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.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Wacky Witches

Gabby came up with this wacky witch soap using Mold Market's Ice Cream Soap Mold. This mold is currently being offered at an incredible price, so it's an ideal time to purchase a few for the upcoming Halloween season. Consider using GoPlanet's glow-in-the-dark powder for the witches (lime green) face.

This melt and pour soap project is easy for parents to do with kids. I'm excited to see the reaction my grand kids will have about these Wacky Witch soaps.

We have a few more Halloween soaping ideas up our sleeves, so be sure to check back for more inspiring projects.

Wedding Cootie Catchers

For the past month, I've been preparing for an upcoming wedding. I'm doing the reception tables and it's been a blast coming up with "Shabby Chic" ideas. These Wedding Cootie Catchers will be part of the table ensemble. I had totally forgotten about this origami design that we made as kids. It was my nine-year old grandson that inspired this idea.

As I was looking over wedding trivia sent to me by the bride, my grandson said, "NeeNee, you should do cootie catchers!" I was absolutely clueless what he was talking about. "Let me Google it, NeeNee."

And so, cootie catchers have been incorporated into the wedding table theme. I am excited to see how all my decorating plans fall into place. Fresh flowers arrive on Thursday for the painted wine bottles, the personalized fortune cookies were delivered last week, and finishing detail touches are near completion.

Hoping the weather cooperates for the outdoor wedding ceremony. Thankfully, the reception is indoors. No matter what the weather holds, my former administrative assistant of 7 years is getting married. I couldn't be happier for her.



Warning: Deviled Soap Eggs (Do Not Eat)

This week my daughter stopped by to visit. She immediately spotted these deviled eggs on the kitchen counter.

"Ohhhhh, deviled eggs, my favorite", she said.

Grabbing one to pop into her mouth, she quickly realized these were deviled SOAP eggs.

"Mom, why do always do that to me. You make these awesome soaps that look like food. I get excited, only to discover it's soap!"

The eggs were made with Mold Market's Rounded Oval mold. The mold cavities were partially filled with scented white soap. Be sure to pour the soap deep enough to scoop out a portion for the egg topping. A melon baller utensil works well.

Remove the soap from the mold and place the flat side down. Using a 3-inch diameter water glass, trim one end of oval shape into more of an egg shape. Flip the egg white over and scoop out a portion of the soap with the melon baller. Save all the trimmed soap for a future project.

Set the egg whites aside while you make the body butter whip filling. Use either DWP yellow or Flower Child Yellow Submarine colorant. Depending on how much you are making, you will need to eyeball the color. Start with a few drops and add or blend colors as needed to reach the desired shade. Fragrance can be added to the colored body butter whip.

Spoon out portions of the filling onto waxed paper. Sprinkle with a powdered paprika. Melt a small amount of clear soap base and pour into the scooped portion of the egg white. Carefully seat the colored filling on top. Allow to set up.

Final Comments:

• Are these practical? Heck, no!
• Are they fun? Heck, yes!
• Will kids have fun making these? Heck, yes!
• Can you color the egg whites in Easter colors? Heck, yes! Instead of using the paprika, use cosmetic glitter.
• Can you actually use these in the shower or bath? Heck, yes!
• Can you eat them? Heck, no (Hahhah! unless you use naughty words. Washing your mouth out with soap might be appropriate).

Creating Memories

While getting ready for a dinner party, I scooted into my bedroom to pick out jewelry to complement my outfit. My costume jewelry is stored in various decorative containers. While removing the lid from one container I was surprised to find a blue cardboard box tucked inside. Taped to the box was a gold card with the name "Olivia"  and "14th" written in black marker. I was puzzled about the "14th" notation, but later realized this was the day my six-year old grand daughter, Olivia, safely stored her treasures in my jewelry box.

At my age, my memories at age six are greatly diminished. If I were completely honest, I can't remember them at all (except for my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Blue, who wore sweater clips). Does anyone even remember sweater clips? Anyhow, back to my story.

I was curious about the contents of this special box. Obviously, the content must be of great importance for Olivia to replace my jewelry with her special blue box (still trying to find where she put my jewelry) . As I opened the box, her treasures were revealed. I wasn't quite prepared for what I found.

There were buttons, a plastic ring, a burned out light bulb, a rock, pull tab from an aluminum can, a jar top and chenille pom poms.

It was unclear to me why Olivia would save all these trinkets. Not only did she tuck them in a box, but proceeded to hide that box inside another box. What possible use was there for any of these items? What was her purpose in hiding these trinkets?

In pondering these questions, I reflected on the many "things" we collect in our lifetime. We're no different than six-year old Olivia. Our valued personal collection of trinkets and treasures are meaningless to most. Yet, we are often unwilling to let go of them. Why?

In looking at the items Olivia saved, I quickly realized each trinket represented something we had done together as a craft or as part of a designated special day. In her mind, each token trinket captured a moment she wanted to remember. I felt honored my grand daughter wanted to create a history of our time together.

So, until Olivia decides otherwise, her blue box memories will remain private, untouched and undisturbed and safely tucked inside my jewelry box.

Packaging Idea: Monster Cupcake Soaps

Remember those monster cupcake soaps Gabby made last week? Here's a cute packaging idea for gift giving. I selected two of the friendly guys and placed each in a clear cupcake box cushioned with colorful paper shred. Whimsical monsters were printed on white paper and applied to the outside of the boxes with double-sided tape.

Stack the two boxes and secure together with strips of double-sided tape. A hole punch was used to make openings for the ribbon handle. Thread the ribbon ends through the punched openings and knot ends to keep it in place. Since this was being gifted to an 8 year old girl, I decided to dress the top box with a package of colorful sour candies.

I hope this offers inspiration on ways to package cupcake soaps made with Mold Market's cupcake molds. For the record, this gift was very well received by 8-year old Chloe. She couldn't wait until bath time and the sour candies were gobbled up within minutes.

A picture of one of the cupcake monsters was inserted into the back side of the top box. If you are reselling the soaps, this is a great place to list ingredients.

Glow in the Dark Cosmic Soaps

I love when a simple, basic mold grabs your attention. These cosmic ring soaps were poured into Mold Market's Rounded Oval mold. The mold cavities were tipped for each color pour. Allow each layer to set up until almost firm, spritz with alcohol and pour the next tilted layer.

The number of color combinations and layers are only left to your imagination. Both white and clear soap bases were used  in our examples. The red-black rings and black-yellow rings are poured in clear soap base and colored with black oxide, neon bright yellow and tomato red.

The green-white and black-white cosmic soaps used both white and clear soap base. Neon bright green colorant in clear base colored the green rings.

GoPlanet's glow-powder is ideal for these cosmic soaps. Add the powder to the melted soap and color as usual. The glow-powder works best with clear soap base. Use 1 teaspoon of glow powder to 1 pound of melted soap.

Melt & Pour Soap: Fortune Soap Roll Ups

These roll-up soaps are simple and can be done in under one hour. Pour colored soap into a silicone jelly roll pan. You want a thin layer, about 3/8" to 1/4" thick. Eight ounces of soap will yield 8 roll-ups if using our 8 x 8" jelly roll pan. See the below pattern for how to cut the roll-ups.

We elected to use clear soap base colored with a variety of GoPlanet's Liquid Gel Jewel Tone and Metallic colors. Once the soaps are rolled into shape, lightly dust with powdered mica. We sell the perfect brushes for dusting the mica powders.

Implanting the fortunes inside the roll-up is easy. Once soap is cut into a triangular shape, position a fortune in the middle of the triangle. Be sure the printed fortune is long enough to extend from one end of the soap (see below).

The user pulls out the fortune slip before using in the shower or bath. Consider using these as "one-use" soaps in the ladies room at a wedding reception. There are so many ways to present these lovely soap roll-ups. We would love to hear your ideas. Here is a PDF file (courtesy of GoPlanetEarth) that offers a collection of printable fortune inserts.

Melt & Pour Soap: Cupcake Soap Monsters

I just love when I throw out a soaping idea and one a worker runs with it. These cupcake monster soaps were made by Gabby using Mold Market's Original Cupcake mold. We were all brainstorming how to make feet for our friendly monsters. Thank you, Nichelle, for suggesting we use an economy heart mold. Gabby cut the heart in half to make the feet. Don't you love the shoelaces?

All the monsters were colored with our bright neon liquid gel colors. Clear soap was colored and used in cupcake the bases and toppers. Gabby hand cut the mouths, tongues, hair and horns.  Black oxide colorant was added to clear soap base for the shoes, mouth and pupils.

List of Supplies Used:

• Clear melt & pour soap base- plan on 6 ounces for the cupcake portions and feet.
• Set of neon bright colorants (contains six colors). The neon red is sold separately.
• Mold Market's Original Cupcake mold
• Black Oxide colorant (we used our liquid gel)
• GoPlanet's Economy Heart8 mold
• Mini cutter set (for hair and whites of eyes). Use a plastic to-go straw to punch out the black portion of eyes)
• Recessed Smoother Soaping Tool (this is critical to have when cutting out the shapes for the monster's face).
• Fragrance oil of your choice. You will need approximately 2 teaspoons of fragrance oil for three cupcake monsters. (there are 6 teaspoons in one ounce of fragrance oil)

All the monster pieces were attached with melted clear soap (no color added). The nose portion of the monster is part of the cupcake topper. Gabby poured that in a contrasting color. If you're wondering how to package these little guys, consider GoPlanet's clear cupcake boxes.



If you like this soaping project, please let Gabby know via email. She will appreciate your feedback.

Melt & Pour Soap Making: Wedding Soaps

We finished up our final day of personalized wedding soaps for an upcoming event. They turned out awesome. Thanks to Gabby and Chelsea who learned the tricks of using the GPE water dissovling paper. Their first try wasn't quite as successful, so I'm posting a few tips they learned when using this paper in the molds.

1. Our entire staff agreed a white soap background offers the best results.
2. Pour a very thin layer of unscented ultimate clear soap in the bottom of each mold cavity. DO NOT spray with rubbing alcohol. If any air bubbles appear, use your finger to pop them.
3. Allow the thin soap layer to set up completely. Once set, insert and center your pre-cut paper design/logo.
4. Melt your white soap base and allow to cool to around 130 degrees. Add desired fragrance oil.
5. Slowly fill the balance of the soap mold with the white soap.
6. Spritz the back of the soaps with rubbing alcohol once poured to remove any surface air bubbles.
7. Do not remove soaps from the mold until they have completely set-up.

The following Mold Market molds were used for this soaping project: #006 Beveled Oval Mold, #011 Beveled Border Circle and  #005 Beveled Border Square. The templates can be purchased here. The templates DO NOT include any printable GPE water dissolving paper. That is a separate purchase.