Valentine Soaps & Packaging

Have I mentioned that I have such an awesome mother-in-law?  Because she is such a great human being, people are naturally drawn to her, and my friends wish she was their mom, even though they love their own mothers.  She is the kind of person who celebrates every possible occasion with a gift.  Last month, she already ordered ahead for Valentine’s her favorite chrysanthemum-shaped soap, and a black and white one that’s scented with grapefruit and neroli.

I still don’t have the proper packaging for plastic-wrapped soaps, so I had to make-do with what I could find. I wanted the flower-shaped soaps to rest on paper doily, but I couldn’t find small ones. I also didn’t want to use wrapping paper because it’s too thin, and I couldn’t find thick paper with a nice print.  I did find, though, this lovely baking cup:

I had to stretch out the cups to flatten them, and using a mason jar ring as a guide, I cut-out circles with a paper cutter.  When my friend saw my labor-intensive process, he said that there is a cutter specifically for round shapes.  I had no idea!  Anyway, i just had to cut 30 pieces, but I did look for that cutter the following day.  Sadly, it’s not available in our local stores.

I will have to search where I can find 3.5″ doilies or printed paper boards that I can use as a base for soaps like the ones below.  Please let me know if you have a source to share! 🙂 The cut-outs are not perfectly round but I’m quite happy with the way these turned out.

The black and white soaps were much simpler to package.  I just used red gross-grain ribbon. I think it would have been cuter if I had a fancier-shaped hang tag for Valentine’s.  I totally missed the opportunity to buy the Silhouette Cameo at a discount last December. It would be really nice to have it, but, well, I can live without it.  🙂

Milk Paint

Just wanted to do a quick post on a fun little project my friend and I did last weekend. We painted some trays with all-natural, environment friendly Milk Paint.

You simply mix the paint powder with an equal amount of warm water, and you’re ready to paint! We just did a few brush strokes on the tray to give it that vintage, rustic feel. A little sanding smoothened it and completed the look.

 

Tapeless Wrapping

Dear Maja and Vicki, this one’s for you!

Center the soap on the paper.

Pull ends to overlap.

Turn over soap.

Push in top ends of the paper at the same time (so that soap does not move).

Fold in the sides.

Bring the edge of the soap in line with the edge of the table. Push down the flap so that it is a straight line. (This is an important step if you want clean, crisp corners)

Turn over the soap again and fold in the flaps.

Voila! Soap wrapping without tape.

Christmas Soaps and Packaging

This year just went by in a blur! It’s 20 days to Christmas and I still have soaps curing. I soaped practically everyday from end of September to October, hoping I’d be done with Christmas packing before December.  I got a bit delayed because I needed to make more than I anticipated, and I also didn’t soap for nearly 2 weeks in November.  I should be able to complete though everybody’s orders and my personal gift requirements before Christmas.

I have not officially started selling soap, but hopefully I can do so next year. Right now it’s just my family and friends who are supporting my soapy passion. I am most grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to soap to my heart’s content and to improve my skills.

As early as August, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law placed their order for a combined  total of 250 3-pack soaps, or 750 bars (they just have that many people to give to!)  I was able to complete their orders by mid-November, all boxed-up and sent to Manila in batches.  My husband and a good friend were my soap mules (thank you!!!) since they fly between Manila and Cebu regularly.

Each pack contains one scrubby, one plain yogurt, and one with design. The soap is wrapped with kraft paper and lined with waxy sandwich paper.

“Wake Me Up” with coffee and oatmeal

I’ve always disliked using tape in my packaging. Thanks to my sister who found in her drawer a forgotten Burt’s Bees soap from ages ago, I now know how to wrap soaps in the same neat way, sans tape!  The best part is you can open the package to see the soap inside and fold it back to its original state.

Here are variations for single, trio and quartet Christmas soap packaging.   Packaging for a 2-bar set is the same as for the trio.

The wife of my brother has a small business manufacturing light-weight wooden containers/packaging for export to Japan. I asked her to make me trays in the style of crates for my soaps.  The smaller tray is stained brown, hence the darker color, while the 4-bar tray is the natural color of the wood.  I am reserving these for my personal gifts to family and friends. 🙂

I’ve made so many different kinds of soaps the past 2 months, I just haven’t had the time to blog about them.  I made 2 Christmas-themed soaps:

1. Peppermint Vanilla Noel – I already made a batch of this last October and loved it so much (click here to see the old version).  I made several more batches but changed the look to a drop swirl design, which I like a lot better.  I left the lower vanilla portion uncolored, leaving the vanillin content to naturally turn the soap tan. The upper red, green and white were scented with peppermint e.o.

2. Winter Wonderland – This has a strong, deep, and intoxicating scent – woodsy, tart, spicy, and fruity – a little bit masculine but can also appeal to women. I really like the way this smells! I used burgundy and green chrome oxides and intentionally used less color so that it looks muted.

12/8/13  Due to requests, click here for a tutorial on how to wrap soap without tape.

Trying New Packaging

And the quest continues on how to best package the soaps…

All Dressed Up

I enjoy packaging just as much as soap making. Right now I am into wrapping without the use of tape, if possible. I have found the waxy packaging paper for rice or sandwiches the perfect material for wrapping soaps.

The printed blue paper is scented shelf-liner that was given to me two Christmases ago.  They are great shelf-liners, but I think they make prettier soap packaging.  The scent is mild and somehow blends well with the soap.

I don’t like giving away naked soaps, so here they are, dressed, and ready to go: