• Soap-making is a popular hobby that is handy when it comes to gift-giving. With a basic soap recipe and some extra ingredients, you can create novelty soaps in virtually any shape, size or color imaginable. Consider the hobbies and tastes of the gift recipient, or make a whole batch of special soaps to keep as "emergency gifts" that everyone will love.
  
  

Baked Goodies

• Homemade soap can be created in any color you like and will easily hold the shape of a mold. Take advantage of this by making soaps that resemble your favorite baked goods and look almost good enough to eat. You can even add fragrance oil so they smell like baked goods. Use cupcake papers to make whimsical cupcake soaps, and pipe a contrasting soap on top as "frosting." Add small, brown soap pieces to caramel-colored soap to give the appearance of chocolate chips, then make disc-shaped soap "cookies." Although special soap molds are available, when making baked-goods-style novelty soaps, you can use the real thing. Try cake molds, candy molds and jelly molds. For an unusual party centerpiece, make a whole cake--in a bundt pan, for example--then cut slices for your guests to take home.
  
  

Button Soap

• For a simple and easy novelty soap that is perfect for a baby-shower gift, make colorful "buttons." You simply make flat discs of soap, with four holes in the center of each. Choose pastel colors for a baby or a range of bright, bold colors.
  
  

Soap Balls

• To make ball-shaped soaps, use a cheese grater to shred soap, then mold it by hand. This is a good way to use up scraps of homemade soaps and commercial soaps. Consider the favorite sports of the gift recipient to customize gifts using one basic recipe. Choose the appropriate color, ball shape and texture details to make a golf ball, basketball or baseball. Mold the soap ball into an oval shape for a football. Make the balls a little larger than you want the finished soaps to be--they will firm up and shrink as they dry. For interesting presentation, create a new label for the top of an egg carton, and fill it with soap balls.
  
  

Suspended Creatures

• Make transparent bars of soap, and insert a small plastic toy in the center before it is dry to suspend it in the soap. Miniature novelty erasers are perfect. Look for inexpensive key chains, and remove the chains for another inexpensive source of toys. Choose something with special significance for the gift recipient--for example, a favorite animal or something to represent a hobby. Add some small dice for the high-roller; candy corn for Halloween gifts; spell out someone's name with letter-shaped beads; or choose a small rubber duck for a child.
  
  

"Hand" Soap

• Take a latex or rubber glove, pour in your soap, tie the end with a rubber band, then hang the glove from the cuff end to dry or partially dry. When you remove the glove, the soap will resemble a life-size human hand. Use skin-colored soap for a realistic look, or choose any color you like.