Hello friends...and happy happy spring!

The craft I chose to make for this issue of Dream's Alive is homemade soap. I loved this project. I have to warn that when you do this project, you will require the help of an adult since you will need to use a sharp knife and you will need to heat in the microwave. But you can tell the adult that my Mom had lots of fun helping me make my soap. We have been making soap for all our friends, and they seem to love receiving our homemade soap. Have fun and happy crafting!

Items you will need:

1. Sharp Knife
2. Scented oil (optional)
3. Sparkles or glitter (optional)
4. Glycerin soap (colored)
5. Soap Molds
6. Spray vegetable oil
7. Glass Measuring Cup
8. Toothpicks
9. Cutting Board
10. Decorative Packaging (optional)

(For close-up views of images below, just click the pictures.)

1. Lightly spray your soap mold with vegetable oil. Be sure to hold the can six inches away from the mold when spraying. This will help the soap pop out from the mold easier later on.

2. Use a sharp knife to cut the glycerin soap into small cubes. Cut into approximately 1 inch squares.

3. Place the cubes into a glass measuring cup.

4. Place the measuring cup into the microwave and heat on high until glycerin is melted. This usually takes about 1 minute. Use a potholder to remove the measuring cup from the microwave.

5. Glycerin soap in the liquid state will not last long before it starts to harden. You must complete the next steps fairly quickly while the glycerin is still in the liquid form.

6. At this point you can add a drop of oil essence to your melted glycerin soap. We chose Lavender because we like the smell. You can use any scent you like, or, if you prefer, you can skip the oil essence and leave your soap unscented. A word of caution, one drop is enough if you don't want the odor to be over powering.
At this time you can also add sparkles or glitter to your soap if you desire. Again a little goes a long way. They will sell very fine glitter in the craft store usually near the glycerin soap. Use a toothpick to mix the sparkles around.

7. Carefully pour the melted glycerin into the soap mold. Let them sit at least 30 minutes.

8. When soap has cooled and hardened, you can pop it out of the mold very carefully. Do this gently so that you don't break the soap or the mold.

9. Your soap is ready for you to use, or you can make a gift of it for someone special. The craft stores sell packaging, or you can make a little basket up yourself and fill it with your soaps. Be creative.