The Cleanest Craft In The World

I couldn't resist this site at the Sheep & Wool Festival this spring. Aren't the colors delicious? And of course wool is light and squishy so storing it in the nooks and crannies aboard the boat is no problem.

Zach loves wet felting projects. It's colorful and kinetic and he actually gets to use the end product, in this case soap.
Just tightly wrap the wool roving around a bar of soap. We find that round soap works best, for some reason we have a hard time covering the corners on rectangle soaps.
Next dip the furry blob into a bowl of hot water or run a little hot water over the blob.

Squeeze out the excess moisture. Then find something abrasive (we used an old bamboo place mat) and rub like crazy.

The more you rub, the better your wool will felt (stick) to your soap. Remember to rub all sides.
We like to wrap ours in cut up tights for the last step, but it's not necessary. I find it helps everything stay together. Wrap up the soap, give it some more rubbing if necessary, and then set them out to dry thoroughly.

So my husband always asks -- WHY exactly would one want to wrap a perfectly adequate bar of soap in wool? The obvious answer - because it's pretty. Also as you rub the suds come out through the wool and it shrinks with the soap in the shower or bath. So you get a natural, exfoliating washcloth and bar of soap all in one. It's also nice to have a soap that doesn't slip out of little hands. And they make great gifts for all ages.

If you search on etsy you will see TONS if ideas and inspirations for felted soaps in every color, pattern, and shape you can imagine.

The best part is the clean up... everything is already clean. In fact, probably cleaner than you ever imagined. Your child will smell good, your craft area will be sudsy, heck, hand the kids a sponge and go crazy!