How to Make Bath Salts for Christmas Gifts
Christmas is an enchanting season and the tradition of gift giving offers many options for homemade gift items. Almost anyone on your list will appreciate the gift of custom-made bath salts -- it's like taking a trip to the spa for a little pampering. Tap your creative skills and gather up a collection of pretty bottles and jars. Then use your nose to help you decide on the possible combinations for your family or friends.
Things You'll Need
- Empty glass containers
- Epsom or other salts
- Essential oils (variety)
- Raffia, ribbons, bows
- Large mixing bowl
- Mixing spoons
- Dried lavender (optional)
- Fabric squares (optional)
- Decorations (optional)
Instructions
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Visit thrift shops, glassware shops, novelty stores or craft shops to select the bottles and jars you'll need for the number of gifts you plan to make. You can often find great bargains at some thrift stores or antique shops. The ideal jars will have easy to remove lids -- such as cork, screw-on types or slide ins. Lids will help preserve your gifts.
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Purchase or use existing arrays of essential oils, including lavender, rose, citrus scents and any others you want to work with. As for salts, buy large boxes or bags to mix up plenty to fill your jars and bottles. Epsom salts, Dead Sea salts or other large salt crystals work best for the foundation -- not table salt, though you can mix some in if you like.
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Gather all your craft items and prepare a work space where you can spread out. Open the various salt containers and pour in enough for your first batch. You'll need approximately 1 or 2 cups for the average jar -- large jars require more. You can also mix different types of salt, including a tablespoon or two of regular table salt if you like.
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Choose one of the essential oils. Shake out 10 drops per cup of salt and stir them together. Inhale the aroma. If it's too mild, add another five or 10 drops and check again. Try not to add too much or the scent will be overwhelming when someone first opens the jar. As you work, hold the person in mind that you are making the salts for. This will help you to intuit a suitable mixture.
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Scoop the salt and oil mixture into its appropriate jar. Place the lid on it. Tie ribbons, raffia or an ornament around the jar. Wrap with your holiday wrapping paper and decorate as you like.
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Repeat the process for each bath salts gift. Experiment with combinations of essential oils, such as lavender with lemon verbena, or citrus and mint. Try these first in small amounts on your fingers or a tiny bit of salt to get an idea of how the scent will be. Rinse your fingers between testing.
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Tips & Warnings
Men like hot baths and a home spa night, too. Try ylang ylang, patchouli, musk or other combinations if you want a more masculine scent.
If you do bead work, string some beads together to wrap around the neck of the jar as a decoration. Or mix in some dried lavender blossoms to give the salt color and a subtle beauty. When the user adds to the hot bath water, the little blossoms will float.
String a small homemade or store bought ornament around your gift instead of a bow for a novel effect.
Wrapping the gift in pretty red and green, or blue, gold and shimmery fabrics instead of paper adds a touch of beauty and uniqueness.
Some people like to seal lids with wax, but this can be challenging to get "right." It's also often difficult for the recipient to remove so as to use the bath salts. Do what feels appropriate to you for the different people you're gifting.
Resources
- Photo Credit Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images
