The Whimsical DIY That Turns Plain Soap Into Playful Sink Decor

Bar soap is a kitchen and bathroom staple, and there are a wide variety of unexpected household uses for a bar of soap. In addition, soap can be a really interesting decor piece. For example, a handmade soap purchased as a travel souvenir or a farmer's market natural soap find can look beautiful and smell amazing as a display piece. But buying specialty bars of soap can get pricey, and it is more affordable to default to a plain white bar. If you want to add some beauty and whimsy to your bathroom or kitchen with visually fun, colorful soaps, it might be time for you to transform your plain bar into an adorable, fruit-shaped conversation piece that is just as functional. Essentially, you'll melt and remold a bar of soap into separate balls, add some color, tie them together, and you'll find yourself the owner of a cute, hygienic bunch of grapes to hang from your sink.

If you want to transform your bar soap into a more interesting design like this one, there are some materials you need. Along with the soap, you will use a knife, a saucepan or pot, some twine, and a silicone mold in your shape of choice. To make a variety of fruits, you can use a silicone mold that makes spheres. An ice cube mold is especially good for this project because they typically contain holes you can feed twine through, letting it solidify inside each soap sphere.

The first step in reshaping bar soap into fun shapes is to dice it up into small pieces. You can also add bits and scraps of used bars. Be aware that if they are scented or colored, that will carry through, impacting the end result. Add the soap cubes to a saucepan or mini cocotte Dutch oven with some water. You want just enough water to prevent the soap from burning in the pan: Too much water will affect the soap's ability to set. Start with two parts soap to one part water, and bring it to a simmer. If it's too thick, add more water, if it gets too thin, strain some out. 

At this point, you can add color and fragrance if you want. For grapes, you can add purple dye and a grape fragrance oil to really lean into the fruit theme. Pour the soap mixture into the silicone molds, and insert cut pieces of twine through the holes into each soap ball so that the soap will set around the twine, keeping it in place. Place the molds into the refrigerator or freezer for a few hours or until they are set. When the soap has completely set, remove the grapes from the mold, and tie the individual twine strands together to create the look of a bunch of grapes. Create a loop in the twine to hang your new soap near the faucet.

While grapes are a fun choice due to their bright color and easy shape design, there are plenty of other shapes to try. Naturally, you can start with other spherical fruits. With the same materials and nearly the same steps, you can make cherries, mini-apples, or blueberries. Spend a little time carving and shaping the spheres, and you can fashion cute lemons or limes. If you want to make other bold shapes like wedges or stars, your best bet will be to try to find molds in those shapes to get a solid resemblance. If you want the interesting bunch-shape minus the edible theme, you can create more abstract spheres tied together, using any colors or even glitter for show-stopping soap for your bathroom. Or consider going retro with football or other 1970s and 80s vintage styles of "soap on a rope."

Not only is this DIY a fun, creative project, but you get a surprisingly functional soap out of it. The soap will be just as effective a way to wash your hands, but can have the added benefit of a custom fragrance of your choice. Also, if you are still in the market for beautiful soap dishes that you will love, the twine loop makes it easy to hang the soap from your faucet in the meantime. Now that your beautiful creation is complete, learn to extend the life of your grape bunch soap with this handy trick.