How to make a silk flower soap bar.

These cute flower soap bars make wonderful gifts.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bar soap mold
• Heat resistant glass measuring cup
• Clear glycerin melt and pour soap
• Soap colorant of your choice
• Silk flowers (remove heads from stems)
• Spoon
• Kitchen knife
• Rubbing alcohol in spray bottle
• Plastic wrap
• scissors
• Microwave

1. First you need to cut soap into cubes and place in glass measuring cup.
   To calculate the amount of soap you need to fill your mold, fill the mold with water and pour into measuring cup. Melt the soap in the microwave using 30 second intervals until completely melted; stir between intervals.
   
   Next add fragrance and a small amount of color to melted soap and stir well. You don’t want to add to much color because you want to see the flower inside.

2. Working quickly pour soap in mold until it’s 1/3 full, immediately spray silk flower with rubbing alcohol front an back and place face down into center of mold. The alcohol helps prevent air pockets. Tap the flower gently down and spray again .
   
   Let soap set almost completely, approximately five minutes.
   Reheat remaining soap; spray the top of soap in the mold with rubbing alcohol and pour in remaining soap and spray with alcohol again.

3. Let the soap set, approximately 20 - 30 minutes. Do not move mold until it has set up a bit.
   
   Once the bar has completely set, release from mold and wrap with plastic wrap pulling it tight and snug; use scissors to cut off extra plastic wrap.

Tips & Warnings

• Use rubbing alcohol to remove air bubbles, adhere layers to one another and to spray objects you want to embed to prevent air pockets. Your soap won’t have an alcohol smell because the alcohol evaporates from the heat of the soap.
• Soap sets up quicker in the refrigerator.
• You can add different things between layers of soap try using foam shapes to make a cute scene.
• The melted soap will be very hot.
• So please be careful!

[xwahinex]

on 9/28/2008 Wonderful! 5*