DIY Gemstone Soap Tutorial | How to Make Easy Gem + Mineral Shaped Soap Rocks

 
As a rock collector, you can imagine how much I mooned over the gem and mineral shaped "soap rocks" when I first spotted them in an artsy boutique in Duluth, MN.  They were regularly price at around $11, so you can imagine my glee when they were put on clearance one day - for $6 a bar!  Still pricey, but I ran to the cash register with an armful.  I bought a couple as gifts and then depleted the store's stock of "turquoise" soap rocks, which I've doled out to myself over the years.  You might have seen them pop up in this bathroom and that bathroom.  I swear it wasn't the same soap, moved from room to room.

;)

When I finally got down to my last original soap rock, I hopped online to buy more and they're still expensive - even in bulk.  I am definitely not want to shirk away from paying for craftsmanship, ingenuity or quality but they're too expensive to enjoy (does that make sense to anyone else?), no matter how adorable.  When I started seeing gemstone shaped soap tutorials popping up everywhere, I decided to make my own soap rocks.  My gem soaps are nowhere near as gorgeous as the originals, but at only $2 a bar (which will be less once I make more batches), my wallet is much happier - and I don't feel a twinge of guilt when I'm lathering up.  Plus, making soap turned out to be such a fun and easy craft project that I can't wait to make more!  

Although there are a lot of great gemstone soap tutorials online (like these ones by A Beautiful Mess, Dream a Little Bigger, Fall for DIY, Honestly WTF, Soap Queen, and DIY in PDX), this tutorial is my favorite and it's the one I followed because it created the most realistic looking "stones".

Soap Rock Making Supplies:

• Organic Clear Glycerine Soap Base
• Organic White Glycerine Soap Base
• Cosmetic Grade Mica Dyes
• Silicone Bar Molds
• One Large Loaf Silicone Mold
• Essential Oils
• Cutting Board
• Non-serrated Knife
• Microwaveable Bowl (my Pyrex 4 cup measure worked well)
• Microwave
• Stir sticks

A note on these soap making supplies supplies:

Essential oils: I read that vanilla can yellow a soap so if you're going for a really clear "gem," opt for another scent.

Glycerine soap bases: In total I ordered 7 lbs of glycerine, which yielded two huge silicone molds worth of soap.  I linked to the exact glycerine bases I used because they are really nice.  I chose organic glycerine and was really happy with how this particular soap base lathers.  The clear looks so gem-like, so I ordered even more of it.  If you're only going to order one (the opaque or the clear), get the clear.

Cosmetic grade mica dyes: Mica colorants bestow the shimmer and sheen of real stones and help make these gem soaps more realistic.  I think I went a little overboard with the dye and made mine too richly colored, so play around a little with the quantity and add a little to start, building up the color if required.  For my next batch I'll try more faintly tinted clear glycerine areas for a more "quartz" inspired look.  The exact kind of mica I used is no longer available but I linked to a similar one.  Buy any kind you like, but make sure it's cosmetic grade.  Or try what Rachel did and put those unused eye shadow kits to good use! 

Look at the pretty shimmer:

How to Make Gem and Mineral Shaped Soap:

This style of soap making (melt and pour) is too easy:  in a nutshell, you melt the glycerine, add coloring agents and fragrance, pour into molds, and let cool.  With soap rocks, you add an extra step of chopping up the soap, arranging in a larger mold, adding more melted glycerine then cutting the finished product into a natural rock shape.

The only tricky part is creating a realistic gem, so the first step with making rock soap is to figure out what kind of stones you want to make.  Hit up Pinterest (I have a entire board dedicated to rocks) and find at least one kind to mimic.  Take a close look at the veining and colors to determine what colors of soap you'll need to make, and how to layer the different pieces - but there's no right or wrong way to do this.

How to Make Melt and Pour Soap:

With your rock soap "design" sorted, here are some more detailed instructions for how to actually make melt and pour gem-shaped soap.

Cut up the glycerine into small pieces and place in the microwaveable bowl.  I worked with a cup or two at a time.  Pop into the microwave and melt (about 30 seconds - 1 minute, depending on the microwave).

Mix in a pinch of mica until the color is perfect and then add essential oil.  I added a few drops of oil at a time until it smelled great - it's a personal decision how much to add.  If you're going to be making many colors, you can also pour the melted soap into another container, add dye and oil, and then pour into mold to keep the Pyrex measuring cup from transferring dye across batches (like I did, below).

 
Pour the melted glycerine into the bar mold and let cool 6-8 hours.  In the meantime, start on another color and repeat the process.  You want to have a nice variety of the colors present in your gem or mineral.  I spent a couple of hours leisurely making different colors; it was a relaxing crafternoon.

You can also use an assortment of random plastic containers, but the bars pop out of this silicone bar mold so nicely.  I bought it because I figured I can make rectangular bar soap later.  After they've hardened, remove the soap from the molds.  (Technically, at this stage you could also just cut these soaps into gem shapes). 

Now chop up those bars!  Use a knife or other kitchen tools (like a vegetable peeler) to create organic looking shapes.  Create bigger and smaller chunks, some shards and thin little "veins" - depending on the stone you're trying to replicate.  You can also gently rub the soap to soften corners.  Set aside any shavings and cuttings - you can add them to a bar later or melt them again.

Next, assemble the pieces in the large loaf silicone mold, as per the gem or mineral you want to replicate.  For one batch, I started with a darker layer then added lighter layers as well as "veins":

Then melt a batch of glycerine, adding essential oils and mica again, but keeping the color very light and sheer.  Once mixed, pour into the soap mold, covering all of the smaller pieces.  How much you need will depend on how much room is left.  Start with a cup and keep adding.  If you want separation between the layers, let them firm between adding more.   

Let the loaf of soap set and harden overnight.

When it's set, you'll have a block like this:

For my first attempt, I really created a layered look (below) and my second batch was a little more uniform (see above):

For my next attempt, I plan to limit the variation of color and just play more with opacity, so the little shards and pieces I cut up will be suspended in what I hope will look like quartz.  This process is fun and I promise you'll want to keep experimenting to get as realistic a gem soap as possible. 

Once it has hardened, remove the soap from the mold and slice it like bread.  Cut off edges and corners, and add some facets, to create a random, organic feel.  Cut some bars diagonally, some square - mix it up! 

Making soap can continue forever because you'll end up with little scraps that you can melt down and use again or add into the next batch of rock soap.  One neat idea is to pick up a small silicone mold, like this gem-shaped mold, and then melt down and make mini guest soaps with any leftovers (recognize the gem mold from my gemstone gummies?)

I love my DIY gem soap - it makes such a cheery statement on the counter in the bathroom.  The colors didn't stain or dye anything (which was my worry the first time I lathered up a bar in my brand new white tub).  I also have really sensitive skin (prone to redness, dryness, and also oiliness - yay) but this soap has not dried out my skin or aggravated acne; it's a really nice soap. 

Make a batch of these easy DIY gemstone soaps for holiday gifts - bonus points for whipping up birthstones!  (Or, if you're in a rush, you can always find Soap Rocks on Amazon for stocking stuffers and make/hoard these handmade gem soaps for yourself later).

Tips and Tricks for Making Melt + Pour Gem Soaps:

• Make sure to keep some areas translucent to create a more realistic "gem" look
• The mica/shimmer shows up better in clear glycerine
• If you don't like a color, re-melt the bar and try adding more dye (to darken) or glycerine (to lighten), or add a whole new hue and try again!
• If you get mica bubbles (I got some) spray with rubbing alcohol, or mix the mica with the alcohol before adding to the soap
• But don't worry about it being "perfect" - have fun and just go with it
• Clean up is a breeze (it's soap!) so I just ran my cutting board, knife and Pyrex cup through the dishwasher when I was done

I'll definitely be trying this again and I'll be sure to share my results.  Have you made soap?  I'd love to see!  Share a link in the comments or tag me on Instagram.  

Borax Crystals: How to Grow Giant DIY Borax Crystals

"Growing" crystals with borax powder (a mineral) and pipe cleaners is a popular kid's craft and fun science experiment, but Amanda Kingloff made it possible for adults to try growing borax crystals without feeling the least bit sheepish.  I spotted her chic borax crystal tutorial on Etsy and late one night, I found myself in line at a big box supermarket with only pipe cleaners, food colouring, borax, and a carton of almond milk (I had a craving for hot chocolate) in my basket.  Her tutorial for borax crystals is fabulous but, after a little trial and error, I made a few adjustments that helped produce some seriously huge, glittering borax crystals.  Here's how I made giant borax crystals!  If you've made borax crystals before and they turned out small, sparse or wimpy, read on for some borax crystal trouble shooting tips!

Supplies:

• Powdered Borax
• Pipe cleaners (white, or the colour of the crystal you want to make - the fuzzier the better)
• Heat proof glass container (this Corning Pyrex 5 Piece Beaker Assortment Pack would be great because you could make a few at a time, in different sizes)
• Measuring spoon
• Scissors
• Thread (Amanda recommends something thicker, but sewing thread is easy to cut off)
• Neon food colour pack (Amanda recommends gel, but that link is to what I used)
• Pencil or food skewer

How to Make Borax Crystals (First Attempt):

First I created a form using pipe cleaners.  Basically I made a loose coil shape, weaving the pipe cleaner in and out to hold the shape steady.  The crystals will grow around it, so I learned not to make it too dense.  I found 2-3 pipe cleaners made a nice, big crystal.  Then I tied a piece of string around the pipe cleaner, long enough for it to be suspended into the borax solution, with enough wiggle room so that the pipe cleaner coil doesn't touch the sides or bottom of the glass.

Amanda suggests using 9 tablespoons of borax dissolved in 3 cups of water.  As per the instructions, I put the borax into a heat safe container (a large measuring cup).  I boiled water in a pot, to which I added the food colouring.  Then I poured the boiling water over the powder until it dissolved.  I let the pipe cleaner form soak in this solution for five hours - during which time the measuring cup was wrapped in a dish towel.  I followed Amanda's steps to the letter, but ended up with somewhat spotty crystal development:



They looked like pipe cleaners covered in salt, so I called in the reinforcements.  My Dad, who has a degree in chemistry, helped me grow really huge, densely covered borax crystals.  I felt pretty silly bombing a kid's craft, so I made sure to remind him plenty of times that I have a PhD.  He hauled out a huge Pyrex beaker that we found antiquing in Ottawa, and it was a game-changer.  We were able to boil the water right in the beaker, and re-use our borax from previous crystal growths, so that changed our process a bit.

How to Grow Huge Borax Crystals (Second Attempt):

We filled the beaker with approximately 2-2.5 liters of water.  We brought it to a boil on the stove top and while the beaker remained on the hot element, made a saturated borax solution.  We didn't measure; we just kept adding borax until no more would dissolve.  Then, while the water was still super hot, I dunked in my pipe cleaner form - plunking it in and out of the water to shake off any air bubbles.  Once it was suspended, I covered the top of the beaker with a calendar we had lying around (super technical) and let the pipe cleaner soak in the solution overnight.  The beaker stayed on the element as it cooled and this slow cooling seemed to encourage the development.

I ended up with some colossal borax crystals!  The best part was, I could easily re-heat the borax solution right in the beaker, re-dissolve any crystallization that had formed on the bottom and sides of the glass, add more borax powder and re-use the solution to make more crystals.  This is why they're almost all blues and greens: I kept re-using the same dye bath, which I tweaked a bit each time.

Even once I started using the beaker, I tried a few more using my Pyrex measuring cup and a kettle and found that I could still achieve larger borax crystals, as long as I mixed in so much borax powder that no more would dissolve.  You can even re-heat the borax in the microwave, but borax dissolves better the hotter the water is.

Bottom line: you don't need a fancy beaker to make borax crystals, but if you can pick one up thrifting, it's worth it.

Once I got the hang of it, I tried experimenting with the pipe cleaner shapes.  My favorite is this sort of shell-shaped form:

How to Grow Giant Borax Crystals, in a Nut Shell:

I don't mean to suggest that Amanda's method for borax crystals doesn't work - it certainly produced some beautiful crystals for her.  But these are the steps that worked for me:

1. Bring 2 liters water to boil in a glass, heat proof container/beaker
2. Add the food colouring
3. Add enough borax to create a saturated solution
4. Suspend the pipe cleaner form on a string immediately
5. Leave the beaker on the element as it cools, the top covered with a magazine or cardboard piece to trap in heat
6. Let soak overnight (or at least 8 hours), undisturbed

Borax crystals can re-dissolve, so if these get wet - or maybe endure some humid weather - they could de-crystalize.  My Dad suggested coating them with some kind of clear finish if they're going to be handled a lot.

I moderate blog comments so if you have any borax crystal making questions, I'm still here to help.  I'll see your comment and try my best to reply!  Please take a look at the comments below, first, because you might find your answer already there.  I'd love it if you would tag me on Instagram to show me your gorgeous borax crystals!

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