I call these little bars “caterpillar bars” because they’re made in a baking mold that has an elongated, curved shape—like Twinkies! These particular bars utilize fresh ginger, along with various essential oils and other add-ins. You can experiment with any “sharp” scent, as almost anything in the citrus or mint family will complement ginger well.
What You’ll Need
- 1/2 pound Shea Butter Melt and Pour Soap, available online or at craft stores (NOTE: Unless you specifically purchase a soap that “suspends” ingredients, some settling will occur on the curved side of the soap. In these particular soaps, I find the ginger and green tea settling to be quite beautiful. If you would like the mixture to be evenly mixed throughout, purchase a soap labeled for suspension.)
- 4 medium ginger roots, peeled and grated
- various add-ins, such as citrus essential oils, powdered spices or tiny seeds
- “caterpillar” baking mold or silicone/non-stick mold of your choice
- microwave, double boiler or small crafting slow cooker
Step 1
Melt the soap in a microwave, double boiler or small crafting slow cooker. Melt soap in 3- to 4-inch chunks slowly until just melted. Do not boil!
Step 2
While the soap is melting, grate peeled ginger into the bottoms of your molds.
Step 3
Pour melted soap over the top of the ginger and add in six to seven drops of essential oil per bar. I used tangerine and lemongrass, which were both pretty awesome.
Step 4
Stir in additional add-ins with a toothpick. For a few bars, I omitted the citrus scents and added green tea powder and chia seed instead. Feel free to have fun with various mixes.
Step 5
These soaps look cute packed together, flat sides in, twisted in twine.
This article was excerpted from Crafting With Nature by Amy Renea. Find it on sale at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and wherever books are sold. Find additional resources at CraftingWithNature.com.
