It's a Good Day When....

 ... gifted with a big cup of caramel flavored coffee from Biggby's. Thank you Gabby and Nichelle, a perfect drink to enjoy on this beautiful Fall morning. And yes, the 275 calories on the cup holder did not go unnoticed.

Halloween Packaging Ideas: Coffin Box Invitation

My nine-year old grandson wants to have a Halloween camp-out at my house. We care going to park a camper in the yard surrounded by a scary graveyard scene. He's very excited about the event. Food, games, and a campfire are all part of the spooky night.

These are the invitations I created for my grandson's special party. The coffin boxes are being filled with gummy body parts. The party invite is secured inside the top of the coffin. Decorate as you like, as there are so many options. I am using gauze strips to wrap the coffin. Consider dipping gauze strips in red colorant for a bloody effect or wrap natural twine around each box.

Here are the events planned for the Halloween camp-out:

1) On arrival, each guest receives a survival flashlight. The bathroom is past the eerie cemetery.

2) Xplodez Guns. They shoot non-staining red pellets.

3) Bob for apples in a bucket of slime
4) Make a friend into a toilet paper mummy.

5) Air guns that shoot 1-inch glow in the dark plastic balls, along with brain splat balls.

6) Make bloody brain hats.

I'm still working on the food stuff. For sure, we will be drinking posion water and spider cider. Vampire bat wings are also on the menu.

Melt & Pour Soap: Ghoulie Ghost Popsicles

It's that time of year! Upcoming Halloween signals ghoulish, scary and bewitching soaping ideas. Here is another sampling of the fun things you can do with GoPlanet's Pop Mold. Start by pouring a 3/3" layer of white soap into a flexible jelly roll pan. Let the soap set up, then remove from mold and cut-out ghostly shapes. Our recessed smoothing molding tool is perfect for trimming the ghost shapes.

We used suspension soap base and added cosmetic grade glitter. Our color palette was a light purple, light orange and light green. You want the colors to have enough transparency to showcase the ghost cut-out. We used GoPlanet's liquid gel colors.

Step One: Melt the soap, divide into three containers and add the trio of colors (light orange, light green, and light purple). Fill each mold cavity 1/3 full, allow to set up until a thin skin forms. Insert the ghost shape. Here is what I recommend. Take a popsicle stick and the bottom portion into clear melted soap base. Place the ghost shape onto the stick (the melted soap will act as a glue adhesive). Once the ghost is secured to the stick, center the stick into the pop mold cavity. The use of our soap clips will help keep the stick centered.

Step Two: Once the wooden pop stick is securely centered with the clips, pour a second layer of colored soap. Allow the second layer to set up slightly and then pour the final layer. You want to soap to set up enough that the second and third layers do not puncture the previous soap layer.

I failed to mention to Gabby (my worker pouring these soaps) the importance of centering the pop sticks with clips. As you can see in the above picture, the sticks were not centered. It was one of those do and learn moments.

As you see, the finished product was success, even if the sticks weren't centered. My only advise on this project is to make sure you use "rubbing alcohol" between each pour (liberally spritz each layer before pouring the next soap layer). A couple of Gabby's pop soaps lost the top layers when they were released.

TIP: Once the soap are hardened in the mold, place the entire mold in medium hot water bath (you can do this in your kitchen sink). This will help with the release process. These little guys aren't the easiest to release, but once you figure out the process, it's a breeze.

Happy Haunting!

Melt & Pour Soaps: Halloween Soap Ideas

Halloween is approaching. Kristy and Chelsea were busy preparing holiday soaps while I was visiting Paris. A big shout of thanks to my former assistant, Kristy, who filled in while I was away. She knows the business well and her presence in the work place gave me peace of mind.

The above soaps were made with Mold Market's square loaf mold. A crinkle cutter was used to slice the finished soap and a few slices were cut into candy corn shapes.

Neon yellow (in white soap base), neon orange (in clear soap base) and white base were the colors used for layering. All of these soap colors can be found here.

These pumpkin soaps are easy to make with our economy pumpkin or silicone Jack-o-lantern molds. Use the soap injector tool to fill in the black areas and green stem. Colorants used: neon orange liquid gel, black oxide, and neon green (for stem area). Our favorite fragrances include apple autumn, harvest moon, green apple, spiced pumpkin egg nog, roll in the hay and turning leaves. These are all great fall scents.

The mummie cupcake soaps are an easy soaping project to do with kids. Use Mold Market's cupcake mold and layer thin strips of white soap over the cupcake top (you may want to slice off the cherry from the cupcake topper). Punch out eyes with a circular shape. Secure all the pieces with clear melted soap.

Thanks to Chelsea for this soaping idea! She did a great job. Her only tip is to be sure you use THIN strips of white soap. Her first attempt failed because the white strips were too thick.

Checkout these other soaping ideas for inspiration. We would love for you to share your favorite Halloween soaps.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Granola Fruit Cup

Gabby does it again! This is her original granola fruit cup design. Below is the hand-sketch she drafted. As one of GoPlanet's newest workers, she has fallen in love with soap making and is continually brainstorming new soaping ideas.

A gelato cup was filled with finely chopped brown soap (for the granola). Strawberry halves, orange / apple slices, and blackberries were the fruit components.

Everything was sealed together with a quick over-pour of scented clear soap.

Gabby reported chopping the granola portion of the soap was the most time consuming. I suggested a vegetable grater would be much easier than using a knife. Her response was, "OMG, never thought about that!"

Meet Gabby, the girl behind the soap:

Gabby attends a local community college while working for GoPlanet part-time. She has proven to be a great asset to our team.

Besides working on various soaping projects, Gabby packs, pulls, and checks outgoing orders. She is being trained in all aspects of order processing to better serve you.

It would be nice if you take a moment to give Gabby feed-back on the soaping projects she shares on my blog.

Here are the molds and supplies Gabby used for this granola fruit cup:

• Gelato Cups
• Soap Colors (email Gabby if you need help with color selection)
• Clear and white soap base
• Soap fragrance
• Novelty/Economy molds: Deep Raspberry (was used as a blackberry), strawberry mold, apple and orange wedge

What's great about this soap design?  You can place secure the gelato lid to the bottom half (the portion in which you pour the soap). Apply a label and you are good to go.