Red, White & Blue DIY 4th of July Soap

I used a Wilton heart shaped silicone soap mold - found at most craft stores and online - for this 4th of July soap project. In addition to the mold, you'll also need a digital kitchen scale, a cutting board, a knife, a utensil to stir with and a glass Pyrex measuring cup or equivalent.

This melt and pour soap recipe yields two heart shaped DIY 4th of July soaps. However, if you wish to make more you can increase the soap recipe easily by doubling or tripling it. Start by weighing 3 oz. of your melt and pour soap base, then cut into chunks and place them into your glass measuring cup.

Now melt the soap chunks at reduced power in 20 to 30 second increments, stirring in between heatings - until melted. Be sure to watch the soap closely as you do not want it to boil!

Once the soap has melted, stir in several drops of red food color or liquid soap colorant and about 1/3 of the amount of the .2 oz. fragrance oil. (Use half that amount if using essential oils.) Don't use too much colorant - a little goes a long way! - or you could end up with soap crayons instead of bath soap. (For a brighter, deeper red, you can use clear melt and pour soap for this step instead.)

Place the heart shaped soap mold onto a cutting board or other transportable flat surface, then pour the red tinted soap into two of the heart shaped mold cavities so that the soap is distributed evenly between the two heart cavities. Spritz the tops of the soap with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles, then carefully transport the mold via the cutting board to the refrigerator and allow it to cool and harden completely.

While the layer of red soap is solidifying, wash and dry your measuring cup.

Then weigh out 1.5 oz. of white soap base, cut into chunks, and place into the measuring cup. Melt in the microwave, add a bit of fragrance, and mix well. Remove your mold from the refrigerator and spritz with rubbing alcohol. Then pour the white soap base evenly across your two heart molds on top of the solidified red base.

Spritz the tops of the soap with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles, then place in the refrigerator to harden.

Now simply repeat the steps you completed for the red soap layer for the final blue layer using 2 oz. of soap base, your liquid blue soap colorant dye and the remaining fragrance. (For a deeper, darker blue use a clear melt and pour soap base instead of the white soap base.)

Once the blue soap layer has hardened on top of the red and white layers, your soap is ready to unmold. Simply wrap your soaps in plastic wrap or foodservice film and label if desired. Your patriotic homemade soap is now ready for your soap dish!

If you liked this DIY 4th of July soap project then you may also like my DIY Handmade Stars Forever Soap. This handmade soap features a white cold process soap with detergent free buttermilk melt and pour soap stars to give you a seasonally festive color combination and look. You can learn more about this 4th of July DIY soap project featured in the June 2014 issue of Wholesale Supply Plus' eHandmade Magazine on page 23 here.

Be sure to visit my blog, Soap Deli News, here for even more fun homemade soap recipes - including a cold process soap tutorial and a plethora of soap recipes - as well as bath and beauty DIY's!

Happy soaping!