How To Make Bath Salts For Christmas Gifts

Homemade gifts are a nice way to give a Christmas gift without spending large sums of money. Bath salts are a type of thoughtful gift that is simple to make and it is often well received due to its pampering and skin softening benefits. Because of the universal appeal of this type of bath product, once you've learned how to make it consider mixing up a large batch and dividing it into individual gifts for several people.

Things You'll Need:

• Decorative jars or containers


• Epsom salt or sea salt


• Bowls


• Essential oil


• Food or soap dye


• Funnel


• Ribbon


• Candy cane or other decorative elements

Directions:

1. Buy decorative jars or containers with lids that you can put the bath salts in. If you are coloring the salts, consider buying clear containers that effectively display those colors. Interesting jars can be found at flea or outdoor markets, yard sales, online and in department stores.


2. Clean your jar prior to making the bath salts. Leave it open and give it enough time to dry thoroughly.


3. Set out one or more bowls. The number of bowls that you use depends on how many different colors of salt you plan to add to your jar. For example, if you want three color layers of salt, take out three bowls for mixing.


4. Pour 1 cup of Epsom Salt or sea salt into each of the bowls, give or take. Again, this depends on the size of your jars and the appearance that you are going for.


5. Pick an essential oil with a scent that is reminiscent of Christmas. Peppermint, for example, is readily associated with this holiday and can be used to make a candy cane themed bath salt. If you prefer not to use a scent that is related to Christmas, choose one that you know the recipient of the gift will enjoy.


6. Drop 3 to 4 drops of the essential oil for every 1 cup of salt. Add the drops one at a time and stir after each addition. Add more until you reach the desired level of scent.


7. Add 2 or more drops of food or soap dye to the salt in the bowls. Add a different color to each bowl and stir between drops to ensure that you get the correct shade. Add more drops as necessary, stirring after each addition to distribute the color. If you prefer not to add dye to your salts, skip this step.


8. Use a funnel to pour the scented and colored salts into the jar without creating a mess. Layer the colors on top of each other to create the desired effect.


9. Place the lid on the jar and wrap a large red, green, gold or silver ribbon around the mouth of it. Tie the ribbon into a bow and add a Candy cane or some other form of decorative holiday element.