Homemade Bath Salts

If you are looking for a simple and easy gift to make for someone, you might want to make bath salts. It is one of my favorite gifts to make. Everyone seems to like them. This is a fun craft for kids to make for Mom, teachers etc. I like using essential oils, but you can use perfume, too. You can also leave them unscented, if someone is sensitive to perfumes and fragrances.

The ingredients are fairly easy to find. Epsom salts can be found at any drug store. Essential oils can be found at most craft stores. Food coloring- grocery stores. Try to find pretty jars to put them and finish with a pretty label.

Sometimes I add small amounts of dried flower petals. If you do that- just small amounts and crumbled pretty fine, so there won’t be issues with clogging drains. Here are the directions.

Homemade Bath Salts

Epsom Salts

Fragrant oils or extracts

Food coloring, optional

Place 2 cups Epsom salts in a non-reactive bowl and add a few drops of scented oils and a few drops of food coloring, if desired. Toss to distribute, or place in a jar with a tight fitting lid or even in a plastic bag and shake mixture well. Take a whiff. If you can’t smell them, add more. You can add more coloring, too if needed. Place salts in a glass jar with a lid or in a plastic bag and let stand a day or two. Smell again and adjust fragrance as needed. Fragrances mature and you may find them too weak or strong. Add more oil or cologne to heighten aroma or add more salts to cut down on intensity. Keep in mind that the bath salts will be diluted a lot in a bath, so a little strong is good.

The oils are available at many craft stores and by mail. See the section on mail order in the back of the book. Choosing the fragrance you want to use can be a little trickier. Most of the florals are a safe bet, but you may want to get more creative. Citrus, herb, spice and woody fragrant oils can add a dimension to your bath salts that make them really outstanding. Food extracts and flavors can also be used. Vanilla is nice, but think outside the box a little and try anise or almond.

To present them as a gift salts can be put in a wide-mouth jar, with a lid. Decorate with ribbon and attach a small scoop, if you like. Discount and dollar stores are a good place to find attractive jars at a reasonable price as well as garage sales and resale shops. You can also package them for individual use in lollipop bags with a card board header, like the herb packets. I like to make different fragrances and label them  (relaxing bath, earthly delights, sweet dreams, etc. I then package them in the bags and add a few to a gift basket.