Halloween Bath Bomb DIY Inspired by Pennywise in Stephen King’s IT

September 27, 2020

Take a ride into the creepy underbelly of horror fiction with this DIY Halloween bath bomb inspired by the clown, Pennywise, in Stephen King’s IT. There’s nothing like killer clowns to announce the arrival of Halloween. This red and yellow Halloween bath bomb features candy sprinkles with tiny eyes that will have you wondering if you’re going to wash down your drain right along with them after a bath in this spooky concoction.

I grew up watching scary movies as a kid. I remember being four, squeezed in a brown leather recliner with my dad watching Jaws for the very first time. I watched every major horror movie after that. I’ve seen classics like The Birds and Death Ship on its premiere in 1980, all the Halloween movies and, of course, the Friday the 13th series. After that was Nightmare on Elm Street, the sequels, and flicks like Candy Man and Cat People on up through Killer Clowns from Outer Space the Japanese version of the The Grudge upon its release in the United States. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to discover a horror movie I haven’t seen. Unless, of course, it was just so completely terrible that no one else managed to make it past the first fifteen minutes either.

Of course, in addition to these movies, I have seen the now classic movie, Stephen King’s IT. Both the original, the remake and the sequel. So when I ran across an IT Pennywise sprinkles blend on Etsy, I knew I had to use these to make some fun bath art for Halloween! And that’s how the idea for this Halloween bath bomb design was born.

While the IT inspired Pennywise sprinkle blend, that I purchased from Efias, has since sold out, there are still plenty of options for purchasing similar candy sprinkles at your local craft store, or online via Etsy or Amazon. After all, part of the fun of creating products, like these Halloween bath bombs, is infusing them with your own creative twist!

You can use either mica or water soluble bath bomb colorants to craft your own Halloween bath bomb collection. If you’re a fan of colored water, I recommend using water soluble colorants specifically created for making bath bombs. These will fill your bathwater with loads of color and are less likely to stain than mica colorants. Feel free to swap out the colors I used for those of your preference.

In addition, I also highly recommend using Polysorbate 80 as called for in my Halloween bath bomb recipe. Otherwise, you do run the risk of staining, especially with the use of red dye, or a colored bathtub ring that you’ll have to wash off. (And really, who wants to clean your tub after a nice relaxing bath?) If you choose not to use Polysorbate 80, simply substitute this ingredient with more shea butter as called for in my Halloween bath bomb DIY. Alternately, you can also use a carrier oil of your choice, or coconut oil.

If you’ve never made bath bombs before, you can learn how to make bath bombs here. In addition instructions and tips on how to make the perfect bath bombs, this post also contains a natural shea butter bath bomb recipe.

DIY Halloween Bath Bomb

Ingredients:

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid
1/2 cup cornstarch (or kaolin clay)
1/4 cup Epsom salt
2 Tablespoons refined shea butter, melted
2 teaspoons Polysorbate 80
1/2 teaspoon fall essential oil blend, of choice
3/4 teaspoon yellow gold mica powder (or lemon bath bomb dye)
3/4 tsp deep red mica powder (or blood orange bath bomb dye)
2-4 tablespoons IT Pennywise sprinkles blend, or similar Halloween sprinkles

Tools Needed:

10 small bath bomb molds (or 7 medium bath bomb molds)
Measuring cups and spoons
Glass or stainless steel bowls
Utensil or wire whisk, for mixing
Powder free Nitrile gloves, recommended
Small paint brush

Directions for How to Make a Halloween Bath Bomb:

Once you have all the materials and ingredients needed to complete this Halloween bath bomb recipe, you’re ready to begin. For safety and to protect your skin, I recommend using gloves when making this Halloween bath bomb DIY.

To start, combine the baking soda, citric acid, cornstarch and Epsom salt in a large bowl. Then whisk together the dry ingredients until they are all fully incorporated throughout the mixture.

Using a second bowl, combine the melted shea butter, the Polysorbate 80, and a fall essential oil blend of your choice. Mix well to combine.

Now slowly add the liquid ingredient mixture to the dry ingredients. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients one teaspoon at a time, mixing the two together slowly so as not to start the fizzy reaction. Keep adding the ingredients until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.

Next, separate out one-third of the Halloween bath bomb mixture into a smaller, third bowl.

Then, add your choice of either the yellow mica powder or lemon bath bomb dye to the mixture. Mix well to combine, using either using a whisk or your hands, as desired. Set aside.

Now add in the red mica powder, or blood orange bath bomb dye, to the remaining bath bomb mixture in the larger bowl. Mix fully to surely incorporate the color throughout. Set the red colored bath bomb mixture aside.

Using a small paint brush, if available, dust the bottom of one side of each of the bath bomb molds with cornstarch. (The side of each Halloween bath bomb containing the sprinkles should come out on their own. Therefore, you don’t need to dust both sides of your molds.)

Next, place approximately one teaspoon of Halloween sprinkles into the remaining halves of the bath bomb molds. (These are the sides of the molds that you did not dust with cornstarch.)

Immediately pack the Halloween bath bomb mold with the sprinkles so it’s overfilled with the red bath bomb mixture. You want there to be excess of mixture so it overflows the mold half. This will help to bond the two sides of the bath bomb together in the mold.

Now fill the cornstarch dusted half of the bath bomb mold about 1/3 full with yellow bath bomb mixture. Then finish filling it with the red mixture, overfilling as with the other half of the bath bomb. Do not pack either color of the mixture into the molds.

Following this step, press the two sides of the bath bomb mold tightly together. Grind and press the two sides together until the two sides of the bath bomb mold meet. Set the Halloween bath bomb aside.

Then repeat the process with the remaining molds, until all of the bath bomb mixture has been used.

Finally, allow the Halloween bath bombs you just made to rest in the molds for up to 24 hours.

Then gently tap each side of the mold to release the Halloween bath bombs you created.

Use your bath bombs immediately by placing in a tub full of warm water. Otherwise, store your Halloween bath bombs in an airtight container until you’re ready to use them. Alternately, you can also wrap each of your bath bombs tightly in foodservice film in order to gift them to friends and family.

Yield: 10 Halloween bath bombs