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Aah! There’s nothing quite so relaxing as soaking your tired, stressed body in a deep tub of steaming hot, scented bath water. But scented bath salts and oils are so expensive to buy. What’s a girl who’s short on cash but longing to be pampered to do?
Make your own scented bath products, of course! Bath crystals, oils, and bath salts are easy to make and also make great gifts. Best of all, the recipes are so simple a child can do it, take only minutes, and cost next to nothing. Here are three of the easiest, best recipes around:
Bath oil
You will need:
Sunflower oil (You can buy this at the grocery store.)
essential oils (These are available in any craft store and in a lot of chain stores. They are often sold as potpourri refresher oil.)
corked container
funnel
Here’s how to do it:
Pour sunflower oil through the funnel and into the corked container, leaving a little space at the top, at least an inch. Add 4 teaspoons of the essential oil per 1/2 quart. Cork the container, and agitate the bottle gently. Let it sit for two or three days before using. You may add things to the container to make it as pleasing to the eye as it is to the nose. Old crystal beads, dried flowers, little seashells . . . whatever you want or will match the décor of your bathroom.
Bath crystals
You will need:
rock salt or sea salt (You may use water softener salt for this; it is much cheaper than sea salt, about $2 for a 25 lb bag.)
essential oils (Some popular fragrances are rose, jasmine, even lemon. Choose the fragrance that you feel is most pleasing and relaxing.)
interesting glass or clear plastic jars with lids (culled from kitchen use or picked up at yard sales or thrift shops)
Here’s how to do it:
Add approximately 4 teaspoons of the essential oil to the rock salt in 1/2 quart container. If container is smaller or larger, add or subtract oil as needed.
Cap the lid tightly and wait at least two days before using.
Bath salts
You will need:
1 cup epsom salts
1 cup sea salt
2 cups baking soda
essential oils
Here’s how to do it:
Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl, then add
4 teaspoons of essential oil. Stir. Store in a tightly capped container for two or three days before using. You may even tint the bath salts if you so desire. Just add 10 drops of food coloring to the bowl after you add the essential oils, and stir.
You can also divide the bath salts equally between two large bowls, tint them different colors, and carefully pour them into a clear container, making what appears to be ‘sand art’.
Or tint one red, and scent both containers with peppermint oil, then layer it in a clear container and wrap with a red ribbon. This ‘peppermint stick’ makes a great Christmas present!
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