trimmed off the excess with scrapbooking scissors. I then hid the edge with some colored pom pom ribbon. Although you could also use a gold or silver paint pen along the edge of the lid as well.

For my low profile amber jars, I wrapped a ribbon around the container. I then placed the stickers I designed onto the tops of the jars to hold the ribbon in place.

I really love how versatile the custom 2″ stickers from StickerYou are. They offered a lot of different ways to customize my gift wrap for my homemade holiday gifts. It’s also easy to apply these stickers to regular gift wrap on your holiday gifts in lieu of traditional “to and from” gift tags.

If you aren’t big on round stickers, you can honestly get any size or shape of stickers your heart desires – all to your exact specifications. Sticker You even offers tools that make it easy to customize your stickers or labels for your homemade holiday gifts. So be sure to check them out!

More Homemade Holiday Gifts

Looking for more homemade holiday gift ideas? Check out some of these other homemade holiday gifts and custom label ideas I created using labels from StickerYou!

How do you plan to wrap your homemade holiday gifts this year? Be sure to share your ideas in the comments and have a wonderful holiday season!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Gift Guides, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath salt recipe, bath salts, crafts, diy, easy, essential oils, gift tags, gift wrap ideas, gingerbread, gingerbread man, holiday labels, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, soap recipe, soap tutorial, soapmaking, stickers

How to Make Hand Milled Soap (With A Charcoal & Anise Soap Recipe from Amanda Gail Aaron)

New Natural Soap Making Book

What Is Hand Milled Soap?

How to Make Hand Milled Soap

Anise & Charcoal Natural Soap Recipe

Equipment Needed:

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Get Your Soap Making Book

DIY Glitter Galaxy Unicorn Soap

Sometimes you don’t FEEL like a unicorn.

Glitter Galaxy Unicorn Soap Recipe

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Easy Melt And Pour Soap Recipe with Solid Sugar Scrub Hearts

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Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipe (With Solid Sugar Scrub Hearts)

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