Happy New Year! I am finding it a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things after my holiday break, so I figured I would start off the year by sharing a few of the projects that I worked on last year that never made it here. That way I get a little more time to get my creative juices flowing and you still get to learn a few new DIY skills. First up, diorama soap that I originally shared on the Consumer Crafts blog.

Melt and pour soap is a super simple craft, yet so much fun to use
and get creative with. You can pretty much make any shape, color, and
fragrance you like using a melt and pour soap base. I decided to create
bars that are not only useful for getting your hands clean, but fun to
look at too! With a few pieces of felt and some plastic toy animals,
you’ll have some adorable DIY soap diorama bars perfect for gifting (or
keeping all to yourself). This is also a great activity to get your kids in on!

Aren’t
these DIY soap diorama bars just the cutest?! You can’t tell me that
your kids wouldn’t love washing their hands with these! Maybe they’ll
actually want to get clean more than once a day. While they may look
complex, they don’t take long to make at all.

 

Begin by cutting your felt pieces into leaves, grass, or other shapes
for your diorama. You’ll also need to cut a rectangular shape to fit
into the soap mold as the background.

 

Now that all your pieces are cut, assemble your mini dioramas to get a good idea of how you want them arranged.

 

Next,
it’s time to cut up your melt and pour soap into 1″ chunks and fill up
your measuring cup. You’ll need roughly 1/2 cup of soap per rectangle
mold. Place your measuring cup in the microwave for 30 seconds. You want
the soap to just melt but not begin to boil. So microwave in small
amounts to keep it from getting too hot. Stir with your spoon, and pour a
thin (1/4″) layer of soap into the bottom of the mold.

 

Let
this soap harden at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Once it is
hard, lay your felt pieces and plastic toy animals on top of the DIY
soap base layer. Re-melt the soap in your measuring cup and gently pour
the soap over your diorama until the soap reaches the top of the mold.
At this time you can either mist the top of the soap with rubbing
alcohol or use the spoon to gently remove any bubbles that pop up.

 

Now that your soap is poured, let your diorama bars cool at room temperature until fully hardened (around 1-2 hours).

Finally
it is time to un-mold your bars of DIY soap and either wrap them in
plastic wrap to give as a gift, or drop them off by a sink and let the
clean times commence.

My
kids already called dibs on these bars of soap, so I know they were a
big hit. Yet you don’t have to do all the work yourself! Let them create their own little scene and help with the soap pouring and melting.

The
best part is that after these DIY soap diorama bars have been used up,
you’re left with a fun toy to play with! Talk about win-win!