Bonnie Bartley, master soapsmith of Allegheny Hearth on Artfire, shares this fascinating DIY tutorial on creating soap rocks that look just like your favorite gemstones, including opals, tanzanite, jasper and geodes.
Bonnie is a self-taught artisan and often shares these tips for making gemstone soap rocks at soapmaker symposiums and gatherings.
For additional photos of the process, visit Bonnie’s tutorial by clicking here.
Of course, if you’re not up to making the soap rocks yourself, she has a great selection in her Artfire shop. Now, on to the tutorial!
Materials ~
- Transparent Glycerin Soap Base
- White Glycerin Soap Base (if desired)
- Colorants – Micas, Oxides or Liquid Colorants
- Essential or Fragrance Oils of Choice
- Rubbing Alcohol in a Spray Bottle
- Melting Vessels (Pyrex, Microwavable Plastic)
- Variety of “Molds” – Margarine/Cool Whip Tubs, Gladware/Ziplock Bowls
- Toothpicks, Silicone or Rubber Spatula, Knives, Peelers, Scrapers, Etc.
Editor’s Note: Visit the tutorial post for in-depth explanations of melt & pour glycerin soap [MP], colorants and essential and fragrance oils.
Instructions ~
Step 1: Spend a session making components of colored MP in whatever colors you want to use in your gems. The components will be carved chunks of soap in several shades, sheets of soap for veining, small base rock, crystals, etc.
To make shades of colors for your stones, just color the MP with the lightest shade you want, pour 1/3 of it into a mold, add some more colorant to deepen it, pour 1/2 of that into another mold then darken it further to get your third shade. You can also do a solid, a pearl or glittery shade in the same color family.
I use lots of browns, bronzes, blacks, etc., for the base rocks and the contrast that surrounds the gemstone. Since I use that for just about every stone, I make up several molds of those colors, as well.
When the soap has cooled, remove it from the mold. I use a variety of tools like knives, ice cream scooper, melon baller, dough scraper, large forks, etc., to get chunks of MP ready for the rocks.
Small pieces, especially those used for the rock base, can be made in the food processor (I recommend a separate processor for soap). I like my dough scraper best, just slice it up and chop to the desired texture.
Cut large chunks with a dough scraper, then carve the individual pieces with a vegetable peeler to get a natural rounded look to each piece. In nature, you find very few straight edges. Keep the scraps from carving; you will melt them to use when assembling your stones.
I also make sheets of thin MP mostly in gold, bronze, black and white. These will be added to make veins in the rocks. Just color the MP. I don’t fragrance the sheets because they are used in a variety of rocks. Pour it out onto a silicone sheet, cookie sheet lined with saran wrap or directly on a clean counter. If bubbles form, spritz with alcohol. When cool, peel it off and you have very thin sheets for veining. I tear the sheets by hand to get a more natural edge rather than cutting. The soap sheet “curls” on the edges when torn.
When you are ready for the more advanced gems that are set in quartz, you can make the shards as well as the crystals. The clear shards quartz-like supporting the crystals are the same for all projects so I make a lot of that. I usually melt clear MP, add a tiny amount of snowflake, silver or pearl MP and let it harden. Then using the dough scraper, I cut in into fine shards. The crystals are cut individually.
I store all the cut up components in ziplock bags. This step is the most time consuming. Once you have these pieces ready, you can make many dozens of gemstones in a couple of hours.
Step 2: I suggest starting with a basic gemstone rather than the more elaborate crystal museum type of stones.
You can use just about anything for a mold as long as it is flexible enough to remove the finished soap. I have custom-made silicone molds that I use, but I started with Cool Whip, margarine, Ziplock/Gladware-type containers. You will have a little more waste with these types of containers as you will have to cut away the edges to get rid of the shape of the bowl. With the smaller square Zip/Glad containers, you will get 3 to 4 small stones.
You really can’t go wrong with these so use your creative side to make each stone unique. The following directions are just a guideline. Feel free to experiment.
Basic Soap Rocks ~
I start by placing enough black/brown base rock in the bottom of the mold to make a layer, as thick or thin, as you like. I generally prefer a thin layer. Melt some clear MP, you can add a little sparkle if you like, it is best to use a mica that is more individual sparkles than a pearl or solid one. Spritz the soap chunks with alcohol, and pour the hot MP over the rock base. I like to have just enough melted soap to hold the chunks in place without covering them completely so you don’t have a flat layer/line.
Allow soap to cool until quite hard but not necessarily fully hardened. I think you get better adhesion between layers if you don’t completely cool it. I use hot MP, you may have a little melting of the previous addition but that give it a more natural flowing appearance and less chance of separating layers. Always spray components and layers with alcohol.
I like a few large chunks of dark stone to serve as an “imperfection” in the rock. I place these in the mold on top of the rock base. Melt some dark MP, spritz the chunks with alcohol and pour some hot MP into the mold, just enough to cover half of the black/brown chunks. While it is still hot, start adding your larger pieces of the color gemstone pieces that you carved earlier. I use a variety of sizes and shades. Fill the container about 1/3 of the way full and press down firmly. Some of the dark liquid MP will surround the colored. Continuously move the mold around until the soap thickens to a gel, allowing the soap to form an undulating layer of molten color on top of the bumpy layer.
This gives you the look of uneven layers like you find in real gemstones. Allow to cool. One nice effect is to pour a contrasting color onto the previous layer, again moving the bowl around to create another uneven layer.
If desired, you can: add pockets of shards, clear or base rock strategically placed throughout the stone; use a paintbrush to dust metallic mica between layers; or sprinkle a few grains of poppy seed, cornmeal, or jojoba beads into the clear layer to replicate imperfections in the stone. Using very hot MP will melt some of the adjoining soap to create a marbling effect. Another interesting effect is to roll some of your “component” chunks of soap in metallic mica before putting it in the mold.
You can add some veining with pieces of a sheet of black, gold, silver, copper or white MP over or in between the pieces. Nature is random. Don’t strive for perfection! Now put in some more pieces of gemstone. Repeat the process until your mold is full.
Step 3: Once your master block is completely cooled, you can unmold it. Decide how many stones you can get from this block and make your first cuts with a large knife. I usually cut on an angle to create more visual interest.
The next step is to use a paring knife to carve away the basic shape. You don’t want to have any signs of the original container. First, decide if you want a crystal-like cut or something rougher.
For the rough cut, just cut away the container shape at random angles. Carve away until you are satisfied with the shape.
For the crystal cuts, I start by making angled cuts on the edges to get beveled edges. Cut and bevel all the sides. You can be as elaborate or simple as you like with the facets. Fine-tuning can be done with a peeler.
The carved soap may be a little dull from handling; if so, spritz it with alcohol to bring back the sheen.
If you have any tiny holes in the stone, highlight them by brushing metallic mica into the crevice. You can create crevices with the point of the knife, a peeler or a chopstick. Use a good paintbrush with a chisel point to “paint” the crevice with mica.
If the mica doesn’t want to stick to the soap, spray the brush with alcohol before dipping it into the mica. One tip for getting a clean edge on your metallic mica fissure is to paint in the color, then using the peeler or knife slice away a very thin layer of soap. You will end up with a striking sharp edge with the gold/copper sparkling inside.
Check out the original tutorial for more advanced techniques and have fun with your soapy gems!
Photo and instructions courtesy Bonnie at Allegheny Hearth.
