2009 Teacher Christmas Gifts

Every year I make homemade gifts for the kid's teachers because I don't want to spend over $10 per gift but want to give something a little more meaningful than a $10 gift I could buy. This year I decided to make soap with coordinating boxes. In the middle of the project Jason asked me if I ever thought of just going out to buy a gift? My reply was "No" but I can't say it didn't cross my mind a few times!! I'm glad I went through with it anyway because they were a huge hit!

The first thing we did was paint the boxes. We came up with a color theme and then ended up with 4 different patterns.


Next we made the soap in a matching color scheme and similar patterns. Everybody had a job. JW chopped and weighed the soap, Casey monitored the temperature, I was the designer and poured the soap, Jason unmolded and sliced the soap.

Both soaps were "loaf" soaps that are made in a long loaf mold and then are sliced into individual bars. We used goat's milk soap (white) and glycerin(clear) soap. Both 100% natural with many healthful moisturizing benefits to the skin. We also used essential oils of Cucumber/Green Tea and Tangerine, both considered soothing and relaxing scents. Essential oils are 100% natural made only from things found in nature.

The first soap was a checkerboard pattern. I wasn't sure if this one was going to work, but it turned out great!

The 2nd soap was a polka dot pattern. The way it was sliced created different polka dots on each side in most cases. I had a hard time figuring out how to prop up my circles of soap in the loaf mold, but I finally figured it out by using half circles on the bottom.



The front of one soap:


The back of the same soap:


Matching themes:





Six soaps fit in each box which totaled about 2.5 pounds of soap. Handmade soap like this sells for 75 cents to $1 per ounce. Six of these bars are worth over $30 and I came in under my budget in material costs.

The finished product all boxed up. I chose these boxes because they have the open tops to let out the soap's wonderful scents.