Soapymomma

Once they are a little firm, you can move them to a fridge too. I do that all the time and it really speeds up setting up time.

Soapymomma

I just toss a few sort of round blueberry colored pieces of wax in the bottom of my mold and pour the muffin wax over them. They look great. I think it might be a bit more bother than it is worth to try to make sure berries are all through the muffin. When the muffin burns, the top looks blueberry colored all the way down. Yes, people do burn these candles and you should always try to make candles that can burn well even the novelty ones.

Soapymomma

I just now saw this thread. I love your soaps. They are so beautiful and yes, inspiring. You have a great talent!

Soapymomma

Do you make your own confetti? If so then using a hardener like cocoa butter might help make it less likely to melt too.

Soapymomma

I have not used a soy base, how was the lather before adding the two oils? You might want to try a bar or two with just one of the oils and see how that goes. Then try it with the other one. Maybe the problem is the base in the first place or maybe the combination of the two or perhaps it ends up being too much in additives. The best way to find out what is wrong and make it better is to try your soaps one step at a time - one additive at a time. For nice bubbles, somewhere along the trial process, you might want to try adding about a tablespoon per pound of liquid soap. I have found that it works great to increase bubbles.

Soapymomma

Have you tried www.brambleberry.com ?

Soapymomma

We sell quite a few of them in our kid type scents, like bubble gum, cotton candy, and the fruity scents.

Soapymomma

Those are very fun and interesting soaps. I do wonder if the things embedded in them are made of soap or if they are toys or plastic or erasers or what? Anyone know?

Soapymomma

I put mine in a cello bag and tie the top with a matching ribbon. They look nice that way. I am assuming you mean scrubbies. I think scrunchies are hair dealies.

Soapymomma

Here is how I would start. Go and cut a few hunks off the large piece. Chop that into smaller pieces around an inch or so. Put it in a microwave safe cup or bowl. Take a deep breath, put it in the microwave for 30 secs. and then short intervals until it is melted. Don't overheat it or let it boil. Take a deep breath. Then pour it into a bar size anything. It can be a mold, but does not HAVE to be. A small Tupperware type container will work fine. Let it set up completly. Remove it from the mold, and go take a shower with that bar of soap. While you are using the soap, think about how it lathers, bubbles, moisturizes, smells and so on. Then you will know what you might want to add to the next batch. Maybe add some scent, some color, some shea butter or take a look at the M and P thread about what to add the it. Go from there and you will do great! Let us know how it goes and have fun. No stress.

Soapymomma

I didn't read all of the replies, so forgive me if someone already said this, but I think the light colored one looks like Easter. I could see it showing up in an Easter basket or given as a prize for an egg hunt. I love the soft colors and agree that they remind one of spring. All of your soaps are so beautiful.

Soapymomma

I got my order for all the colors. I will let you know how it goes using them with melt and pour. The suggestion for mixing the color with somehthing before adding it to the batch sounds like a great idea. I'll try that right away. I have used micas before and did that and there werer no specks. Thanks a bunch!

Soapymomma

Carrie, you don't need a special base to use for making embeds. I just add some coconut oil to my SFIC base that I want to use for embeds. You can add some beeswax too, but I try to keep mine VEGAN, so I don't use beeswax in my soap, but it does harden the base. Once you make your embeds, make sure they are completely set up, even put them in a fridge for 30 mins. or so before you pour your soap over them. Pour your soap at the coolest temp that it is still a liquid. I do it all the time and it works great.

Soapymomma

We have used soap med. mixed with regular acrylic paints with good success. You can get really nice soap paints from Brambleberry.com too. I got a some there. We don't do much painting on our soaps though, mostly just to paint on eyes and stuff. Good luck.

Soapymomma

Those are completely adorable. I love the baby's picture on top. You did a great job!

Soapymomma

LOL, thank you. I was close, but not quite there.

Soapymomma

OK, where are you getting these bright colors? What is the web address? TBK or something? I love the bright ones. My colors are mostly pearly and they are nice, but in spring people seem to like colors with an attitude! LOL! Are the colors from a natural or chemical source?

Soapymomma

After looking at the ingredients lists and the description, I am 99.9% sure those are SFIC bases. They are great bases and you can find them in lots of places. I would suggest buying it from somewhere close to you or from someone who will ship using flat rate boxes to save on shipping.

Soapymomma

I had ordered 40 lbs of the natural base a while back. When it arrived, it was a sort of yellow color and almost transparent. It has a fairly strong ordor to it. I didn't use it right away. Then I ordered again from the sale - hate to miss a sale. Anyway, it was a nice white, kind of pearly, and only smelled like clean soap. The yellowish batch was pretty sticky and hard to get out of molds even after I put it in the fridge for a long time.

I like this new one much better. It is very basic and does need additives, but I can feel good about it being natural and not containing detergents and can control what I put into it to make it better, so that is ok. My concern is consistancy. I have emailed them to see what they say about this. What do you guys think, has anyone else had this happen? Look at the difference in the soap. Both are supposed to be the natural base. Both have nothing added to them. The yellow one had been poured into a mold, but that is the only difference.

Soapymomma

I mix gel and soy. I mix gel and paraffin. I've never had a problem either and I do use zinc wicks sometimes. Like Vicky said, do be careful to make sure your oils are gel safe- non polar- oils in both the wax you mix with and the gel. This will help keep the candle safe. Have fun. I was afraid too the first time I mixed gel with another wax. I held my breath and did it. NO EXPLOSION!

Let us know how it works out for you and maybe post a picture or two.

Soapymoma

You should be on the right track with combining the two bases then. I'm sure you will be happy with the result.

Soapymomma

What brand base are you using? I use SFIC and mix 25% shaving to 75% white or clear to make a base for our shampoo bar. It is a great mix. With 30% it might be even better.

Let us know how it turns out.

Soapymomma

I have used a tiny bit of cinni on mine too and never had a problem either.

Soapymomma

Here is a copy of an email I got from the a couple of days ago.

Hi Debbie, Sure we can cut them into smaller chunks. Since we are pouring them into flat rate boxs that hold 20 # we can either slice it into 4 or 5 chunks, if we cut it more than that it may be difficult to fit it back into the flat rate box. Please be sure to put your request in the special instructions or call us since this is not something we automatically do.

Our melt and pour bases do not contain SLS but they do have SLES. It is not one of the main ingredients but they do contain it. We are currently working on a sulfate free soap base but are having issues with it not being clear. The white will not be a problem but clear will be kind of hazy. This is something we are working on. For now if you need sulfate free the only base we offer like that is the natural soap. Here is the ingredient list.

Natural soap

Glycerin

DI Water

Sodium Cocoate

Sorbitol

Sodium Palmitate

Sodium Stearate

Soybean oil

Sweet almond oil

Safflower oil

Jojoba Oil

Aloe Vera gel

Vitamin E.

Titanium Dioxide *

( * trace amounts)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us. We are always eager to help.

Thanks,Maria

That might help answer a couple of questions.

Soapymomma

Wow, that IS blue. Have you tried melting some to see if it will clear up? Have you tried adding some colorant to see if it will take the color ok? I'd like to know how that base turns out.

They say they are trying to make a SLS free clear, so we shall see how it looks when they get that one ready. Has anyone else who has used the clear gotten base that was that color? Is it always like that, I wonder?

Soapymomma