Homemade Bath and Body Gifts

To Make

• When making bath projects yourself, check natural food stores such as Whole Foods or Wild Oats for more hard to find ingredients.
   
• Craft stores or online suppliers such as Brambleberry carry soap molds, fragrances, and other handy items.
   
• You don’t have to get fancy when packaging your homemade bath items. You can tie a simple ribbon with a homemade gift tag around mason jars or decorate the outside a bit more. Plain craft paper and twine works well for homemade soap.
   
• For simple bubble bath, place fresh flowers or herbs and essential oil (such as a lavender bunch and several drops of lavender oil) in a bottle of clear shampoo. Let sit for several weeks. For a pretty gift, place in another clear container and tie a bit of twine around the top.
   
• Check out our collection of bath salt recipes, including rose bath salts and dried herb bath salts.
   
• Make fizzy bath bombs by combining 1 C. citric acid with 3 C. baking soda. Add scented oil until desired strength. Slowly mix in water 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture begins to clump. Pack into plastic mold or even a silicone muffin tin. Allow to dry overnight and pop out.
   
• West Coast Crafty shares her recipe for Coffee-cinnamon bath salts or scrub. I’d love to use these in the morning to wake up properly! She also notes a variation with green tea and ginger for tea-lovers.
   
• Homemade Bath Projects features a great recipe for Massage Melts, which also double as bath melts. These are the perfect addition to a romantic weekend with your special someone.
   
• You Grow Girl has a fantastic project for making herbal bath tea sachets. They are beautiful and can be used several times.

To Buy (Handmade from Etsy, of course)

• Beyond The Picket Fence makes all natural bath and body products, including beautiful soaps and more eco-friendly alternatives to shaving cream.
   
• Zaja Natural makes some unconventional bath items such as soap made with Guinness, for the beer-loving chap, roll-on fragrances and Vegan deodorant.
   
• Karen’s Soaps makes some amazing lip balm in flavors such as Buttered Popcorn, Cheesecake and Juicy Lime.