Festive Christmas Tree Melt & Pour Soap Recipe

Christmas tree melt & pour soap is a fun project that makes wonderful gifts for the holiday season! This easy recipe takes just 45 minutes of hands-on time and gives you three beautiful bars of soap to give to your friends and family. If you want to make more bars, it’s also super easy to double or triple the recipe!  

We love this project because there are so many ways to get creative with the design. With our Round Christmas Tree Soap Mold, you can make adorable gifts just by pouring one color of soap into the mold. However, the embossed design gives you the option to make the Christmas tree portion of the soap a different color from the rest of the bar.

Instructions are provided for making easy one-color soap bars, as well as the more advanced option of filling in the tree design with a different color of soap. Follow along as we make this fun Christmas tree melt & pour soap project!

Yield: 3 soap bars (approx. 4 oz each)

Hands-On Time: 45 minutes

Total Time (including cooling time): 4 hours

Skill Level: Easy to Intermediate

Design Notes

For the sake of this tutorial, I’m making several colors of soap to show an example of different designs you could choose to make. I’m using pastel colors for vintage-inspired Christmas soaps. You can choose whichever design option you like the best. The design possibilities are endless!

If you want to make your soaps all one color, you just need to pick one color of mica powder. Alternatively, if you want to make the trees one color and have the rest of the soap be a different color, choose whichever color combination you like best. If using multiple colors, you will need around 4-6 micro scoops of each color.

Keep in mind you can also leave some of the soap white and use it to fill in the tree portion of the mold, or use it to fill in the background of the soap.

You can also choose to fill in the swirl design with a different color than the tree. If filling in the swirl design, it works great to use a plastic pipette to neatly transfer the soap (see photo below). When doing this method, be sure to let the swirl design cool and harden completely before adding the next layer of soap. Always spritz the soap in the mold with rubbing alcohol before adding a new layer. Check out our Pumpkin Soap Project for a video on filling in design elements of a soap mold with a pipette.

Supplies

• Round Christmas Tree Soap Mold
• 1 1 oz Measuring Cup for each color of mica you are using
• 1 Micro Scoop for each color of mica you are using
• Plastic Pipette for transferring fragrance
• 3 oz Measuring Beaker if you are filling in the tree design with a different color of soap
• 28 oz Funnel Pitcher
• Digital Scale
• Digital Thermometer
• EZ Grip Nylon Whisk
• Straight Edge Cutter
• Nitrile Gloves
• Face Mask
• Cutting Board
• 3 Square Soap Boxes – available in White or Kraft

Ingredients

• 340 g Baby Buttermilk Melt & Pour Soap Base (approx. 12 oz)
• 10 ml Pink Sugar & Balsam Fragrance Oil or other skin-safe fragrance of choice
• 6-12 micro scoops mica powder in your color(s) of choice
• Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle (at least 91%)

Instructions for Making Solid Colored Christmas Tree Soap

1. Cut 340 grams of melt & pour soap base into small cubes.
2. Add the soap to a 28 oz mix and pour funnel pitcher.
3. Melt the soap in the microwave using 30-second bursts. Stir between each session and stop heating as soon as the soap is melted.
4. Using a plastic pipette, transfer up to 10 ml of skin-safe fragrance oil to the melted soap and stir with a whisk.
5. In a 1 oz measuring beaker, add 6-12 micro scoops of mica powder. Add a small splash of rubbing alcohol (approx. ½ tsp) and stir to dissolve the color.
6. Pour the mica powder mixture into the melted soap. If mica remains in the cup, spritz it with a little rubbing alcohol from your spray bottle while holding the cup over the soap. This will help get the remaining mica out of the cup.
7. Stir the melted soap to combine the color and fragrance.
8. Next, pour the soap into each cavity of the soap mold.
9. Immediately after pouring, spritz the top of each cavity with rubbing alcohol from your spray bottle. This removes any small bubbles that may rise to the surface.
10. Let the soap harden in the mold, which may take up to 4 hours. Skip the next set of instructions and move onto the section for Unmolding & Packaging Your Soap

Instructions for Making Multi-Colored Christmas Tree Melt & Pour Soap

If you want to make your trees a different color than the rest of the soap, follow these instructions. This design technique involves two different phases.

Part 1: Making the Tree Design

1. Cut 340 grams of melt & pour soap base into small cubes.
2. Add approx. 20 grams of the soap cubes to a 3 oz measuring beaker. This is the soap that you will use to fill in the tree designs. Set the rest of the soap cubes aside for later.
3. Microwave the 20 grams of soap in short, 5-second intervals. Remove it promptly when it is fully melted – it should only take a few seconds.
4. If you want to color the tree portion of the soap, use a 1 oz measuring cup to combine 2-4 micro scoops of mica powder with a small splash of rubbing alcohol. Then pour the mica mixture into the melted soap. Stir the soap to combine the color. You can use more mica if desired.
5. Carefully pour the soap into only the tree portion of the mold. If soap spills out or it overflows, you can gently wipe it up now or cut it away once the soap is hard. If a lot of soap has overflowed, it works great to use a pipette to remove the excess.
6. Let the tree portion of the mold cool and harden completely.

Part 2: Filling in the Rest of the Soap

1. Add the remaining soap cubes to a 28 oz funnel pitcher.
2. Microwave the soap in 30-second bursts, stirring after each session. Stop heating as soon as the soap is melted.
3. Using a plastic pipette, transfer up to 10 ml of skin-safe fragrance oil to the melted soap and stir with a whisk.
4. If you want to color this portion of the soap, use a 1 oz measuring cup to combine 4-8 micro scoops of mica powder with a small splash of rubbing alcohol. Then pour the mica mixture into the melted soap. You can use more mica if desired.
5. Stir to combine the mica and fragrance with the soap.
6. IMPORTANT: Before pouring the soap into the mold, be sure to spritz each cavity of the mold with rubbing alcohol. Make sure it covers the tree portion that you previously filled with soap. If you skip this step, the tree portion will not adhere to the rest of the soap, and may remain stuck in the mold after removing the soap.
7. Use your digital thermometer to check the temperature of the melted soap. When it is approximately 135 degrees F, pour the soap into each cavity of the mold. You want to avoid pouring while the soap is too hot, as this can melt the other layer of soap in the mold.
8. Immediately after pouring, spritz the top of each soap bar with rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles.
9. Let the soap cool and harden in the mold, which may take up to 4 hours. Then move onto the next section for Unmolding & Packaging Your Soap

Unmolding & Packaging Your Soap

These soaps will fit perfectly into our Square Soap Boxes. I recommend assembling the boxes before removing the soap from the mold so that you can pop them right in the box.

When the soap is completely cool and hard, you may remove it from the mold. Be sure to wear gloves to prevent fingerprints on your soap.

The easiest way to remove soap from a plastic mold is to gently pull on the sides of the cavity to create a small pocket of air. Once you’ve made an air pocket around the circumference of the soap, gently press on the bottom of the cavity to help the air make its way under the soap bar. You can then push on the back of the mold to pop the soap out. It is more difficult to remove the soap if you don’t follow these steps to create an air pocket.

Once the soap has been removed, simply pop each bar into a soap box. Be sure to label your soaps and include instructions for use.

NorthWood is not responsible for any projects you make with our supplies, recipes, or informational resources.

Did you try this Christmas tree melt & pour soap tutorial? We’d love to see how your project turned out! Share your photos on social media with #MadeWithNorthWood or leave a comment below. Happy Making!