Festive Friday

I promised you a non-food gift today and I am being true to my word.  Today we are making bath bombs, but these are slightly different from the usual ones.  These have coconut oil and they leave your skin feeling incredibly soft and smooth after a very relaxing soak.  I say this like I languish in the tub which could not be further from the truth, but for those who do love a good long soak these are fantastic. For the record I made these this morning (Thursday) and my hands are still soft and silky feeling tonight.

Extra large mixing bowl

small glass bowl

Wire whisk

2 cups baking soda

1 cup epsom's salt

1 cup + 3 tablespoons citric acid

1/4 cup corn starch

2 tablespoons kaolin clay (optional, I used it because I had some to use for another project)
3 tablespoons lavender buds (optional, but they are so pretty)
4 tablespoons coconut oil

12 drops lavender essential oil

water

dropper or syringe

In a large mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients.

Then whisk very well until it looks like this.














In the small glass bowl mix the coconut oil and the essential oil. Slowly add it to the dry ingredients mixing it well.

Fill a dropper or syringe with water and add it a few drops at a time. mixing immediately after each addition.  (If you add it all at once it will activate the citric acid/baking soda mix and the chemical reaction will begin.) Continue adding water and mixing, and adding water and mixing until the mixture feels like damp sand and holds together when pressed in your hand. It is best to go ahead and commit to mixing with your hands at this point.  Use gloves if you would like, but it does nothing to my hands to mix it bare handed. In fact with the coconut oil in it my hands still feel silky hours after mixing it.

Loosely scoop mixture into both halves of your mold. (I have small bomb molds slightly larger than a golf ball  but you can use the clear plastic Christmas ornaments you find at places like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.  They vary in size, but I would not use any larger than the medium size ball) press both halves together tightly, take a metal spoon and tap on the top of 1 half of the mold, remove that half.






Holding the released part in your hand turn it over and tap on the top of the second half.  remove that mold also. Run your nail or a piece of stiff paper around the seam to even the ball up. (I accidentally deleted this photo.  Sorry!)

Place it it on a baking sheet or dish lined with absorbent paper. Allow to dry for 24 hours. Continue until all the mixture has been molded and released. This batch made 22 of the small bombs, and each bath requires just 1 bomb.

When dry wrap each ball in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container until you are ready to pack them for a gift.

A long time ago I ordered these bags from Amazon*.  I had no idea what I was ever going to do with them, and now I know.  They make perfect bags for 2 baths worth of bath bombs.



















Or fill a lidded glass candy jar with them for a more impressive gift (And yes I know this is a pumpkin.  It is the only lidded glass I have here tonight)













So what are you waiting for? Be The Bomb and make some bombs


* I have no affiliation with Amazon or any of their sellers.  I just happened to buy this particular product, which had been totally useless until right now!