The scent of lavender and vanilla wafted through the Craft Studio early Sunday afternoon. The scent was from several students’ creating homemade bars of soap unlike anything sold at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The soap, classified as soft because of the ingredients used and its solubility in water, was coined “good enough to eat” by instructor Catherine Armbrust. The bars began as a goat milk-based liquid and are later poured into gelatin molds after students add a myriad of scents, some of which were called “Sweet Lovin’ Scrub” and “Spiced Sun God.”

After the molds set and the hardening process concluded, the finished products ranged from deep mahogany in the shape of a heart to a milky-white flecked with rose petals, sporting ridges and curves attained from the molds.

For obvious reasons, the soaps are not edible but being “good enough to eat” stems from the types of ingredients Armbrust uses. Many, such as rose petals, turmeric and honey, are commonplace in her kitchen, she said.

“Essentially, I started thinking about what foods I like to eat and kind of broke down their components to think how I could make that into a soap,” Armbrust said. “I have a grapefruit salad one that’s based on one of my friends’ great-grandmother’s recipe.”

Armbrust, who recently graduated from the MU art department with a master’s in fine arts, said this was her first time teaching a workshop in the Craft Studio, but she was not unfamiliar with it. A statue of her own creation can be seen as soon as you enter the studio.

Armbrust began dabbling in soap making seven years ago and has been making the soft kind as a hobby ever since. The tendency for the bars to be more natural in scent and ingredients came with her preference for natural scents on her body, scents that include sweet orange, apple and sandalwood, she said. At the workshop, the overwhelming favorites were lavender, vanilla and orange.

Through research, Armbrust taught herself the soap making process and, as one of the workshop attendees remarked, realized it was very simple. The challenge comes with balancing the scent and the ingredients well, she said. Afterward, it is simply pour and let it harden.

When the soaps hardened, students had the opportunity to parcel their bars using colorful paper and ribbons. The end product was scented gifts wrapped and tied in tight packages of color.

Two attendees, MU sophomores Jessi Garrison and Nicholas Jackson, try and make it to at least one Craft Studio event each semester, they said. This time, they walked away with soap making knowledge and four bars of their own creation for $16. Jackson was surprised at how easy the process was, he said.

Upcoming workshops this semester at the Craft Studio include making sock monkeys, ceramic sushi sets and three-week classes on garden décor and stained glass. The studio also offers “free crafternoons,” free classes every Friday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., teaching things from card making to collage vases.

Armbrust said she encourages students to attend classes offered at the Craft Studio and the number of art shows displayed in the gallery. Despite the advertising they do, many still are unaware of its existence.

“There’s just really great people teaching the classes and great people running this place,” Armbrust said. “Come be a part of it.”