I find it curious how I (and I suppose other people) associate certain places or objects with the stories we may have been listening to, while performing activities there. For example, I was listening to an audiobook when driving in a specific road once, and whenever I drive there, I remember the chapter of the book I was listening to then. (The book was The Murder room, aff link)
With these soap bars, I remember a TV show I was watching as I was placing the ornaments on the tree. It is a TV show from the 70’s, Columbo, a murder detective. I like seeing the clothes and hair styles from that decade. I watch it though amazon prime, by the way, (aff link)
The swirl was inspired by the Pine tree swirl, but I wanted to try a different way to achieve it, and only in half of the bar because I wanted to add the Grinch on the top corner, to show him stealing the ornaments in his attempt to steal Christmas.
Here is the video of the making and the supplies used (some are affiliate links):
My affiliate links:
Several of the links above/below are affiliate links, as the ones below. If you buy from them, it will not cost you any more, and I would get a tiny commission on it. As amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Making the Embeds
- Soap dough: I made the grinch with green soap dough and the accent colors. It was tricky though, so I would suggest using a mold like this one if sculpting is not your thing.
- the ornaments were easy though, I scratch the soap slightly and place a small soap dough ball on top, then I dusted glitter on it.
Colorants:
Alpine Green Mica 1/2 tsp
Mardi Gras Enviroglitter (purple)
I did not add any colorants to the rest of the soap.
Mold:
Equipment
- List of regular equipment
- Hanger swirl tool
- Divider (I made it with corrugated plastic and taped all the edges.
- Round circle cutter set (to add the grinch)
Safety Equipment:
- Nitrile gloves
- Facial Shield (I use either a facial shield or the goggles below)
- Safety Goggles
- Respirator (I use this when mixing the lye, I mix the lye in the window sill, window opened, with a pedestal fan blowing the fumes away, better yet, freeze your distilled water prior) I also try to wear long sleeves, pants and closed shoes. In my personal experience, most of my near misses (when I feel my skin itching or a slight burning sensation), or when I come contact with the soap batter, have happened when I am wiping down the containers, when I am almost done.

Recipe Totals
Please note that this recipe has a low superfat* percentage and a big water discount*. If you are a beginner, a recipe like this one might be better. I am also using a dual lye blend. If you only use sodium hydroxide, you will need to run this through a lye calculator, I like soapmakingfriend.com
Recipe Totals
| Liquid Required | 7.99 oz | 226.5 g |
| NaOH Weight | 4.92 oz | 139.55 g |
| KOH Weight | 0.4 oz | 11.45 g at 90% Purity |
| Lye Weight | 5.33 oz | 151 g |
| Oil Weight | 36 oz | 1020.58 g |
| Fragrance Oil Weight | 1.44 oz | 40.82 g |
| Superfat | 3% | |
| Total Batch Weight | 51.26 oz | 1453.29 g |
| Lye Concentration | 40% | |
| NaOH / KOH Ratio | 95% / 5% |
Recipe Oils, Fats and Waxes
| Oil | % | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 30 | 10.8 | 306.17 |
| Tallow Beef | 30 | 10.8 | 306.17 |
| Coconut Oil, 76 deg | 25 | 9 | 255.15 |
| Castor Oil | 8 | 2.88 | 81.65 |
| Shea Butter | 7 | 2.52 | 71.44 |
| Total | 100 | 36 | 1020.58 |
Custom Additives
| Add with the Fats | |
|---|---|
| Rosemary oleoresin | 0.05% of the oil weight |
| Add at trace | |
| EDTA mixed 1:1 with water | 0.51 oz total (0.25 oz of EDTA dispersed in equal weight of water) |
For more information on these additives you can click in the links below, please note above links are affiliate ones
- Rosemary oleresin (My oils already had this added when I masterbatched the oils)
- Tetrasodium EDTA
Fragrance
| 1.44 oz Comfort and Joy (aff link) |

MAKING THE SOAP
- I started by making the embeds several days ahead. (not the ornaments, just the grinch, but I only added The Grinch to a couple of them.
- In a well ventilated area (outside or by a window), add the lye gradually to the distilled water. Do not breathe the fumes. You can freeze half of the water ahead to avoid fumes, and weigh the ice cubes. You need to wear your safety gear. Lye burns! You can prepare this several hours ahead, or even days ahead, keep it properly covered. (If making it the same day, loosely cover it to allow it to cool. Once at room temperature, use an airtight lid).
- While you wait for the lye water to cool down, you can weigh and melt your oils. Weigh your fragrance oil or essential oils into a glass container or ceramic container (fragrance oils can dissolve thin plastics). I masterbatch both the lye water solution and the oils, so I only need to weigh the amount needed each time (I do warm up the oils prior, but not the lye).
- Prepare your mica. Mix 1/2 tsp of the green mica into 1-2 tablespoon of oils. I mix it in the container where I will add the soap mix.
- When your oils and lye solution are at or below 110°F (37.77°C), put on your PPE (Personal protective equipment) again, and add your lye solution to the oils slowly, to avoid splatters pour it on the blender shaft. If your lye solution is cooler than this, is ok. As long as it not near freezing. (Room temperature is fine). If your oils go under 95° F, warm them up to lightly above 100° F
- Stir with the blender on Off position initially, then blend for 5-7 second periods, alternating with stirring for 10 seconds or longer, until it is emulsified. This takes about 30-50 seconds with this recipe. When a recipe reaches emulsion, everything has a uniform, lighter color than before, you do not see the darker oil swirls when blending.
- Separate 1/3 of the soap batter to color it green (17 oz) and stir it with the mica.
- Get your mold ready, the divider will be placed at an angle, with one side resting on the edge of the mold, get your swirling tool, and have it handy
- add the fragrance blend to the green portion and the uncolored portion
- Blend the fragrance manually with a whisk or spatula, for at least 30 seconds to make sure it is incorporated.
- Pour the green on the smaller side of the divider and the uncolored soap batter in the opposite side. Only do 1″ first of each color, then fill all the way to the top.
- Pull the divider at an angle so that it forms half a triangle inside the soap
- Do the swirl in a pattern similar to this:
- You can cover the soap if needed.
- Wait 24-48 hours and try releasing from one side of the mold, and if nothing sticks back, it is ready to be removed from the mold and cut. If it still sticks, wait longer or put in the freezer for 1 hour. Though this recipe is usually firm within that time.
- Cut the soap into bars I used a single bar cutter. If adding embeds, add them now (the grinch). You can add the ornaments the next day or now. To add the embed, I cut a corner with a circle cutter, added soft soap dough and inserted the cured grinch face there (see video)
- Let them cure for at least 4 weeks in an open area protected from direct sunlight before using. (not touching any metal)
*SUPERFAT:
By now you probably know that lye (sodium hydroxide) converts oils into soap, through a process called saponification. And you probably also know that there are specific amounts needed of each for this to happen. Because each soap has a different SAPonification value, different amounts of lye are needed for each oil.
Superfatting sounds like something I like to do to myself when I keep eating after I feel full. But in the soap world, many will know it is when you either add more oils or less lye than it is required. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you need 3 oz of lye to convert 16 oz of manacao oil (totally made up oil) into soap. If you only use 2.5 oz of lye instead of 3, that means that a percentage of the manaco oil will not become soap, but will remain an oil. And this is desirable as that extra oil will cause the soap to become more gentle on your skin, by reducing its cleansing ability slightly. But if you use 4 oz of lye instead of 3, that means all 16 oz of manacao oil will become soap, and not only that, there will be extra lye floating around. That extra lye will be looking for more oil to convert to soap, that oil could be the natural skin oils, which means this soap can burn or irritate the skin.
Usually superfat of at least 3% is recommended as oils properties may change from crop to crop. But even if you had a 0% superfat soap, it would still be gentle as handmade soap creates glycerin, which is a skin humectant. (From most commercially produced soap, glycerin is removed to be sold separately).
*LYE CONCENTRATION / WATER DISCOUNT:
Most soap calculators will give you the amount of water needed to mix the lye with, based on traditional cooking methods of making soap, what we now know as hot process. This is a big percentage of water (38% of the oils) because a lot of it would evaporate through the cooking process. However, for cold process soap this is usually too much water, which can lead to a lot of soda ash or a lot of shrinkage during the cure.
This blogpost explains it better (from modern soapmaking).
Soaps by Glenda 