These adorable squirrel and acorn melt and pour soaps are naturally exfoliating thanks to ground almonds.
You guys, it's killing me to see fall stuff in the stores. I am savoring my summer even though school starts today. I'm not ready!
A few weeks ago, I was at a craft store and found an adorable squirrel and acorn silicone mold. I actually walked right by it, refusing to buy anything fall themed until September.
My husband saw it and said it would be nice for soaps. Caleb loves squirrels, so we joked that maybe he wouldn't fight his showers as much with squirrel soap.
So I bought it. I'm glad I did, even if it was too early in the year.
I had my fall themed DIY projects on my calendar for the last half of September. But I decided to post some early because you have to get a head start on the seasons when you're making things by hand.
The mold has squirrels and acorns, so I immediately thought of an exfoliating bar with ground nuts. Acorns are high in tannic acid, so they can be harmful to humans and pets.
Almonds, however, are also a nut and have been deemed safe in melt and pour soap. So give me a little bit of leeway here and stretch your imagination for a minute.
MELT AND POUR SOAP
I love melt and pour soap because it's so easy to use and very versatile. There are so many additives for melt and pour soap, so you can really get creative. You can pick and choose your additives, essential oils, and even use cute molds like this one for unique bars of soap.
Melt and pour soap is also very easy to work with. You just cut it up, melt it, and pour it! It's so simple, so you can make handmade soap in about 10 minutes not including the time it takes to set up.
You can use your melt and pour soap right away. I like to set it sit for a few days to really let it harden. I find that it lasts longer if I do that, but it's completely safe to use right away.
One drawback to melt and pour soap is that it will get soggy if it sits in water. I was using wooden soap dishes, but they were kind of messy. Then I bought two metal soap dishes, so we alternate our soap.
We use the soap I make for the shower and for hand soaps. With 5 people in the house, we use the hand soap several times a day. It was getting soft because it never had time to dry.
Now we rotate between two soap dishes and two bars of soap. When one bar gets really wet, I swap it for the one in the cabinet. This really helps my soap last longer.
Any time that you make a melt and pour soap with an additive like ground nuts or herbs, it's probably best to use a suspension base. They are formulated to keep heavy things suspended in the soap.
I have been using Crafty Bubbles melt and pour soap exclusively for 12 years. They don't have a suspension soap base, so I found a way around that, which I'll talk about in the directions.
Their soap isn't available on Amazon, but you can get it directly from them at their website. Take a look at their catalog here and then call or email them to order.
GROUND ALMONDS
Since the mold I used had squirrels and acorns, I wanted to use a ground nut in the soap. I like ground almonds because they aren't as abrasive as, say, ground walnut shells.
This makes a great scrubby bar for your hands or your body, but don't use it on your face. It will be too abrasive for your delicate facial skin.
You can buy almond meal
, which is just a fancy way of saying ground almonds, or make it yourself. I just made my own with a bullet style blender.
ESSENTIAL OILS
I made my own fall blend for this soap and for other recipes.
I used:
- 6 parts orange essential oil
- 1 part ginger essential oil
- 1 part patchouli essential oil
You can use any blend or single oil that you'd like, just be sure to use 1 teaspoon per pound.
MOLD
I really like the squirrel and acorn silicone mold that I used, but you can use any mold that you'd like. If you want a rectangle bar, I really like these silicone soap molds
.
I used to use plastic molds, but I have been loving the silicone molds lately. They release the soap easier.
The mold that I used can also be used for baked goods, but I don't use them for food after I've made soap in them.
If you do use a shaped mold that doesn't say how big it is, there's an easy trick to see how much soap it will hold.
Just fill the cavities with water. Measure in liquid ounces how much water you used. That's how many ounces by weight of soap you'll need. You may be off slightly, but it generally gets me very close.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound melt and pour soap (I used Crafty Bubbles, but this would also work)
- 2 tablespoons ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon essential oils (see above for the blend that I used)
)
DIRECTIONS
STEP #1
If you're using almond meal, you can skip this step.
Use a bullet blender
to grind the almonds into a powder.
STEP #2
Cut the soap into 1 inch cubes and place in a Pyrex measuring cup. I cut the recipe in half, which is why I used a smaller measuring cup. I'd recommend a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup
if you're making a full batch.
Microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Stir at each interval.
If you're using a suspension melt and pour base, skip to the next step.
If you're using a regular melt and pour base, keep stirring until it just starts to harden.
STEP #3
Add the ground almonds and stir very well. Add 1 teaspoon essential oils per pound of soap and stir.
When the soap starts to set up on the outside of the measuring cup (for non-suspension soap), you're ready to pour. You can pour a suspension base as soon as you have ground almonds and oils stirred in.
Let the mold sit for several hours until the soap is fully hardened. The soap should come right out of the mold. If it doesn't for some reason, put the mold in the freezer for about 10 minutes and try again. I don't have a problem unmolding with the silicone molds.
Look how cute! I love how they turned out. I'm going to use them as exfoliating hand soaps since we have a lot of wood to split and trees to trim. I'll be getting dirty, but these will help me get cleaned up.
Don't want to DIY?
Check out this handmade honey almond oatmeal goats milk soap on Etsy.
If you're looking for a cold process exfoliating soap, try this gardener's soap recipe from Soap Deli News.
MORE MELT AND POUR SOAP RECIPES
- Cookie Cutter Star Patriotic Soap
- Raspberry Lemonade Soap
- Activated Charcoal Soap
- Star Wars Galaxy Soap
- Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Soap
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Soap
- Loofah Soap
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