Valentine's Day Vintage Tartlet Heart Soaps #ValentinesDay

by Little Yellow Couch (Karen Grant & Zandra Zuraw)

This is a super simple DIY that has such a nice, thoughtful feel to it. You can whip up about 24 little soaps in a couple of hours, including the time it'll take you to slip them into a pretty bag or nestle them in a vintage box. We used a cigar box lined with pretty paper and brown crinkle packaging stuff.

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We used vintage tartlet molds that you would find at an antiques shop or flea market, but you can also just go to a craft store and buy plastic or silicone molds in the soap making section. Seriously. This one is easy-peasy.

SUPPLIES:

Block of glycerin soap (found at craft stores - we used a goats' milk variety)

Soap molds (we used vintage tin tartlet molds, but you can use the silicon variety found at craft stores)

Vegetable oil

Essential oil (for fragrance - we used rose oil)

Beet juice (we used juice from the peeled and roasted packaged beets found in the produce section of the grocery store)

Disposable Stirrer

Packaging (we used a vintage cigar box but you could also use glassine envelopes, a tin, or anything you that tickles your fancy)

Directions:

1. Gather your materials.

2. Prep your molds by lightly coating them in vegetable oil. You can either dip your finger in oil and spread it inside the mold or use a vegetable oil spray. Either way, you want to use no more than necessary to coat. We found that if we used a spray, you then had to wipe away the excess and using our fingers was just easier.

3. Cut off a portion of soap and melt in the microwave. The block we bought required us to melt at least 4 oz. at a time, and the block was conveniently divided into 1 oz sections. Just follow the package instructions for how long to heat, stirring occasionally. Ours took about 1 min. for every 4 oz.

4. As soon as the entire block is melted, quickly add the essential oil. You don't need much (and you don't want your fragrance to be overpowering). We used 6 drops for every 4 oz.

5. You then immediately add in a few drops of beet juice and stir with the chopstick. The more drops you add, the deeper the color. Stir thoroughly.

6. Fill as many molds as you can, up to their rims. The number of soap forms you get for every 4 oz. will depend on the size of your molds. We averaged 3 soaps per every 4 oz. Let the soap set in the molds for at least 40 min. Room temperature is fine, although we experimented with putting them in the freezer to see if they'd pop out easier. It didn't seem to matter so just go with room temperature!

7. Gently pop out the soap from the molds by pulling the edge of the mold away from the soap.

8. Have fun with your packaging!