How to Make a Personalized Present

Handmade Soap

Give an Original Gift

Make someone feel special by making them their own personalized soap. It's a great inexpensive present for any age group, from toddlers to grandparents and it's easy to pop in the post as a surprise.

Getting Started

You'll need opaque soap base for the letters, transparent glycerine soap base for the rest of the bar and food coloring. The only equipment you need is:

double boiler or microwave to melt the soap base
mold to pour the soap into
some cookie cutters to make the embedded shapes
teaspoon
sharp knife

If you are giving the soaps as presents, you can wrap them in plastic wrap or clingfilm.

Cut Blocks of Melt-and-Pour Natural Soap Base

Preparing the Soap Mixture

First, cut the soap blocks into smaller, manageable pieces and melt the the opaque soap in a double boiler or microwave.

Pouring the Soap Mixture into the Cookie Cutters

Making Soap Letters

Then use small cookie cutters to create the letters. Take care not to burn your fingers, as you press each shape down on a heatproof level surface and start to fill them with the opaque melted soap liquid (I use the metal lid from the container the cookie cutters came in).

If any liquid escapes at the bottom of the shapes, wait a minute for it to harden a bit, then top up the letter again.

Soap Letters

Filling the Mold and Adding the Letters

Gently melt the clear soap in a separate heat proof jug in a double boiler or microwave. Add a few drops of soap coloring, or food coloring and stir.

Wait at least 5 minutes before removing the soap from the cutters. Gently push each letter or shape out using the end of a teaspoon or similar small object. Then trim the shapes with a knife to make them all the same depth.

Adding Color and Fragrance

If you are using essential oils to fragrance the soap, add them now. Always remember to take care using essential oils as direct contact with the skin or eyes can cause harm. You only need to use a tiny amount in each soap to make it smell wonderful, but in their concentrated form essential oils can cause burns. Anyone with sensitive skin or allergies may prefer not to use them.

Letters are Added as a Mirror Image of the Name

Pour the colored soap into the mold and quickly add the letters before a skin starts to form on the top. Don't forget to spell the name backwards! Move the letters into position with a coctail stick, then press them to the bottom of the mold and leave to set.