Snowball – a strawberry-scrunchie-soap on a roap!

My adventurous spirit takes me further on the Melt and Pour (M and P) journey!

With the coldest winter in years here in the Midlands of KZN, South Africa it seemed apt to make a snowball! Today, I will share with you how to make a ‘snowball’ of soap containing a shower scrunchie. This strawberry shower ball is your soap and scrub all in one. Have fun with different colours and fragrances and spoil those close to you with your creations.

What you will need:
- Snowball mould – 2x half rounds
- Fragrance of choice (I used a Berry Blend)
- Clear M and P soap base
- Poppy seed
- Shower scrunchie on a roap
- Jugs, chopstick/stirrers, scale, spraying alcohol, micro-wave

Method:
- Chop M and P into jug, and melt in 30 second bursts until just liquid
- Add fragrance - guideline 2% of soap weight and stir (see TIP below!)
- Add half a teaspoon of poppy seed – this will create the strawberry look
- Fill the first half round mould to two thirds with the melted soap and spritz immediately with alcohol to remove obvious bubbles

- Add scrunchie positioning roap to the side, submerge approximately half of the scrunchie and hold in position with a chopstick/stirrer for 2 minutes

- If need be, you can top up your mould with soap ensuring that there are no air bubbles within the scrunchie
- Re-heat your jug of soap until just liquid
- Fill the second half round mould to almost full with the melted soap and spritz immediately with alcohol to remove obvious bubbles

- Position the scrunchie and first half round mould over the second half round mould and gently press together. Excess soap will overflow – this is necessary to ensure your scrunchie is saturated with the M and P soap
- Leave to stand for 30 minutes or until mould is cool to the touch
- Gently remove both moulds – if resisting, leave for a further 10 minutes - and expose your snowball of strawberry soap, with scrunchie, all on a roap!

Take photos and share with me (linda@riverleasoap.com) – I would love to see your creations!

As always, I learnt some valuable tips that I would like to share with you.

TIPS!
- Remember to position your mould in something suitable to stop it rolling, and where it can remain unmoved for the cooling time. DO NOT MOVE!
- To gauge whether your soap is ready to pour or not, hold jug firmly between hands and it should be a comfortable heat. Allow it to form a thick skin, 'pull' to the side with your stirrer and pour.
- You will notice that the poppy seeds sank to the bottom of the mould during my first pour. In order to get the poppy seeds to hang in suspension as in the second pour, the M and P soap must be at a slightly cooler temperature. This you will learn to gauge over time.

I hope you have as much fun as I did!!



http://www.riverleasoap.com/

Celebrations with Tigger!

Happy birthday Tigger (AKA Tin) - may you have many more bubbly years!

Riverlea Soap, famous since 2007, has steadily grown and is proud to boast the addition of Tigger to our team almost a year ago already.

Tigger adds an energy and bounce to our business that is so vital to increasing our footprint. She has represented our famous cupcake soaps etc. at a number of markets as well as consulting on custom soap orders for weddings and special functions. The personalised bars are a great hit!

Be unique, design your own gift fantasy for that special occasion. To find out more about our custom soap creations, please visit our web site or email me (linda@riverleasoap.com) directly - you will not be disappointed!


http://www.riverleasoap.com/

Make Your Own Cupcake Stand!

I love cupcakes, who doesn't?


This is obvious when you see all the soap I make.
I was trawling the web a few days ago and found this really nice project from Cake Journal for making a cake stand.

 www.riverleasoap.com