by Rustic Escentuals
Mother’s Day is right around the corner and since we all “heart” our moms, this is a perfect tutorial for a wonderful gift!With the use of Shimmer Dust Glitter, it looks like the hearts are floating in the soap – Just Perfect!
Supplies and equipment needed
Microwave safe glass containers (3-4 if you have them)
Sharp knife to cut soap into cubes
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol
Butter knives
Rubber gloves
Petite Hearts silicone mold (12 cavities)
Disposable pipette
Thermometer to monitor soap temperature
12 oz Ultra Clear Melt & Pour soap base
3 oz White Melt and Pour soap base
Shimmer Dust Glitter: Bright Red 006
Shimmer Dust Glitter: Flamingo Pink (neon) 024
Salty Sea Air fragrance oil
Heart Soap Mold (3 cavities, 4 oz each)
Two .15cc scoops
Making Inserts
These little hearts are adorable!! used the Petite Hearts silicone mold and they are the perfect size to use for this project.
Step 1: Take 1.5 ounces of cubed Ultra Clear Melt and Pour soap base and place in a microwave safe glass container. Melt in the microwave in 15-second bursts until melted. Be careful, this is not a lot of soap and can easily boil which will result in a poor quality rubbery soap.
Step 2: Using a 0.15cc scoop, mix in 3 scoops of Shimmer Dust Glitter in Bright Red and stir slowly until mixed well.No scent is necessary at this stage.
Tip: Always stir slowly when adding colorants, fragrances or any type of additions to your soap base to avoid creating any more bubbles than you have to.
Step 3: Pour the red shimmery soap base into the Petite Hearts silicone mold.This will make approximately 9 hearts. Be careful pouring the soap and make sure it is cool enough (around 130 degrees) to keep the glitter suspended evenly in your soap base and to prevent any warping of the mold.
Step 4: Spitz soap with alcohol to remove any bubbles that may have formed while pouring.
Step 5: I also made some hearts using the Flamingo Pink Shimmer Dust Glitter. Prepare the same by following Steps 1 through 3.
Step 6: Wait for the hearts to set approximately 10 minutes. I placed these into the freezer for 3 minutes and they popped right out of the mold.Love these little heart embeds!!!
Step 7: Arrange the hearts on your workspace so that you know ahead of time how you will be placing them in your mold.
Making Your Soap
Step 8: Working in one mold cavity at a time, melt 3 ounces of Ultra Clear Melt & Pour Soap Base using Step 1 above. No colorant is used. Using a disposable pipette, add 1 ml of Salty Sea Air Fragrance Oil to the soap and stir slowly.
Step 9: Make sure the temperature is around 130 – 135 degrees and pour a very thin layer of your soap base into one of the cavities of the Heart Soap Mold. Pour just enough to cover the bottom of the mold completely. Spritz with alcohol to remove any bubbles, you want this to be as bubble free as possible. You will not be pouring all of your clear soap base at this time.
Step 10: Let soap sit for 5 minutes to form a hardened layer. Press gently with your finger to test. If your finger is able to form a dent, wait another minute or two. You want the layer to be able to support your soapy embeds.
Step 11: Once your first layer is set, you may need to reheat the container of clear soap base. Use a thermometer to monitor the soap temperature – it should be about 130° or cooler to avoid warping the mold or melting the embeds. If soap base is too hot, keep stirring slowly until soap reaches 130°.
Step 12: Spritz the hardened soap that is already in the mold to help the embeds and the next layer adhere together.
Step 13: Now you have to work quickly here. Pour a small amount – approximately .5 oz of melted soap base into the mold. Spritz your hearts with alcohol and then place your hearts into the mold. Remember, you need to place the side of the embed that you want showing, face down into the mold. The bottom of the soap mold is the top of your soap.
Step 14: Once the embeds are placed in the mold, spritz with alcohol and then pour the remainder of your 3 ounces of clear soap base over the embeds and let set. Spritz again with alcohol to remove any bubbles.
Step 15: Prepare the other two mold cavities using Step 8 through 14. Remember -use 3 oz. of clear soap base for each mold cavity. You’ll have 2/3 of each cavity filled.
Note: For beginners, it’s easiest to work with one soap cavity at a time. The Steps above are written with this in mind. More advanced users can melt all 9 ounces of clear soap base at once and use 3 ounces for each cavity. Add 3 ml of FO to your 9 ounces of soap base and proceed with Step 9.
Step 16: After you have completed adding all embeds, wait for the soap to set.This should take approximately 8 – 10 minutes.Press gently to test with your finger.
Step 17: Take your cubed white melt & pour soap base (about 3 ounces) and place in a microwave safe glass container. Melt in the microwave in 15-second bursts until melted. Add about 1 ml of Fragrance Oil and stir slowly. Monitor temperature of soap until it reaches 135 degrees.
Step 18: Spritz the soap in your mold with alcohol, especially at the edges of the mold, and slowly pour your white soap base to the top of the mold. Spritz with alcohol to remove any bubbles. The white soap will make your heart embeds show up better.
Step 19: After the soap has completely set (approximately 2-3 hours), turn the mold over and slowly press on the bottom of each cavity to release the soap. Do not force it. If the soap won’t come out, wait another 1/2 hour or so. You can even pop the soap in the freezer for 5 minutes then try again.
*If you liked this tutorial, check out the Circle Embed Soap Bars tutorials to learn more embedding skills.
