After 5 years of conceptualizing jewelry, home decor and accessory tutorials on HonestlyWTF, I’m beyond thrilled to announce that I’m finally launching our first series of DIY kits with MakersKit. Today! Hooray!!! What took so long, you ask? I’m an absolute stickler when it comes to quality – which is why I search tirelessly to find you guys the right supplies so that you can create something that is beautiful, functional and long lasting. Crafty doesn’t equate with cheap in my book. So when the amazing masterminds behind MakersKit understood my biggest concern with packaging tutorials on a mass scale, I knew I found the right collaborators for this obvious, and exciting, next chapter!

After months of planning, testing, and sourcing, our year long collaboration with MakersKit launches today with this soap kit. That’s right, these beautiful gemstones and crystals are actually soaps! They are ridiculously fun to create and make for impressive gifts. 

Each kit includes (makes a minimum of 2 soaps):

• 1/2lb each of vegetable based clear and opaque white soap bases
• red, yellow, green and blue food coloring
• 10 small, reusable mixing cups
• 2 soap molds
• toothpicks

You’ll need:

• a microwavable glass or measuring cup
• paring knife
• cutting board
• scissors
• fragrance oil (optional)

Start by cutting each of your soap bases in half. Reserve the clear and opaque halves for your 2nd gemstone soap – the kit will allow you to make a minimum of 2 soaps in 2 color ways. Cut the halves in half again. One quarter piece of the clear and opaque soap will be used mix colors. The other quarters pieces will be reserved for the final mold.

Cut the clear soap into small chunks and place into a microwavable glass. Microwave for 40-60 seconds until completely melted. If you want to add fragrance, this is when you’d add your oil. A little goes a long way so don’t overdo it! Divide the melted soap evenly into 5 small mixing cups.

I’ll be making purple here which means I’ll need to mix blue and red. Start with the darkest shades first. One drop of each color should really be as dark as you’ll need to go. Slowly reduce the amount of food coloring after each subsequent mixing cup. Use the toothpick to extract the smallest amount of color from the bottle. Again, a little goes a long way! Mix each color thoroughly with a toothpick. If the soap starts to set, then pop them mini cups into the microwave for 4-5 seconds and mix again.

Color combination tips:

• red + blue = purple
• red + yellow = orange
• blue + green = cyan
• green + yellow + red = brown

Repeat the same step with the quarter pound of opaque soap base. Allow to set for at least an hour or so. Once they’ve cooled and hardened, turn them over, use your thumbs to push the bottom and they should pop out easily. Save the mini mixing cups as you’ll be able to reuse them over and over again.

Slice the colors into thin slices and small shards. Mix the colors randomly and drop them into the soap mold. The looser and more random, the better. I like to place the darker colors on the bottom and lighter colors on top but again, don’t try to get it too uniform!

Melt the quarter piece of clear soap and pour into the soap mold. Then melt the quarter piece of opaque soap and pour into the soap mold.

At this point, you can even pop the entire cup into the microwave for 5 seconds – just so the colors melt together more naturally. Or you can leave it as it is. The cup might warp from the hot soap – it’s okay. Just keep an eye on it if you do decide to put it in the microwave – you don’t want to melt a hole in your mold! Allow to set for a couple of hours – you can even pop it in the refrigerator if you, like me, don’t have the patience to wait. Once the soap has totally cooled and hardened, carefully cut the mold open with a pair of scissors.

Place the wider end on a cutting board and use a paring knife to cut 5-6 vertical edges at a slight angle. Then cut the top into a point at 5-6 more exaggerated angles.

And voila, that’s it!

A few more tips:

• Save all of your scraps. You can cut them up and reuse them to make more soap!
• If you want to give them as gifts, wrap them in tissue paper or cellophane.
• You can make 2 soaps per mold if you cut the molds in half vertically – you’ll just end up with narrower gemstones
• And most importantly, have fun!

This gemstone soap kit is just one out of 4 kits to be launched every few months in 2016. Head over here if you’re interested in subscribing for an entire year of HonestlyWTF DIY kits! I should mention that a 1 year, pre-paid subscription saves you $, plus a $10 MakersKit gift card. I promise you’ll love the rest of the kits to come!

We’re also giving away a year long subscription for those of you who wanna test your luck. Head over here to enter!

(images by HonestlyWTF)