Remember the skull ice cube tray I used to make sugar skulls the other day? Well, there are several other crafts you can make with the same ice cube tray. I just made some teeny skull soaps on a rope, which would be fun gifts to give away at a halloween party or maybe even to trick-or-treaters (just be sure to label it clearly as soap! and “DO NOT EAT” wouldn’t hurt, either!). Making melt and pour soap is a VERY easy activity. It would be fun for a slumber party or scouting activity. You could even make these spooky soaps on a rope for fundraisers. Or, omit the rope and just make teeny tiny spooky guest soaps.

Video tutorial here (subscribe to dollarcraft on YouTube)

Project Materials:

• Silicone ice cube tray (skull shaped), $1
• 1/4 pound of white melt & pour soap base per tray of soaps, $.75 (buy in 1 pound increments from Brambleberry – current price $3/lb)
• White shoelaces or jute string, $1 or on hand
• Fragrance oil, optional, $3 and up (buy from Brambleberry), $3.25
• Clothespins, on hand or $1
• Microwavable glass pourable measuring cup, on hand

Total: $5 and up

I got my soap-making supplies from Brambleberry because it has good prices and a great product, as well as being close to me in location (less costly shipping, and less time in transit). If you are going to make soap, I highly recommend buying your supplies online instead of in a craft store. The prices are a lot better, and the quality and selection are far superior. I just got a pound of melt & pour soap and one ounce of fragrance oil for about $3 each – for a total of $6 for this project. I got four trays of skull soaps from the single pound of soap, which means I made 40 soaps for about $6.

Note: Don’t use the fragrance oil you can buy at the dollar store in the candle section. It is not safe for using in soap or anything you use on your skin.

If you use your silicone tray for soap-making or other non-edible crafts, don’t use it for any food-based crafts. Just pony up an extra dollar to keep a separate food crafting tray.

To Make:

Pre-cut shoelaces or jute string in approximately 8″ pieces. I got 4 strings from each shoelace.

Fold shoelace pieces in half, and clip to edge of mold, with ends of string pointing down inside mold. Make sure clothespin isn’t touching the inside of the mold

Melt soap according to instructions. I chopped mine into 1″ squares and melted it in a pourable glass measuring cup. Then I microwaved it on half power for one minute at a time, stirring with a spatula between minutes until it was completely melted.

After it’s melted, add fragrance oil if desired, and stir to incorporate. I used “Basmati Rice” and “Wasabi” fragrance oils from Brambleberry. Also note, you might want to skip the fragrance if your recipients have perfume allergies.

Pour melted soap into mold, taking care not to over fill, and making sure strings are embedded in soap. (If you do overfill, you can scrape off any excess after they are cooled).

Let soap cool until firm, and then gently pop out of mold. If desired, brush loose sparkly eyeshadow over skull afterward to help highlight and define. (I used some silver sparkly loose eyeshadow I got at the dollar store on the center skull, and I tried some matte brown eyeshadow on the skull on the right).

Here’s what the back of the soaps look like.