It worked! Well, kinda...

[HowieRoll]

I had this thought in my head where I wanted a paw print in soap (and my apologies if this is an old technique - I'm pretty new to soaping and haven't come across it!).

Well, this turned out to be more of a "paw print abstract," and it should come as no surprise that I've never piped anything before - and need a lot more practice! I used a gallon-sized Zip-Lock bag to pipe but cut the hole a scooch too big. And it would appear piping needs steady hands and even bag pressure, of which I was lacking both, but a lot of lessons were learned (and I have a new-found respect for people who can pipe such beautiful creations on both soap and cakes!).

 

[mzimm]

Well, I think it was a success! It certainly looks like a pawprint to me, and nothing abstract about it!
Long before I got into soap making, I decorated cakes, and have made many a cake for weddings, birthdays, retirements,---you name the occasion, I have made a cake for it. So believe me when I tell you that piping with soap is far more difficult than with icing. May be the same tools involved, but those are two different animals: soap batter and icing. You did a fine job with the makeshift bag. Ever think of going into cake decorating too? You certainly show a knack for it!

 

[Saponomancer]

that actually looks fantastic

 

[AustinStraight]

That looks amazing!! Piping a design inside the loaf must be terrifying, it's hard enough trying to pipe things on top...

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

No "sort of" about it - that is brilliant.

Gave me "paws" for though. Chortle

 

[dibbles]

I think it looks great. I've never piped anything and don't have any plans to do so either. I mess up enough without attempting that. Kudos!

 

[Susie]

That is certainly a paw print! And amazingly well done! I have the creativity of a rock, so you artistic folks amaze me.

 

[HowieRoll]

Thank you all for your kind words! Mzimm, cake decorating would be far too dangerous for me because at least with soap I can't eat it.

A few piping lessons I hope to remember for next time are:

1) Relax. The way my hands were shaking you would have thought I was making soap under duress as a hostage situation negotiation.
2) Cut the bag tip smaller than I think I need and work up from there.
3) Get all of the batter into the corner of the bag, squeeze the air out, and twist to prevent air from coming back in. Otherwise, the bag will "fart" every so often and cause things go (more) haywire.
4) Apply even pressure to dispense and go slowly (these last 2 lessons didn't dawn on me until almost the end. Oy).

Any other piping tips are fully appreciated, and thanks again!

 

[earlene]

Success! I knew the moment the photo appeared on my screen it was a paw print. Good work!

 

[snappyllama]

I think that came out pawfectly awesome! Piping int he loaf is not my strong suit... you must have gotten the consistency just right to not have everything droop.

 

[TeresaT]

Awesome job! That is fantastic. The hounds give you three paws up! I'm jealous. And inspired. And I'm totally stealing this idea! I took a cake decorating class a long time ago, so I've got the tools just sitting there wasting away. If I don't already have a giant circular tip, I forecast one in my future. What did you scent did you use?

 

[HowieRoll]

Thank you! Honestly, I'm blushing because I thought it was sort of a cockamanie idea.

Snappyllama, regarding the consistency, that was not too difficult for me because I needed it to be really thick (the thicker the better). And since I've accidentally done that many times when trying to do fine swirls (and then having to resort to Plan B, aka the spoon/plop/shove/spackle-into-mold technique), I knew exactly how to get there! The other good thing was I didn't care how much thicker it got while I worked, so I just looked the soap batter square in the face and said, go ahead, you can try to foil me but you can't this time, sucker.

TeresaT, go for it and I would love to see photos!! I think the giant circular tip would be very useful. The soap is scented with a blend of lavender 40/42, peppermint, anise, and fir needle EOs. This blend came from Lovin' Soap Studio's Essential Oil Blends e-book. Blending essential oils (even just 2) is not a strong suit for me, and this e-book could possibly be the best $15 I've spent so far on soapmaking items, as his (Benjamin Aaron's) scent creations are fantastic.

If you give this a whirl, one thing I did that helped was print out duplicate copies of the paw print I was going for and taped them to the backside of my freezer paper on each end (so I could see the image through the freezer paper). This helped as a general guideline for spacial reasons.

Thank you!!

 

[Guspuppy]

I love this soap!!!

 

[BlackDog]

These are soooo adorable. What a great idea!

 

[navigator9]

I saw the paw print right off...nice job!

 

[KristaY]

I saw it right away too! What a fun and happy soap you made. Well done!

 

[jules92207]

They turned out great!

 

[CaraBou]

I love it. I have a pawprint mold, but it's too big for most hands so I don't use it often.

If you give this a whirl, one thing I did that helped was print out duplicate copies of the paw print I was going for and taped them to the backside of my freezer paper on each end (so I could see the image through the freezer paper). This helped as a general guideline for spacial reasons.

I do that sort of thing too. Tape cheat sheets to the sides and bottom of the mold, and/or mark off the sides of my mold to denote certain pour heights. Great minds think alike!