Melt-and-Pour Soap

You've seen them everywhere from crafts fairs to bath boutiques: pretty handmade gift soaps. Clear and colorful or rich with natural additives for beautiful skin, they're a welcome holiday gift.

Best of all, they're easy to make using melt-and-pour soap. Heated in the microwave, clear or opaque glycerin soap base is combined with colorants and fragrances, then poured into molds to harden. When cool, soaps pop right out of the molds, ready to use.

Follow the soap-making tips and soap starter projects linked below to help you master this squeaky-clean craft.

A two-in-one holiday gift for a special little girl: colorful plastic hair ornaments encased in a bar of glittering soap.

Made with clear glycerin soap base, soap fragrance and a pinch of soap glitter, this simple soap is an excellent beginning project for new soapcrafters.

Makes 1 4-ounce bar.

Transparent soap the color of the sky. A crescent moon and shining star glow through a sweep of glitter stars.

This project teaches how to add cut-out opaque soap inclusions to clear bars. A bonus: free printable gift tags make this a great gift for any occasion!

Makes 1 4-ounce bar.