Packaging decorative soaps?

[mystikchik]

Does anyone have any tips on wrapping decorative soaps? The odd shapes make it really hard to use plastic wrap without having a huge wad of plastic on th back of the soap. I've never tried using shrinkwrap before because I was always afraid the heat gun would melt the soap.

 

[Galavanting Gifts]

Hi Ya,I find when packaging my soaps, especially the ones with detail that I need to lay face down, I lay a folded hand towel flat on the table so the soap doesn't get damaged on a hard surface.

Also, if i'm still concerned about damage whilst packaging with the shrink wrap then I will wrap the soap in plastic wrap first and then with the shrink wrap.

When doing my flat bars I actually cut the shrink wrap to size and wrap the soap as if I were wrapping a gift using clear tape to fasten, the label on the back covers the joins of the plastic and then I use the heat gun to shrink the shrink wrap, I like to put my heat gun on low heat and hold it about 25-30 cm away from the soap. By the time it's all finished it looks very neat and doesn't melt the soap.

 

[studioalamode]

I love to experiment with packaging and haven't settled on one thing yet... but I have found that Dollar Tree has rolls of tulle for $1 (it's the dollar store you know), and I have wrapped soaps in this and tied a bow at the top.

Dollar Tree (it's my favorite, can you tell?) also has little pillar holders in two colors (bronze and white) and they are perfect for a single bar of soap and could serve as a soap dish. I wrap in cellophane sheets and put a sticker on the bottom to hold it. I use paper shreds (or make my own from grocery sacks with a crimper and shredder). I was a scrapbook junkie (before jewelry and soaps) and have lots of paper left over, so once I wrap the soap and dish with the cellophane, I also wrap about a 1/4" strip of paper around the soap and top off with one of my square stickers. The type of soap determines the type of paper/pattern I use.

I'm interested to see what others are doing... I'm new at this so still looking for ideas, too.