Let's Talk Soap Colors!

It's just my opinion, but I believe Go Planet Earth (GPE) and Mold Market (MM) have some of the best soap colors on the market. Just take a look at some of the color intensity intensity that you can achieve with our liquid gel colorants.

I think many of my long-term customers will agree it's hard to beat the color results you get with our Neon Brights.

Look for an upcoming tutorial that showcases the technique used to make these colorful layered soaps. All were made with Mold Market molds.

NEW PRODUCT: Mold Market Chalk Paint

                                                                             

There are plenty of changes and new in the works at our parent company, Nouveau Designs LLC. Recently, we set up a fulfillment center in Spokane, Washington which is where Mold Market brand molds are manufactured. This means most orders ship the same day as received. That's a big plus in our minds.

Now that the hectic move is over, we are concentrating on our new line of chalk paints. We are in the process of testing, testing and then more testing. The results are exceptional and we plan to launch this new product within the next two weeks.

If you are not familiar with chalk paints, let me share with you what this amazing product can do.

• This non-carcinogenic paint covers everything, no kidding! It can be use on glass, metal, wood, leather, Formica, concrete and even fabric.
• With this paint, you can literally start and finish a piece of furniture within a day.
• No prep work (like sanding) is required.
• Paint colors can be layered to achieve a distressed look (shabby chic) to your project.
• 28 colors available
• Colors can be blended to create a custom color
• One pint of paint will easily cover up to 50 square feet. If you think in the terms of furniture, that's two dressers.
• Water-based, so it cleans up easily with water.

The possibilities of this chalk paint are endless. In January 2015 we will introduce a new product line to use with our Mold Market chalk paint. However, 'HUSH' is the word for now.

A one-pint container of Mold Market Chalk Paint retails for $22.95 and a 4-ounce jar retails at $9.95.

We will also offer a line of Metallic Dusting Powders to enhance the finished look of your chalk painted projects.


Take a look at some of the furniture and projects we have done with these awesome paints. 

Vintage Doily Window Ornaments: Part 2

A few days ago I posted on how to snowflake window ornaments from crocheted doilies. Here are a few of the finished results. My granddaughter, Olivia, and two of her friends had a great time sprinkling the glitter on the doilies. Of course, the island counter in the kitchen was one sticky mess.

A spray adhesive was used to apply the glitter. The technique was more like spray, sprinkle and shake. The excess glitter was collected off the craft trays for a future project.

My personal taste leaned more toward white sparkle and iridescent shred glitters, but the girls were all about pink and purple. No matter the color of glitter used, they were all beautiful. Each of the girls took home two snowflake doilies to hang in the bedroom window.

Picture Frame Christmas Decor

This easy holiday decor was made from a thrift store picture frame, minus the cracked glass, and and miscellaneous ornaments. Ribbon remnants were used to string the ornaments to the back of the frame. For ease, I used a general purpose staple gun to hold the ribbon-strung ornaments to the back-side of the frame.

The original color of the frame was silver, but I painted it red and then sanded areas of the frame to allow the under-layer of silver to show through.

This holiday frame has so many possibilities. You can hang on the wall or place on a shelf unit. A over the door hanger is another option (the kind you use to hang a door wreath).

The glass could have left in the frame and a window rub-off applique applied beneath the Christmas bulbs, i.e., Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas.

An affordable handmade gift for the holidays.

Christmas Elves: Wild Night on the Trapeze

Those darn elves found empty cardboard rolls and constructed a trapeze and net while the grandkids were sleeping.

My little buddy, loves waking up to see what the elves have done. I am going to miss all this mayhem when the grandkids outgrow their elves. I already have one elf who is retiring this year.

Vintage Doily Snowflakes

I am always in search of new craft ideas to do with the grandkids. Last night we mixed glue and water to make a DIY fabric stiffener for these doilies that will be used to hang in windows for the holidays.

My five-year old grandson got a bit carried away with the dipping process and we may have to let his doilies dry for another night.

Tonight, we will be using glitter spray on the snowflake doilies and then hanging them from the sliding glass doors using suction cup holders. The kids are excited and I will post the final glittered snowflakes tomorrow.

Hobby Lobby sells doilies in 12-packs at a reasonable price, or check out Ebay. Here is what you will need for this project.

• 50:50 ration of white glue to water. Mix well in an large mixing bowl until the consistency of milk.
• Cloth doilies
• Plastic garbage bag for laying out the doilies after they are immersed in the stiffener
• Spray glitter product (or you can spray the dried doilies with adhesive glue spray and sprinkle with glitter
• Suction cup window hangers
• Invisible thread for hanging the snowflakes

Submerge each doily into the glue mixture until fully saturated. Gently squeeze away any excess liquid and lay the doily flat on the plastic garbage bag.









Allow the doilies to air dry overnight. If they still appear to be damp, let them set out until completely stiff and there is no sign of moisture.

Gently lift the doilies from the plastic bag and flip them over to allow air to completely circulate to both the front and back sides of the fabric. You can either hang the doily snowflakes as is, or add sparkle by applying iridescent glitter to each side. (see my Part 2 post for using glitter).

The stiffened doilies also look nice inside a picture frame. Remove the frame's glass and cut and cover a piece of cardboard to fit the frame opening. Burlap material works well, or use brown Kraft paper or scrapbook paper. Hot glue the doilies in place.

Vintage Baby Shoe Photo Gift

This is one of the many holiday gifts that I am giving to family this Christmas season. I purchased two vintage baby walking shoes from a local thrift store (bells included). To give added weight to each shoe, I poured plaster Paris into a zip lock bag and tucked into the shoe. The plaster was still wet so it formed to the shape of the shoe.

Thrift store doily finds were tucked inside the shoe and hot glued in place. The photos are held in place by silver place card holders I had left over from a wedding event. A small pine and berries were seated in place with hot glue.

Decorative scrapbook punches can be used to dress up the photo backing. To add to the vintage flair, I place satin ribbon just below the shoe tongue. The doily behind the picture was Mod-Podged to make it stiff (lay it flat for 24 hours to stiffen) and then glued to the picture back.

These cute keepsake frames look adorable on a fireplace mantel or bookcase.

Make These Fun Robot Soaps

These Robo-Soaps are fun and easy to make using Mold Market's Robot mold. There are countless variations you can use with our GPE water dissolving paper. We have even included a FREE template in this post.

Here are a few of the soaps made by Sophie Soap Chick. Instructions to make Robo-Soaps are given below. These soaps are perfectly sized for little hands.

Here's What You Need:

• Mold Market's Robot Mold
• Water Dissolving Paper ( to print Robot Chest Parts)
• Fragrance Oil and Soap Colorants
• Clear and white Soap Base
  
• Alcohol Spray
• Soap Injector Tool

1. To make the robot, melt 7 cubes of Clear Soap Base in the microwave. Heat in a glass measuring cup in short bursts of heat until melted. The pouring temperature should be about 140 degrees.
   
2. Print and cut out Robot Chest Parts using the Water Dissolving Paper (instructions included
   
   when you purchase the paper from GoPlanetEarth).
   
3. Select chest designs and colors to coordinate with the color of the eyes, hands, feet, and main body. So depending on what design you choose, pick a color that corresponds with it.
   
4. If you want to keep the robot plain, pour a thin layer of Clear Soap Base and once almost set, gently lay the cut out of the robot chest down in that area and spray the alcohol spray on the back to make it lay properly. Once that was close to being set, continue with another layer of clear and repeat until finished filling the mold.
   
5. If you want the eyes, feet, and hands to be another color:  melt a cube of White Soap Base and mix that with the color of your choice and add  fragrance. Use the Soap Injector Tool to fill in those areas.
   
6.  When these areas have set up, pour a layer of clear soap base and follow the above steps to get your perfect robot.
   
7. If you wanted to have a shine through of color as well you would continue with all the above steps and once you are at the last level to pour, use a color instead of clear. 

Sophie Soap Chicks Review:
No matter what way you choose, you can’t go wrong with this awesome mold!

Click here to save the PDF file for robot parts to print onto the GPE Water Dissolving Paper.

Melt and Pour Soap: Skeleton Cupcake

What a fun soap and perfect for a pirate themed or Halloween party. It is made with Mold Market's Cupcake and Large Bath Bomb molds. Here's how:

• Mold Market Cupcake Soap Mold
• White Soap Base
• Clear Soap Base
• Fragrance Oil (we recommend 1 teaspoon per 1/2 pound of soap base used)
• Alcohol Spray
• Recessed Smoother Soap Tool
• 8-inch Silicone Jelly Roll Tray
• Mold Market Large Bath Bomb Mold
• Black Colorant

1. Melt 4 cubes of White Soap Base and add fragrance (Make sure to use a fragrance that is clear so it does not cause the white to be a yellow color, if that happens no need to worry! Just use a drop or so of White Colorant.
2. Spray alcohol spray into the Large Bath Bomb Mold and pour in the white soap and finish off
   
   with a few more spray of alcohol. While this sets up, melt 8 cubes of Clear Soap Base in the same manner as used for the white base. Add a few drops of Black Oxide Colorant and fragrance oil; gently stir together.
3. Spray alcohol spray into the cupcake bottom mold and pour until full. Pour the remaining soap into the Jelly Roll Tray.
4. Once the soap in Jelly Roll is set up, carve out the eyes and stitched mouth. Attach them all together using a little bit of melted down clear soap base. Once set, you have yourself a spooky spin off of a well known Halloween movie that everyone will know and love!

Franken Soap...Fun Party Favors

Sophie Soap Chick has been at it again. She created a number of ghoulish soaps to inspire you. Mold Market's Beveled Square mold was used for the above Franken-soap design. These soaps aren't just for Halloween, they are fun soaps to be used all year round.

I plan to make these soaps for my grandson's schoolmates when I read the book Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex.

SUPPLIES

• Beveled Border Rectangle Mold (Mold Market)
• Neon Green Colorant
• Fragrance (optional)
• Alcohol Spray
• Black Oxide Colorant
• Clear Soap Base
• White Soap Base
• Soap Injector Tool
• 8-Inch Silicone Jelly Roll Tray
• Recessed Smoother Soap Tool

 HOW TO

Green Head:
Melt six cubes of white soap base in microwave safe measuring cup. You will want a pouring temperature of around 140 degrees. Remove from microwave; add fragrance and 2 drops of GPE Neon Green colorant.

Spray the inside of the Beveled Border mold cavity with rubbing alcohol and then pour soap.Allow to set up until firm before removing from the mold.

Face:
Melt six cubes of clear soap base in the same manner as the white. Add a few drops of black colorant to the melted soap and pour into the jelly roll tray.

After the black is set, repeat the steps with White Soap Base to use for the back of the eyes. Use the Recessed Smoother Soap Tool to out the black pupils, hair, eyelids, nose, and stitches from the layer of black soap you removed from the jelly roll tray.

When the white soap is set, carve out the back parts of the eye and made sure they fit behind the already carved eyelids. Once all the cut-outs are completed, melt a block of Clear Soap Base and  attach all the facial features!
Now you have a creepy and spooky Franken Soap!

Clear Soap Base from GoPlanetEarth

Breakfast Worms

I promised to make these with the grandkids last month. Last night, we finally found time to create these slimy worms to celebrate Halloween. The kids are so excied to take take a baggie full of these worms in their lunch on Monday to share with friends.

For those interested, here is the delicious recipe.



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg. (6 ox) purple gelatin/jello
• 3/4 ounce (3 envelops) unflavored gelatin
• 3 cups boiling water
• 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• green and red food coloring
• 100 plastic straws with bendable necks

HOW TO:

1. You will need a container that holds at least 4 cups of liquid and is as tall as it wide (so that the jello mixture will fill all the straws). 
2. Make sure straws are flush with the bottom of the container. The bendable part of the straw should be fully extended and facing toward the bottom of the container.
3. I used rubber bands to help hold the straws together.
4. Combine the flavored and unflavored gelatin in a bowl. Stir in the boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Set aside for about 20 minutes before stirring in the whipping cream.
5. Add 20 drops of green food coloring and 10 drops of red.
6. Place the container of straws in another container to catch any overflow.
7. Slowly pour the jello mixture into the straws. There will be jello that seeps up the sides of the container. That is OK. As long as the straws are tightly packed, the jello will fill the straws.
8. Chill the jello filled straws overnight. This is where it gets messy.
9. Run warm water the sides of the container that holds the straw. Wiggle the straws around until you are able to remove them.
10. There will be plenty of jello blob that follows this removal process. You don't want any of that mess.
11. Gently extract the jello worm from each straw by tightly holding the top of the straw and applying pressure down the entire length of the straw with your thumb and forefinger.
12. The straws will be slippery, so you may need to wipe them with a paper towel before you extract the worm.
13. Place extracted worms in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.