Sugar scrub cubes (or dollops) - A new way to rebatch

I love the enameled electric stove that I picked up for a
song.  I can use it for dyeing. The tablecloth is a simple
cross stitch that I loved and for some reason I started to
buy the milk glass. Nobody seems to want it. 

I've been intrigued by Sugar scrub cubes since I first saw them, but my distaste for Melt and Pour bases (at least the ones that are sold here) has precluded me from making them.  Apparently they could only be made using that.  Oh, the hardship of being a fanatic!  But I had been thinking that since I melt soap to rebatch soap, surely regular handmade soap could be used for those.  Not wanting to reinvent the wheel I started to search the Internet and found the answer on Mayren Abashed's blog: Mayren's Sugar Scrub Cubes using CP/HP Soap shreds the 1-2-3's Method.

She, somewhat ingeniously, had come up with a simple recipe that I had to try.  Her sugar cubes are actually cubes, they look great and she makes them in wonderful colours and adds scent to them.   Me, being the way I am (and not having a cube mold also), made ... well I decided to call them dollops rather than blobs, although that would describe them too.   And I make them scent free also, since I just wanted to try out the recipe to see if I could make them (and I was getting low on EO's).

It is actually quite simple, like the 1-2-3 name suggests:

1 tbsp oils/butters
2 tbsp soap shreds (I grated some of my natural homemade soap)
3 tbsp sugar

I grated some of my soap finely and used that.  I used Olive oil and Cocoa butter and put those into a bowl with the soap shreds and put this into the microwave.  This I then heated in short bursts and stirred regularly.  When everything had melted I took it out and let it cool just a bit and then stirred in the sugar.  Mayren suggests 3 tbsp when using 50/50 hard and soft oils, 4 tbsp when using all liquid.  The sugar mix quickly turned into something like a dough ball, which is what should happen and it was really hot.  This is the stage to add scent but I skipped that.  I guess the colours could go into the oils before the sugar.  Now, since I don't have any small silicone molds, I used a teaspoon to make my dollops and tried to shape them as best I could (hot, hot, hot) and then I rolled them in sugar.  That improved their appearance a lot!

Now, I tried this in the shower and found that I used up the one although it could have been a bit smaller.  I liked this shape a lot as it fits nicely in the palm without me dropping it.  I liked the combination of soap and sugar and the great thing about sugar is that it does dissolve and doesn't end up in the sea doing harm to sea creatures.  I have read that these sugar cube scrubs will leave the tub slippery, but I didn't find that mine did.  But I'm sure they may do so the next time.  Probably depends on the oils and soap used.

I think these could make great Christmas presents, especially if coloured and/or scented.  I need to see if I can come up with some natural colours that are oil soluble.  I can think of Alkanet root and Annatto, so red and yellow.  I wonder if there is a green possibility?  Maybe clay?

Update:  With the addition of a few drops of essential oils and some colour infused oils, these can be made into the most lovely gifts.  Ice cube trays are very easy to use and much quicker than using a spoon.  Just fill up the cavities and pop the ice cube tray in the freezer for a few minutes and the sugar scrub cubes will  easily pop out.