DIY Christmas present: Lovely handmade bath bombs

I asked you what sorts of posts you guys preferred and you had your mind set on Christmas DIY’s. I am more than happy to oblige – this one isn’t really strictly a Christmas craft, you can also make these to give away as birthday presents or make heart-shaped ones for Valentine’s day if you like.  But as we’re all trying to figure out what to give our loved ones for the upcoming holidays, I think clever and useful little handmade presents are the best of the best. These bath bombs are cost-efficient and easy to make as well as really useful and a lot of fun to receive. Making them from start to finish took me about an hour so it’s not a time consuming project, either. Have you thought of a reason to not make them yet? Oh, you and your loved ones don’t have baths to use these in? Use your imagination – if you make them with sea salt and add some eucalyptus or peppermint oil, you get refreshing foot bath bombs.

You need:

♥ 240g of baking soda
♥ 120g of citric acid
♥ 120g of corn starch (potato starch is fine, too)
♥ 120g of mineral salt (I used plain old sea salt)
♥ 1 tablespoon of water
♥ 2,5 tablespoons of coconut oil (any nutritious oils are fine – argan oil, carrot oil, shea butter, etc.)
♥ 2 teaspoons of any essential oil or aromatic oil you prefer
♥ Dried flower petals, glitter or herbs for decoration (I used dried marigold petals, but this part is optional)
♥ Food coloring for decoration (I didn’t use any, but definitely will for my next batch. Use no more than two drops!)
♥ A kitchen scale
♥ Molds to shape your fizzies
♥ A non-reactive bowl to mix it all together in
♥ A lidded jar (optional, you can just use a bowl for mixing)

Start by mixing together all your dry ingredients in a bowl. Make sure you work out any lumps that may have occurred – you need your mix to be perfectly smooth and even for the ingredients to react and the bombs to work once they’re being used.Put your coconut oil (or shea butter, whatever you’re using) in your glass jar and throw it in the microwave (or melt in a hot water bath) until it’s completely melted and liquid. Add the water and your essential oil, put the lid on and give it a  good shake. Start adding your liquid ingredients to the dry ones, mixing them together fast to prevent the liquids from causing the dry ingredients to react. If your mixture starts fizzing and bubbling away, you’re pouring too fast and mixing too slow. Mix it up faster and continue adding the liquid until the mixture begins to lump together. You have the perfect texture if you can form a firm lump using your hands. If not, add a little more liquid. Important: the mixture has to be dry, but wet enough to hold shape (think damp sand). It doesn’t need to be doughy!Press your mixture tightly into the molds you are using fast (!) and allow to dry for a while. You can tell that they’re done when they no longer crumble. Hard molds allow the fizzies to dry faster, silicone ones aren’t as steady and need more time to dry. If you have even an ounce more of patience than I do, allow them to dry overnight to make sure they don’t fall apart. If they do, however, fall apart, you can easily fix them by putting the crumble into a bowl and adding a tiny bit of liquid. Then mix it all through again and press back into your mold.
Carefully wrap the finished product into some cellophane or put it in a box, decorate with any flowers or herbs you may have used and tie a pretty ribbon around it all. Who wouldn’t be impressed by a sweet token of appreciation like this handmade bath fizzy? Especially if they look great, moisturize and smell like heaven (mine smell like warm gingerbread, yum!).

I hope you do try this one out because all the ingredients really are easy to find and cost just about nothing. Happy crafting!

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