Melt and Pour Questions

beachgurl · Nov 22, 2008

Okay M & P experts; I'm going to give it a whirl because it's just simply beautiful and I love it ... ... and I'm going to have a nice long break from school in January ... and I'll go insane without something new to do ... plus I want to get the kids involved (because they're interested in making soap) and this is something then can do with me instead of being banned from the kitchen .... but I'm left with questions??

First how in the heck do you get little bits of color .. like say you have a butterfly mold .. well i've seen it that the tips are yellow and sparkly while the rest of the wing is like orange or red .. how in the hell do you do that?? Same thing with bars .. like flowers protruding that are a beautifully deep red and the rest of the bar is white .. how the heck ??

Who has the best base ?? Who has good molds?? There are so many more places with M & P stuff that it's downright confusing deciding who to buy from !!

SoapyScrubs · Nov 22, 2008

you can go through bramble berry for your soap bases and oils. How old is the kids that you are going to be making soap with? You can also get molds from them or other suppliers. If you go to hobby stores you can get the decortiave or simple silicone baking sheets.

beachgurl · Nov 22, 2008

my girls are 5 ... they'll need a lot of help .. but everytime i make cp .. they ask to help and i have to say know (lye in the eyes isn't a good thing for 5 year olds) so I want to give M & P a try !! Thanx for the info, I really appreciate your direction!!

reallyrita · Nov 22, 2008

I recently spent an afternoon making M&P soap with a 5 year old and a 6 year old. These kids were full of energy and don't always listen well!

I sat them down on the couch and had a serious discussion with them about the dangerous parts and the waiting parts. I was sure that we were doomed to tears and tantrums given the live wire nature of these kits. Know what? it went very very well. Some of the soaps had too much color in them or too much scent....and it was hard for them to wait until the soap was ready to unmold, but we all had a good time. Brambleberry has a wonderful dvd about M&P and making it with children. This was a big help to me. I also used the colors and the fragrances from Hobby Lobby because they had little bottles with drop by drop dispenser tops that made it much easier for little fingers to do it "all by myself." I was steeling myself for a tough afternoon but I had a blast. It is important to talk through the process with little ones so they know what to expect and that there will be some steps in the process that a grown up will have to do. I used a small pitcher for them to pour into the molds so that their little hands could manage. They did it all nearly by themselves...we took turns pouring and stirring...and they each got to color their own soaps and scent them and choose those scents and colors. The kids I worked with were a little hyper and did not like to share with one another but it really worked out ok.
It also helped that they were NOT my children. :lol:

I don't think they would have behaved so well for their own mother.

beachgurl · Nov 22, 2008

LoL at not my children. They ask me every single time I make soap if they can help .. they're the girliest girls ... i don't know where they get it from. I love the idea of the fragrance oils with droppers because yes ... we're in an independent phase (i hope it's just a phase). I think they'll like it ... Vannah is super creative and she has really good concentration .. Mal not so much .. that should be interesting ... lol .... i have to get some colors ... and a couple molds and we should be set ... i just think melt and pour is so creative and you can do a lot with it .. so i think i'll give it a whirl ... and i think the girls will have a ton of fun... thanx guys !!