Maus has been uttering the ‘O’ word quite a lot lately.
‘You’re obsessed’, she mutters, as I prod her to compliment my soap for the umpteenth time or when I ask her to make me a new mould or a soap planer or some dividers or whatever soapie toy I have just seen someone playing with on YouTube. Most are made of wood and would be a killer to import into Australia, otherwise, my PayPal account would really be getting a work out. Maus, the sweetie that she is, files the idea in her virtual ‘To do’ list and I know I will have to work really hard to move my latest ‘must have’ to the top of that list.
She may be right. I may be a little obsessed. I do tend to get excited.
As you can imagine, if I was obsessed, there would be a lot of soap making happening.
Well, now to the show and tell… None of these techniques are particularly original. I have been watching numerous YouTube videos and, if I like what see, I decide to give it a bash.
Remember the cute, if naff, heart soaps I showed earlier this month? I decided to embed them into some white soap to see how they would look. They weren’t that flash at first but then I decided to smooth the tops and slice the glitter off. Now I think they look quite classy (top photo).
The next technique I decided to try was ‘squirty swirls’. This is where you fill condiment bottles with different coloured soap and squirt it into your mould. The hardest part is keeping your batter sufficiently fluid to get it out of the condiment bottles and into the mould. My effort wasn’t particularly successful but I did get the batter into the mould. That is a major achievement for me because I usually make the beginner’s mistake of making the batter too thick. I was hoping for the squirty bits to penetrate into the plain coloured base but, clearly, it was already thick enough to hold the weight of the coloured soap and, maybe, I didn’t squirt with enough gusto. Nonetheless, I am pretty happy with my first try.
And my pièce de résistance? Again, the idea is not particularly original – I saw some photos of similar soap on the web and it really appealed. Firstly, you need some white soap which is still flexible. Luckily, I had some left over from embedding my hearts the week before. Make fine slices of the white soap with a cheese slicer, then curl the slices and let them dry. Once dry, line them up in your loaf mould and carefully pour a contrasting colour batter, using the same recipe, in between the curls. The tricky part, again, is keeping the batter fluid enough to pour so you don’t get air bubbles. The curls aren’t the best, and the green is a bit intense but, for a first effort, I’m chuffed.
I am sure there will be more soap photos to come. Hold on to your horses.
Passion Fruit Garden 
Glenda I think your soaps look pretty amazing and I never quite see the flaws you talk about… now I need to know… when is your shop opening 🙂
Hey Moya, don’t laugh but I am already dreaming of a small shop in town. Dreams are free 🙂
Fabulous Glenda.
Thanks Kay.
Your soaps look like fancy chocolates and they are very impressive. I’m a little obsessed with crocheting so I understand where you’re coming from. I’m a firm believer that if it keeps you out of trouble, costs next to nothing to do and makes you happy then you should just do it more.
Hi Nancy, I like crocheting too. I’m not a big TV watcher but a moderate amount of it is necessary to keep the household functioning so I crochet whilst watching it.
Love your soaps, I am a total soap making beginner and aim to do beautiful things like this, I especially love the hearts and green ones, very pretty.
Cheers,
Jane.
Hi Jane, I am a beginner too, it is great fun.
You’re really kicking it Glenda! Great job & you might not think the techniques are unique but they’re very interesting to me (and I don’t even make soap but love hearing about how a craft is done). Those hearts came out great but I’m really loving the squirty ones & oh, those green ones are f-a-b-l-o-u-s!
Thanks Diane, you are toooo kind.
Vote 1 for the green! Love it.
Hi Maree, vote one Green(s) in more ways than one hey?
I think they all look amazing. Well done.
Thanks Kris
More O words, oooh they’re lovely and also “original”. I agree you should share the pics on Pinterest or Instagram, they’re so good 🙂
Thanks Ella but a blog is enough for me.
It’s a complete obsession isn’t it 🙂 I understand perfectly the need to show off your latest success and getting just a random nod and that ‘yes you crazy lady, it’s lovely’ look from your partner. You need to join Instagram so you can show off each of your latest soaps to likeminded souls. I’ll follow you 😉
That squirty bottle technique produces a similar result to the spoon technique, where you just drizzle the soap into the mould with the spoon. Less washing up. I don’t use squirty bottles for anything as I am too lazy to clean them so you are a better person than I.
Love how the embeds turned out. And love that green soap!
Hi Tania, yeah the squirty bottles was probably more effort than it was worth. I have never seen anyone spooning the batter in. I think I will try it next time. Thanks for the idea.
I have OCD tendencies too Glenda, nothing wrong with experimentation and seeking perfection I say! Love the soaps with the inset hearts!
Hi Sandra, they are certainly an improvement from the little guest soaps.
What is wrong with an obsession? It’s just an enthusiasm by another name. Love all your soaps, but especially the green and white swirly one. Great show and tell.
Thanks Debi.
I thoroughly enjoyed your show and tell Glenda.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks so much Mandy.