Soap: Soap for the Best! - DIY your way to great gift-giving

In a lather about what to give friends this year? Not anymore. These DIY soaps, sugar scrubs and bath melts are as delightful to make as they are to receive. And besides being quick and fun projects, these little bundles of exfoliating goodness are great for combating that dry winter skin. Elegant, useful and made with love. Now there’s some comfort and joy.

How to Make Homemade Bar Soap

This recipe is for cranberry-orange shea butter soap, but you can easily concoct your own signature blend by altering the essential oils, “scrubbers” and soap base.

Cranberry-Orange Soap
(makes 4 bars)

1 lb melt-and-pour shea butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp orange zest (patted dry with a paper towel)

10 drops orange essential oil

Soap colourant, optional

1. Gather your ingredients: store-bought soap moulds (or a silicon muffin pan), measuring cups, melt-and-pour shea butter, orange
   essential oil, dried cranberries and orange zest.
2. Evenly distribute the cranberries and orange zest in the bottoms of each mould.
3. Cube up the shea butter, and melt it in a glass bowl in the microwave, on high, 30 seconds at a time until melted.
4. Stir in the essential oils, and pour the mixture into the prepared moulds.
5. Let the soap set for 2 hours; then unmould the bars and wrap them like gifts.

How to Make Bath Melts

Chase away the cold with these mojito-inspired bath melts. We used peppermint oil and citrus notes to create a soothing bath, perfect for those nights when you feel a cold creeping in. Creating a custom aromatherapy is as easy as selecting an oil—or combination—that you enjoy. Experiment with lavender, chamomile, eucalyptus—whatever soothes or invigorates you. A glass of wine never hurts, either.

Coconut Oil Bath Melts
(makes 12 bath melts)

1 cup coconut oil

2 tsp lime zest

2 tsp lemon zest

10 drops peppermint essential oil

10 drops lime essential oil

1. Gather your ingredients: 12-mould mini-muffin pan, measuring cups, coconut oil, peppermint essential oil, lime essential oil, lime zest and lemon zest.
2. Evenly distribute the lime and lemon zest in the bottoms of each mould.
3. Melt the coconut oil in a glass bowl in the microwave, on high, 30 seconds at a time until melted.
4. Stir in the essential oils, and pour the mixture into the prepared moulds.
5. Let the bath melts set for 3 hours in the fridge; then unmould the melts and package them in apothecary-style glass candy jars or decorated Mason jars.

How to Make Sugar Scrubs

This recipe is for vanilla latte sugar scrubs, but you can easily concoct your own signature scrub by altering the essential oils and “scrubbers” to suit your fancy.

Vanilla Latte Sugar Scrubs
(makes 4)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup melt-and-pour shea butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

5 drops vanilla essential oil

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup used coffee grounds

1. Gather your supplies: silicon muffin pan, measuring cups, coconut oil, white sugar, used coffee grounds, melt-and-pour shea butter and vanilla essential oil.
2. Cube up the shea butter, and melt it in a glass bowl in the microwave, on high, 30 seconds at a time until melted.
3. Add the coconut oil, and stir until melted (you may need to pop it back in the microwave).
4. Stir in the vanilla essential oil, sugar and coffee grounds, and mix until combined and slushy.
5. Pour the mixture into muffin moulds, and let set for 3 hours; then unmould the bars and wrap them like gifts.  t8n

Mix It Up!

Used coffee grounds have great scrubbing power, but so do lots of items right in your pantry: oats, flaxseed and chia seeds. Just be sure to use your sugar scrubs from the neck down (sugar is too abrasive for your face), and watch your step in the shower—coconut oil is slippery!

It’s a Wrap

This is definitely the time to gild the lily. We’ve packaged our goodies with scrapbooking paper, twine and Mason jar labels, but let your imagination guide you. Some beautiful options include: wrapping paper, satin ribbon, sprigs of evergreens or herbs, gift tags—even wax seals.

We used melt-and-pour shea butter, but craft stores carry lots of soap-base options: goat’s milk, olive oil, glycerin, honey, and many that contain oatmeal.