DIY Lotion Bars Tutorial

Hello, my lovely readers!

I made some very neat lotion bars for my mom and my mother-in-law for Mother's Day this year.  They were so awesome that I thought I would share with you a tutorial on how to make them.  You may be wondering what lotion bars are.  Don't worry, I wondered the same thing too when I found the recipe.  Basically it is lotion that is made with beeswax so it stays in a solid form until you hold it.  Then it melts slightly so that you can rub it on your hands, elbows, knees, and other problem areas.  They are surprisingly easy and fun to make.

Ingredients:
Shea Butter (4 ounces)
Coconut Oil (4 ounces)
Beeswax (4.5 ounces)

You'll also need:
cupcake pan
double boiler (don't have one?  I'll share with you how to create your own at home...)
letter or food scale
measuring cups
spoons

If you live near a Michael's craft store, be sure to check out their weekly ad in the newspaper and on their website for coupons.  I purchased both the beeswax and the cupcake pan with 40% off coupons and saved several dollars on each one!

First, measure out all of your ingredients.  The coconut oil and shea butter are pretty easy to measure.  The beeswax on the other hand, is a little more difficult.  If you purchase a huge slab of beeswax like I did, don't spend tons of time trying to cut it with a knife like I did at first.  A simplier way is to place the beeswax in a plastic bag.  Be sure to tie it up so the beeswax doesn't get everywhere!  Prop up one end of the beeswax on a piece of wood or sidewalk.  Use a hammer to break up the beeswax into smaller pieces.  Once you have it broken up, place the pieces on your scale to measure the exact amount.

The next step is to combine all of the ingredients in a double boiler.  If you don't have a double boiler, fill a pot with two inches of water.  Place a glass bowl (I use Pyrex bowls... they are awesome) in the pot.  Be sure the bowl is bigger than the pot and that the water in the pot does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Warning: the steam created from the pot can be very hot.  Watch for steam escaping from around the bowl.  You may need to move the bowl around a little bit with a towel or pot holder in order to prevent steam from escaping.

Next, pour the melted ingredients into your cupcake pan.  I recommend using a silicone cupcake pan to make it a little easier to pop out your finished lotion bars (I purchased this adorable silicone Wilton cupcake pan from my local Michael's).  If you find that you are having trouble pouring the mixture into the cupcake pan, transfer the mixture into a measuring cup first.

Let the mixture cool completely.  To make it even easier to pop out your bars, place the cupcake pan into the freezer and let cool for 30 minutes to an hour.  Be sure you let the bars cool completely before placing in the freezer.

Once you pull your bars out of the freezer, pop them out of the cupcake pan.  You're all done!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial.  If you try this recipe out, please let me know how yours turn out.  Stay tuned, there are more tutorials to come this summer! :)

This recipe was found at StyleList.com.