Week 39: Arts & Crafts Time - I Made Soap!

I really love the store "Michaels".  They have one in Dixie Outlet Mall in Mississauga.  Michaels is a store for anyone who's interested in being creative.  They have arts and crafts supplies and ideas for just about anyone.  I've actually purchased several things there for my students in the past.  One of my many things to do on this year off was to attempt a new craft, something I would never really have time to do in the school year.  Now, I'm about as confident in craft-making as I am in cooking.  So my goal was to pick out something designed for a child.  That way I would be setting myself up for success, right?  I found a soap making kit called Soap Making 101 by ArtMinds.  It says it's designed for 15 years and up.  I tried to find something for younger people but to no avail.  I figured it would be a cool thing to try, and if successful, something actually useful too.  I was off to a bad start when I had to ask someone for help since I didn't fully understand the instructions.  Of no fault of my own, it turns out they left out a key step in the leaflet.  Another issue is that it calls for the use of microwave oven to melt the soap.  I don't have a microwave.  I know, I know; I'm probably the only person in the country who doesn't own a microwave.  Anyway, I asked around a little and people seemed to think that my regular oven would work.  The photos below show the box the kit came in and included materials.

The kit offers several different soap-making designs but I started with the basics.  I figured I'd make one single coloured bar of soap initially to make sure I knew what I was doing before attempting some high tech art gallery creation.  However, I accidentally ended up with a two layered, two coloured, one side scented bar of soap.  It turns out that the kit actually comes with two kinds of glycerin soap, white and clear.  All you have to do is cut the amount you'd like, melt it, add the colouring and scented oil, stir, and pour into the mold of choice.  I ended up with two layers of different soap because I misjudged the amount of soap to melt.  This is what my first layer looked like.

They recommend using rubbing alcohol to spray the soap once in the mold to help eliminate any wrinkles or air bubbles.  It really does work.  The soap will begin to cool when you see a kind of film on the surface.  You need to wait awhile before adding another layer of soap.  You also need to spray some rubbing alcohol on the bottom layer right before adding the second layer to help seal them together.  This is the second layer.

Once completely cooled you have to force the soap out of the mold by applying constant pressure at the back of the mold.  They made it sound difficult but I actually found that part quite easy.  This is the final product.  Voila!

I wrapped it up in clear wrap to ensure freshness and finally got to try it out on the weekend.  It turns out to be more aesthetically pleasing than practical since it makes little to no suds.  I was also a bit disappointed that what I thought to be a pungent amount of scented oil had somehow completely dissipated.  Next time I'm going to try a different design and add some scented oil of my own from The Body Shop.  I'll pour half the bottle in if I have to.  I can always give it away as a gift if it turns out badly ;)