Good, clean felted soap!

Felted soap is another craft I learned how to make at my daughter's Waldorf school.  I never knew such a thing existed until another mother told me you can buy a bars of the stuff at Anthropologie...for a lot more.   It's basically a bar of soap in a decorative wool cover.  You take your favorite bar of soap, wrap it in wool roving, and aggitate the heck out of it until it mats down.  The end result is a gorgeous soap that comes with its own washcloth. They make great gifts and it is a fun activity to do with children.  I recently taught some other moms how to make felted soap at a playdate I hosted.  Check out our pretty soap below. 

FELTED SOAP

You will need:
-Bar of soap (one that lathers well, rounded shape works best)
-Wool Roving in different colors (sold at craft stores by the yarn section or order online for better quality)
-Bucket or container filled with hot water
-Rubber gloves (if the water is too hot for your hands)
-Ziploc sandwich bags

How to make:
1.  Cut the bar of soap in half if it's too big.  Smaller halves work better in smaller hands. 
2.  Wrap the bar of soap with pieces of wool in any color combination you like.  Wrap it in several layers, alternating directions. 
3.  After the soap is wrapped and you can no longer see the soap bar, submerge it in a tub of hot water and start rubbing the soap to make it sudsy.   Keep scrubbing the soap for a while.
4.  Transfer the bar of soap into the Ziploc bag, seal it, and continue rubbing the bar.  Rubbing it inside the plastic bag helps keep your house cleaner if you're making this craft indoors. 
5.  After several minutes of aggitating the bar of soap, remove it and let it dry. 

Make your own toys!

I made my first hand-made Waldorf doll last fall at my daughter's school.  The moms sewed together little doll bodies and stuffed them with wool. It's much harder than it looks.  Waldorf dolls are purposely unfinished so that children can use their own creativity in how they play with them.  The doll's emotions and what it represents is more open-ended than, say, a Barbie. 

 I am not a crafty person by any means, but this was a project that inspired other activities in our home.  For one, I actually started sewing on buttons and repairing little tears in seams.  Nothing huge, but hubby was impressed.   From this, I started making little dolls out of socks.  My toddler enjoys carrying around heavy socks stuffed with rice.  I plan to add more detail to the dolls as I have time.  It's a great idea for summer activities.  For the kitty below, I stuffed one of my husband's ankle socks with lentils, covered it with the other sock, and sewed the ears down.  The fish is one of her newborn mittens and the yarn is a leftover scrap.  The heel portion makes a good "face" for the doll.