Decorative Soap Crafts: Inexpensive Homemade Christmas Stocking Stuffers

I have a lot of get-togethers that involve extended families, college students, and single friends with no place to go. I hate to see anyone sitting around at Christmas with nothing to open, so I always make and take a few wrapped stocking stuffers with a blank name tag. The tags are then filled in with the name of the new girlfriend, friend, or transient that happened to find their way to the family gathering. My sisters do the same also.

The local sister's husband owned a bakery, until he became allergic to eggs and flour, so twice a year, Christmas and Easter, there are rabbit cakes, cookies too delicious to describe and pies, wonderful, wonderful pies which they gift to friends, neighbors, and family strays.

Her husband developed diabetes but he still bakes for the family, omitting no sugar. One year, the day after Easter, we had planned an early outing. When we arrived, there he sat on the porch with homemade donuts broken up in bits. I questioned what he was doing, after all donuts were not on the diet.

"Darn squirrels eat better than I do." He said as he threw bits of donuts to the squirrels. He's been doing this for several years, and I swear I saw a squirrel give itself an insulin shot when we were there for Thanksgiving.

Here are two of the gifts that I have wrapped as stocking stuffers.

Decorated Soap Bars

I found a chain of stores a few years ago that buy up lots of other store's merchandise that doesn't sell. They mark the prices down and you get bargains. You all probably know the store chain I'm talking about, but I won't mention the name. Shopping there with a twenty-dollar bill can get a plethora of items. It ranks right up there with inexpensive gloves and cheap toilet paper. I found really inexpensive glycerin soap.

There is a certain beauty about the soap. It's clear and yet colored. (I hope to have a social life soon.) You can make it giftable by simply using decorative ribbon and a little ingenuity. Wrap the soap with ribbon down the middle the long way and tape or glue the ribbon on the side you chose as the back. Then wrap the ribbon across the middle on the short side and glue it. Use your glue gun to attach a few fake pine sprigs, add a Christmas ornament and viola' you have decorated soap.

Make Your Own Soap Bars with Melt and Pour.

Use molds and create small decorator hand soaps. These are so adorable and the size can make the pour and melt go a lot farther.

Make Soap Balls Out of New Soap.

I know that soap balls originally were created to use up those last bits of soap in the bathroom, but I wouldn't use them for gifts. It is like buying someone's old underwear. Regardless of whether Bill Clinton donated it or not, I'd have to pass on it.

Start with a couple of bars of plain unscented soap. I like coco butter soap for this, but it is because I like the scent. If you use plain soap you can add any fragrance or color that you choose. A neat twist is adding some herbs or lemon zest that has been crushed and citrus essential oils. (You can make your own lemon zest or orange zest by following the instructions here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/435229/homemade_seasonings_and_butters_as.html)

You can also add lavender and dried lavender blossom, or even crushed mint or eucalyptus for an invigorating smell.

Grate two bars of soap into a large bowl; add about 1/2 cup of dried herbs, or slightly smaller amounts of lemon zest. Add 5 to six drops of essential oil of choice and color of choice to 1/4 cup of warm water. Pour the water over the grated soap flakes and herbs and mix it well. Make small tablespoon sized balls by rolling them with clean hands. The kids can help here, and it is so much fun. Make certain that their hands are thoroughly clean. It may be the only chance that you get without them whining.

Once the balls are made, place them on wax paper, tin foil, or a cookie sheet, and allow them to dry for several days. (2 to 4) Check them at first periodically. In the event there was a bit too much water in the mixture, you may have to reshape the balls.

When they are dry, place them in inexpensive dishes or small baskets with tissue paper in the bottom and sides to not only keep them clean, but also take up some space so you can make a batch go farther.