Bath Salt Ornaments: An Easy Essential Oil Gift for the Holidays

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December 16, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 7 Comments

Discover how to make easy DIY bath salt ornaments with lavender essential oil in just 15-minutes for easy last minute holiday gifts for friends and family as well as teachers, coworkers, neighbors — or anyone else on your holiday gift list.

Bath Salt Ornaments: An Easy Essential Oil Gift Idea for the Holidays

Gift giving can be a challenge. Especially if you want to give a homemade gift that’s not only meaningful, but also natural. These easy DIY bath salt ornaments are the perfect homemade holiday gift idea. An easy essential oil gift, these lavender bath salts ornaments are ready in just 15 minutes for last minute gift giving this holiday season.

Keep reading to learn how to make your own DIY bath salt ornaments with lavender essential oil. Plus discover great essential oil gifts you can buy year round for all your gift giving needs.

Lavender Bath Salt Ornaments Recipe

Yield: 3 Bath Salt Ornaments

Ingredients:

2 Cups Epsom salt
1 1/2 Cups Dead Sea salt
2 Tablespoons dried lavender flowers
20 drops lavender essential oil

Tools & Materials:

Bowl
Measuring Cups
Fillable Mason Jar Ornaments (Find them here or here)
Spoon

Instructions:

Using measuring cups, measure out both the Epsom salt and the Dead Sea salt. Combine in a glass bowl.

Next, use a Tablespoon to measure out the lavender flowers. Add them to the bowl with the salt.

Then add twenty drops of lavender essential oil. Use a spoon to mix well, ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Finally, spoon your lavender bath salts evenly into the empty ornaments. Then screw on the lids.

Your lavender essential oil, bath salt ornaments are now ready for gift giving!

Yield: 3 Bath Salt Ornaments

DIY Bath Salt Ornaments

Make these quick and easy DIY bath salt ornaments with lavender essential oil in just 15-minutes for easy last minute holiday gifts.

Active Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

2 Cups Epsom salt
1 1/2 Cups Dead Sea salt
2 Tablespoons dried lavender flowers
20 drops lavender essential oil

Tools

Bowl
Measuring Cups
Fillable Mason Jar Ornaments
Spoon

Instructions

Measure out the Epsom salt and the Dead Sea salt into a glass bowl.
Add the lavender flowers and essential oils to the bowl with the salt.
Use a spoon to mix well, ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Remove the lids from the ornaments. Spoon the lavender bath salts evenly into the empty ornaments and screw on the lids.

Easy essential oil gifts for friends and family. How to make easy DIY bath salt ornaments with lavender essential oil in just 15-minutes for easy last minute holiday gifts or wedding favors. Made with skin nourishing Epsom salt and Dead Sea salt, this easy homemade holiday gift idea is perfect for bath time self care. These easy DIY bath salt ornaments are the perfect natural holiday gift idea. Plus discover more bath salts recipes and essential oil gift ideas for your favorite people.

More Bath Salt Recipes to Try with Your Bath Salt Ornaments

If lavender essential oil isn’t really your thing, you can also substitute another essential oil (or essential oil blend) of your choice. Alternately, you can also try one of my other wonderful bath salt recipes in your bath salt ornaments.

More Essential Oil Gifts

Don’t have time this holiday season to get your DIY on? Following are some of my favorite essential oil gifts available on Etsy. (You can check out my full collection of curated holiday gift gift guides on Etsy here.)

Another great essential oil gift idea is for a custom essential oil perfume blend. Learn how to make essential oil perfumes (with essential oil blend recipes) plus how to make your essential oil scents last longer here.

To discover more essential oil gifts and natural skin care recipes, be sure to follow Soap Deli News across all your favorite social media platforms. You can find and follow Soap Deli News blog now via Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram. Or sign up via feedburner to receive an email every time I share a new post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas Tagged With: bath and body, bath salt recipe, bath salts, bath tutorial, Christmas gift, christmas gifts, Christmas ornament, crafts, diy, easy, essential oil recipes, essential oils, gift idea, holiday gift, holiday gift giving, lavender, natural skin care, ornaments

Simply Earth Essential Oils: A Review of Their Essential Oil Recipe Box

October 28, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 2 Comments

Curious about Simply Earth essential oils? If you’ve not tried them yet, here’s a breakdown of what to expect. Plus natural essential oil recipes and essential oil diffuser blends you can make using the Simply Earth essential oils in the Simply Earth essential oil recipe box.

Eucalyptus Essential Oil Is the Bomb

The November Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Caught in the throes of either a) seasonal allergies gone array or b) a nasty cold virus that latched on during a night out, I’d been sniffling for a few days. I’d finally resolved with myself that I needed to do something other than take medication that simply masked my symptoms. And quite quickly scolded myself for not drinking apple cider vinegar shots sooner.

The second day on an ACV regimen and the crud that had been dripping down my throat simply stopped. While Umcka Cold + Flu helped relieve my other symptoms. It was the eucalyptus essential oil from the new Simply Earth box, however, that was my saving grace. Having run out of eucalyptus essential oil the last time I made DIY shower steamers, and my menthol crystals in hiding since another recent move, it made the perfect addition to my cold fighting arsenal.

Admittedly, I STILL do not have an essential oil diffuser. It’s on my list of things to buy. The problem, I get overwhelmed by reviews and I’m never certain I’m going to purchase the best one. Or at the very least the one that works and doesn’t break in the first week. So rather than add eucalyptus essential oil to a diffuser, I added a few drops to my morning shower each day. It really worked wonders at clearing out all the gunk that accumulated overnight in my nasal passages. And truly it was a godsend once I got a nosebleed. Saline spray, by the way, burns like hell in an open wound.

Simply Earth Essential Oils: The Breakdown

Luckily, Simply Earth sells a top rated contemporary and elegantly designed diffuser that’s on my must buy list. It combines the benefits of aromatherapy, aqua therapy and light therapy and it has a built in time as well. Not to mention, if you order their November essential oil box, you’ll not only get a free bonus box with all kinds of goodies you can use with your essential oils, but you also get a $40 off coupon for your next order. No restrictions. So you can literally turn right around and buy their diffuser at $40 off! (Just use coupon code: SOAPDELIFREE.) Or, if you’re way ahead of the game, you can use it on anything else you like. Maybe the December box? Or ingredients for recipes? You can even use it to purchase those must have essential oils that are missing from your collection.

November Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box: What’s Inside

The November Simply Earth Essential Oils Recipe Box arrived with four essential oils: Eucalyptus essential oil, Cinnamon (Leaf) essential oil, Lime essential oil and a Tranquility essential oil blend. In addition to the four essential oils, the November box also contained a muslin bag, lavender buds, powdered whole milk and a sticker sheet to label your finished products. Six essential oil recipes are also included. There are recipes for making the following:

Oatmeal & Milk Bath Recipe
Tranquility & Lime Essential Oil Diffuser Blend Recipe
Chai Tea Bath Salts Recipe
Lavender Buds & Tranquility Milk Bath Recipe
Lime & Eucalyptus Roller Ball Essential Oil Blend Recipe
Eucalyptus Shower Steamers Recipe

My favorite essential oil in November’s Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box – aside from the eucalyptus – is definitely the Tranquility essential oil blend. This natural essential oil blend helps to calm and relieve anxiety. It’s made using a blend of lemon, patchouli, orange, amyris and ylang ylang essential oils. (You can explore the essential oil recipes for the Simply Earth Essential Oils November Box further down.)

$Simply Earth Essential Oils Bonus Box: What's Inside? Get a free Simply Earth Essential Oils Bonus Box with your first essential oil recipe box. Valued at $40, this box contains white cosmetic beeswax pellets, coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, almond oil, 6-10mL rollerball bottles and six amber essential oil bottles for mixing your own unique essential oil blends.$

The Simply Earth Bonus Box

If you’re brand new to Simply Earth, you’ll receive a free Simply Earth Essential Oils Bonus Box with your first essential oil recipe box. Valued at $40, this box contains white cosmetic beeswax pellets, coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, almond oil, 6-10mL rollerball bottles and six amber essential oil bottles for mixing your own unique essential oil blends. In addition, you’ll also receive a $40 off coupon with your first essential oil recipe box and the free Simply Earth bonus box! (Just use coupon code: SOAPDELIFREE when you check out. Order yours now!)

Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipes

Once you receive the Simply Earth Essential Oils Recipe Box your all set to start making your own homemade skin care products and essential oil diffuser blends. While some boxes contain everything you need to make most of the recipes, others do require you purchase a few additional ingredients. To make all of the recipes found in the November essential oil recipe box, you will need to provide the following: baking soda, ground (or colloidal) oatmeal, Epsom salt, clove & anise spices and a cinnamon stick. Now let’s get crafty!

Lavender Buds & Tranquility Milk Bath Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons powdered whole milk
1 cup Epsom salt
1 tablespoon lavender buds
5 drops Simply Earth Tranquility essential oil blend

Instructions:

Grind the powdered milk, lavender buds and Epsom salt together in either a blender or coffee grinder.

Then pour the milk bath mixture into a sealable container.

Add the essential oils and mix together.

To use, simply pour the milk bath into a warm bath as it’s filling with water.

Oatmeal & Milk Bath Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons powdered whole milk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons ground oatmeal
1 drop Simply Earth Eucalyptus essential oil
1 drop Simply Earth Cinnamon (Leaf) essential oil

Instructions:

Mix the powdered milk, baking soda and oatmeal together in a blender or coffee grinder.

Next, add the Simply Earth essential oils. Then mix the ingredients together again. (For gifting, simply combine the mixture in an empty tea bag.)

To use, pour the mixture into warm bath water as the tub is filling. Then relax and enjoy.

Chai Tea Bath Salts Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Epsom salt
1/4 cup ground oatmeal
1 teaspoon Clove spice
1 tablespoon Anise star spice
1 Cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon almond oil
2 drops Simply Earth Cinnamon (Leaf) essential oil
1 muslin tea bag

Instructions:

Mix the Epsom salt, oatmeal and spices together in a small glass bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon essential oil in with the almond oil.

Now add the dry mixture to the carrier and essential oil blend, mixing well to ensure all the ingredients are evenly incorporated throughout.

Pour the bath salts into a muslin tea bag, then tie closed.

To use the chai tea bath salts, place the bag to steep in the bathtub as it’s filling with water. Then sink in, relax and enjoy the aroma!

Lime & Eucalyptus Rollerball Bottle Essential Oil Blend Recipe

Ingredients:

3 drops Simply Earth Lime essential oil
3 drops Simply Earth Eucalyptus essential oil
10 mL fractionated coconut oil

Instructions:

Add the Simply Earth essential oils to a 10 mL rollerball bottle. Swirl to mix.

Then fill the bottle the rest of the way with the fractionated coconut oil.

Now firmly insert the rollerball top into the bottle and screw on the cap.

To use simply apply the essential oil blend to pulse points for energy, congestion relief and an uplifting aroma.

Eucalyptus Shower Steamers Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup baking soda
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon lavender buds
5 drops Simply Earth Eucalyptus essential oil
5 drops Simply Earth Lime essential oil

Instructions:

In a glass bowl, heat the coconut oil just until melted. You can either use a double boiler or a microwave. (To heat in the microwave, heat in 10 second increments.)

Once melted, add the Simply Earth essential oils to the melted coconut oil and stir to combine.

Now add the baking soda and lavender buds to the melted coconut oil. Mix until crumbly.

Next, press the shower steamers mixture into an ice cube tray or a ice cube silicone mold.

Finally, allow the shower steamers to dry for 24 hours. Then release from the mold and store in a sealed container.

To use the eucalyptus shower steamers, simply place one shower steamer in the bottom of your shower. Then shower as normal.

Want a more advance shower steamers recipe? Then check out my DIY shower steamers with menthol & eucalyptus essential oil here.

Tranquility & Lime Essential Oil Diffuser Blend Recipe

Ingredients:

3 drops Simply Earth Tranquility essential oil blend
3 drops Simply Earth Lime essential oil

Instructions:

Add the Simply Earth essential oils to an essential oil diffuser.

Then diffuse in an open room for an energizing and refreshing aroma.

To create a master blend with these Simply Earth essential oils, add 50 drops of each essential oil to a 5 mL blend bottle (from the Simply Earth bonus box.)

Then add several drops to your diffuser as desired.

For a full break down on all the benefits of purchasing Simply Earth Essential Oils Recipe Box, be sure to check out my very first review of Simply Earth here. You can also explore past essential oil recipes from prior boxes including the pet care essential oil recipe, essential oil cleaning recipes and these essential oil health and wellness recipes. And don’t forget to pin this post for later to refer back to the recipes for Simply Earth essential oils! (Also don’t forget to order your Simply Earth Essential Oils Recipe Box now here using coupon code: SOAPDELIFREE.)

For more essential oil recipes and information on using essential oils, be sure to follow my Pinterest board: Essential Oils & Herbs for Health, Lifestyle and Beauty. You can also find and follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my newsletter.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: aromatherapy, bath and body, bath salt recipe, bath salts, bath tutorial, diffuser blends, essential oil blend, essential oil recipes, essential oils, eucalyptus, healthy living, milk bath recipe, natural skin care, review, shower steamers, simply earth

Summer Beauty Recipes: An Easy Seashell Soap Tutorial & More Ways to Care for Skin This Summer!

May 23, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 9 Comments

Celebrate summer with nine summer beauty recipes from top bloggers. Easy recipes for DIY seashell soaps, mermaid fizzing bath salts, an aloe vera face mask and more!

Summer Beauty Recipes

Summer means more time outdoors, vacations and fun! So to celebrate the excitement and opportunities of summer, I wanted to share an amazing collection of summer beauty recipes. Not only will you enjoy making these summer skin care products (on a rainy day perhaps?) you’ll also love using them! Keep reading to discover how to make a super easy seashell embed soap. Plus find eight more summer beauty recipes you can make from some of my favorite fellow bloggers.

Summer Beauty Recipe Inspiration

I grew up on trips to Myrtle beach every summer until I was sixteen. Most of those years, we saved money by camping out in a campground. Not only did it give me a greater appreciation for the outdoors, I also learned that you should ALWAYS wear flip flops when using a campground shower. (Thanks, Mom!)

One of my favorite things about staying on a beach campground was the lack of hotels. Sure, there were lots of people, but there were no hotels to mar the skyline. Just beach and plants and trees. It was easy to make daily discoveries of beautiful shells, sand dollars, tiny crabs and clams in the sand.

Much like my early adventures in a hometown creek that fed into our river, I always tried to take at least one of my live discoveries home with me. While at home, I tried to create a habitat for crawdads I caught. At the beach, I took baby clams and other small (yet to be identified) creatures home in a bucket of sand and water.

Being that Myrtle Beach is a good 8-9 hour drive from my home in Virginia, these tiny sea creatures never managed to survive the trip. However that didn’t stop me from trying. Being the stubborn girl that I was (and still am apparently) I tried again year after year, until the camping trips ended. My parents, probably in their wisdom to never argue with a strong willed little girl over something so simple, never protested. Although I’m not sure how they DIDN’T looking back. An eight hour drive in an old school Dodge van with zero air conditioning and sea water left quite the lingering aroma.

Making Beach Themed Seashell Soaps

My DIY seashell soaps are a nod to those carefree summer beach trips of days past. They are reminiscent of time spent outdoors in the sun and sand. Long days hunting for seashells and mysterious creatures hidden just under the sand as the waves roll in and onto the beach.

What makes this summer beauty soap project so easy?

Made using a melt and pour soap base, this soap making tutorial incorporates pre-made soap embeds into the recipe. This eliminates some of the challenges that come with working with embeds as a beginning soapmaker. It also saves you money, as you’ll only need one soap making mold for this soap tutorial. This helps reduce the otherwise more expensive costs of investing in multiple soap making molds. There’s also no need to work with lye. So if you’re still not ready to make cold process soap, then this soap making project is perfect for you!

Save on materials & time by purchasing pre-made elements for your summer beauty recipes.

While you can make your own melt and pour soap embeds for my beach soaps, this can be challenging and time consuming. Therefore I chose to use pre-made seashell soap embeds that I purchased from a fellow soapmaker. I used seashell soap embeds that I purchased from Spruce Mountain Soap to make this soap making project both simpler and faster.

My seashell soap is the perfect summer beauty recipe for cleansing your skin on hot summer days. Made with a blend of fresh litsea cubeba and peppermint essentials oils, these fun beach inspired soaps help to brighten and energize dull skin. Discover my summer soap making tutorial and recipe below. And don’t forget to check out the other summer beauty recipes for everything from an aloe vera face mask to mermaid fizzing bath salts after the recipe!

Summer Beauty Seashell Soap Recipe

Soap Ingredients:

21 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
3 mL litsea cubeba essential oil
1 mL peppermint essential oil
12 drops amyris essential oil
1-2 oz. white melt and pour soap base
skin safe blue mica powder, of choice

Soap Exfoliate Ingredients:

1 teaspoon calendula flower powder
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon cornsilk powder

Additional Materials & Supplies:

seashell, beach rocks or sea glass soap embeds
rectangle silicone soap mold
digital scale
graduated transfer pipettes
glass measuring cups or bowls
spray bottle with 99% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol
utensils (for mixing) and a large Chef’s knife
cutting board
measuring spoons
microwave
your imagination

Instructions:

Being by weighing out the clear melt and pour soap base. Cut the base into chunks and combine in a large Pyrex glass measuring cup. Heat the cubed soap the microwave in 30-second increments until melted.

Once melted, use the graduated transfer pipettes to measure out and add the litsea cubeba and peppermint essential oils to soap. Follow with the amyris essential oil. Then stir the soap to mix in the fragrance.

Now pour a few ounces of the clear melted soap base into a separate measuring cup. Stir in a pinch of the blue mica and set aside.

Position your soap mold at an angle on a stable surface on a cutting board. (I used a cardboard box I cut at an angle for this step. I place the cutting board on the box, then put the mold on top of the cutting board for easy transport.)

Next, measure out the exfoliants into a small bowl. (You can make substitutions as desired for this step. The purpose of the exfoliants is to mimic the look of beach sand.) Mix to combine.

Then add a small amount of the mixture to each of the cavities of your soap mold.

Now slowly pour the clear melt and pour soap base onto the exfoliants and into the soap mold. Be sure to leave room for the seashell embeds by only filling each cavity about 1/3 of the way.

Use a utensil to reposition the exfoliants along the bottom of the mold as desired. Then spritz the top of they poured soap with alcohol to remove any air bubbles. Allow the soap to cool and harden before proceeding to the next step.

Once the first layer of soap has hardened, place the mold flat onto your work surface.

Now weigh out the white melt and pour soap base. Cut into chunks then heat in a microwave safe container in 20-30 second increments until melted. Set aside.

Spritz the tops of the soap in the mold with rubbing alcohol. Then place your seashell soap embeds onto the hardened soap, arranging as desired.

If necessary, gently reheat the remaining clear melt and pour soap base as well as the blue soap base. Then pour the clear soap base into each of the mold cavities leaving a small amount of space at the top.

Add a drizzle of both the blue and the white soap base into the melted clear soap base in each of the cavities. Use a utensil to gently swirl the white and blue bases as desired.

Spritz with rubbing alcohol to remove any air bubbles. Then allow the soaps to cool completely.

Once the seashell soaps have fully solidified, gently remove the soaps from the mold. You can clean up the tops or edges of your soap bars with a small knife or a potato peeler.

All that’s left is to tightly wrap your seashell soaps in foodservice film. They’re now ready for use or gifting!

Like my easy seashell soap tutorial? Then be sure to pin it (along with the other summer beauty recipes you’ll find below) for later.

Alternative Ways to Make Seashell Soaps

Of course, you don’t have to make your seashell soaps the same way I did. The great thing about artisan soap making is that is unique to the creator. So don’t be afraid that you’ll mess up or get it wrong. There really is not right or wrong way to craft your own artisan soaps for summer.

If you have a loaf mold, you can go into more detail creating water designs. Pictured above is a slice from the ocean portion of my mermaid soaps I made two years ago. You can find the tutorial for my melt and pour mermaid soaps here.

Alternately, Spruce Mountain Soap sells a beautiful Island Dreams Soap (pictured) that you can draw further inspiration from.

More Summer Beauty Recipes to Try

Ready to try your hand at even more summer beauty recipes. Following you’ll discover eight more gorgeous skin care recipes that are perfect for your summer skin care routine!

After Sun Aloe Face Mask Recipe

This easy DIY aloe vera face mask recipe from A Life Adjacent is a wonderful addition to your summer beauty routine. It’s not only moisturizing — it can also soothe sunburn, irritation, and redness, as well as aid in calming the inflammation caused by acne breakouts. (Also be sure to check out my own aloe after sun lotion bar recipe for natural after sun skin care!)

Beach Body Coffee Scrub Recipe

Coffee scrubs are by far one of my favorite summer beauty recipes for summer skin care. This beach body coffee scrub recipe from Botaneri is great for exfoliation and gives a teeny hint of color to the skin.

DIY Mermaid Fizzing Bath Salts

These DIY fizzing mermaid-inspired bath salts by Creative Green Living are easier to make than a bath bomb but just as fun to use! Your kids will love using this fun bath fizz as they splash and play in the tub.

Mermaid Whipped Soap Summer Beauty Recipe

This mermaid whipped soap recipe from Everything Pretty is so light and fluffy! Learn how to use a melt and pour soap based to make a creamy whipped soap that’s perfect for the shower or as a shaving soap before you head to the beach.

All-Natural Sunscreen Lip Balm Recipe

While you get chapped lips in winter, you can get burned lips in summer. Making this project from Garden Therapy a must for your to-do list of summer beauty recipes! Protect your lips with a homemade sunscreen lip balm. It will keep your lips safe from sunburn, make them kissably soft, and it’s made of all-natural ingredients!

Natural Solid Perfume Recipe

Learn how to make this solid perfume recipe at Life-n-Reflection. This natural perfume DIY is a luxurious multi-layered scent of the heady, rich florals jasmine and geranium with a top note of sweet, citrusy grapefruit. Blended with natural beeswax and oil and poured over delicate dried jasmine flowers into zero waste tins, this makes a lovely natural beauty gift.

DIY Melt & Pour Cactus Soap

Make these adorable shea butter melt and pour cactus soaps from Lydi Out Loud in just minutes for last minute gifts or party favors. Boasting a refreshing natural lime scent, these easy DIY soaps are perfect for an invigorating summer shower! (Discover more succulent soap inspiration and recipes at Soap Deli News here.)

DIY Strawberry Lip Scrub

This strawberry DIY lip scrub with coconut oil is another of my favorite summer beauty recipes. Perfect for exfoliating, this recipe from Country Hill Cottage makes dry, chapped lips feel and look smooth, soft, and supple. The scrub removes dead skin and moisturizes your lips at the same time. (You may also enjoy my own pink lemonade lip scrub recipe.)

Summer Beauty Recipes & Inspiration on Pinterest

I’m always amazed by the creativity of others. Pinterest is a great way to expand on that creativity and find inspiration. If you’re looking for more summer beauty recipes for your next DIY adventure, then be sure to follow my boards on Pinterest. You’ll discover great DIY ideas for making 42 homemade sugar scrubs, 12 summer skin care recipes for dry skin, 17 whipped sugar scrubs you can buy or DIY, 10 magical summer skin care recipes for your inner child, a foaming strawberry salt scrub recipe and a unicorn glitter butter recipe (pictured.)

For more DIY soap making ideas and summer beauty recipes, make sure to follow me across your favorite social media platforms. You can find and follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my semi-weekly newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Homemade Gift Ideas, Soapmaking Tagged With: after sun, bath and beauty, bath salt recipe, beauty recipes, body scrub recipe, face mask, lip balm recipe, lip scrub, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, natural beauty, perfume recipe, soap tutorial, solid perfume, summer, summer skin care, sunscreen, whipped sugar scrub

Blueberry Thyme Bath Salts Recipe (A Homemade Mother’s Day Gift Idea)

April 25, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 2 Comments

If you’re looking for an easy homemade recipe for bath salts, then make this blueberry thyme bath salts recipe! This bath salt recipe is formulated with Epsom salt and magnesium flakes to ease sore muscles and reduce stress. Plus it smells amazing! (It’s kind of cotton candy like. My friends LOVE this scent.)

Learn how to make this Epsom salt bath salts recipe for sore muscles for yourself or as a delightful homemade Mother’s day gift. This is the perfect handmade gift to help you – and your Mom! – unwind from daily stress or muscle aches and pains. A must for any self care routine.

Moms Need Time Out for Self Care Too!

Both as women and as mothers, we often try to take on too much and brush self care aside. Not only does this put a strain on our emotional wellbeing, it leaves us feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated. Basically on a fast track to burning out. (Are they still calling that a nervous breakdown?)

Recently a dear friend remarked to me how she exhausted she is day in and day out. How nice it would be if someone took of her once in a while. Not only does she push herself to work two jobs, she’s also always on her feet working through chronic pain. Home life isn’t much different. Like many of us, she’s also expected to tackle all the chores and cooking.

It’s easy to understand why she feels so run down. Don’t we all have those days? It can be a challenge to learn how to say no. Or to stand up for yourself and demand things change when you’re caught in a cycle. We all need a break from time to time. We aren’t machines. And we certainly can’t continue to keep doing everything and then some without help. It’s no wonder many of us feel as if we are just surviving.

This homemade bath salts recipe is the perfect way to ~~push~~ gently nudge your Mom into taking some time out for herself. And to remind her that yes, you do appreciate everything she’s done for you. By making this easy bath salts recipe for a homemade Mother’s day gift, you’re not only helping her relax, but ease away tension and sore muscle pain as well. This easy bath salts recipe yields two 8 oz. containers of blueberry thyme bath salts. So you can make one for mom, and keep the other for yourself!

Using Magnesium Flakes for Bath Salts Recipes

If you read my recent posts on how to make pineapple hidden color bath bombs or magnesium oil, then you’ll recall why magnesium flakes are my new favorite ingredient. Not only is this salt, also known as magnesium chloride, more readily absorbed by skin then Epsom salt, it can be used in a number of different ways. You can use magnesium flakes to make a simple magnesium oil recipe to ease sore muscles and restless legs. Or give it a try in a magnesium body butter that calms your body and assists with a restful night’s sleep. It can also be used as a key ingredient in a recipe for bath salts.

Magnesium flakes are better suited than Epsom salt for topical application as they are more readily absorbed by skin. FOr this homemade bath salts recipe I used both magnesium flakes and Epsom salt. I also included a touch of moisturizing shea nut oil. The combination of these ingredients make my easy blueberry thyme bath salts recipe a wonderful remedy for stress relief and sore muscle recovery. It can even help to improve circulation!

Keep reading to learn how to make my blueberry thyme bath salts recipe to gift as a homemade Mother’s day gift for mom!

Blueberry Thyme Bath Salts Recipe

Ingredients:

19 oz. Epsom salt
1.5 oz. magnesium flakes
.25 oz. polysorbate 80
.25 oz. shea nut oil (aka fractionated shea butter)
.25 oz. blueberry thyme fragrance oil
1/2 teaspoon lip & eye safe pink mica powder
dried cornflowers, to suit

Instructions:

Using a digital scale, weigh out the Epsom salt and magnesium flakes into a large glass bowl. (I like to use glass Pyrex measuring cups for mixing. I have them in all sizes.) Mix well to combine. Then measure out the mica powder and mix evenly throughout the salt mixture. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, weigh out the shea nut oil, polysorbate 80 and fragrance oil. (Polysorbate 80 keeps the mica powder from staining your tub.) Mix well.

Now combine the dry salt mixture with the liquid mixture. Mix thoroughly until all of the salt is evenly coated. Then mix in cornflowers as desired to achieve the look you want and to add contrast.

Finally, fill your containers of choice with your homemade bath salts. (I used a thick walled PET amber jar as well as an upcycled soup container that resembles a milk jar.)

Then add stickers, ribbons or gift tags as desired to give your bath salts as a homemade Mother’s Day gift.

To use, simply add the desired amount to warm bath water, sink in, relax and enjoy!

Try Another Easy Bath Salts Recipe

If you love my blueberry thyme homemade bath salts recipe, then try one of these other easy bath salt recipes as well!

More Homemade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Looking for more ideas for mom? Try one of these other homemade Mother’s day gift ideas. Learn how to make custom Hand Painted Ceramic Vases or an Easy Needle Felted Wine Bag. You can also view an entire collection of the best homemade Mother’s day gifts here. You can also discover more ways to practice self care here.

Discover more of my favorite bath salts recipes by following me across your favorite social media platforms. You can find and follow me on Pinterest, Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up for my semi-weekly newsletter to stay updated on new recipes.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas Tagged With: bath and body, bath salt recipe, bath salts, bath tutorial, crafts, diy, easy, epsom salt, gift idea, home remedies, home remedy, magnesium, Mother's Day, Mother's Day gifts, natural skin care, pain relief, self care, sore muscles, stress relief

Homemade Holiday Gifts & Ideas for Winter

December 6, 2018 By Rebecca D. Dillon

This post is sponsored by Sticker You. All opinions are my own.

I have to admit I’m a Pinterest addict. I’m always scouring their site for new homemade holiday gifts and ideas I can create. Whether I’m gifting baked goods for the holiday season or homemade soaps, StickerYou always makes it so easy to customize my homemade holiday gifts.

Homemade Holiday Gifts & Ideas for Winter

Designing my own labels for the homemade holiday gifts I create for friends and family is so much more rewarding than simply picking up gift tags at the local big box store. It’s nice to be able to customize my labels so the gifts I give feel more personal. That’s why StickerYou is my go to for custom stickers and labels. They offer fair pricing and exceptional quality without me having to sacrifice the creativity I’ve invested in my designs.

I’m super excited about the labels I received from StickerYou for my gifts this year. And, as always, I’m equally excited about sharing new ideas for making your own homemade holiday gifts!

This year I created two super simple recipes. One for making melt and pour gingerbread man soaps. And another for a fizzy bath salt recipe for cold weather aches & pains or those winter sniffles. What really makes these recipes extra nice, however, is that you can make them both in 30-minutes or less. So order those supplies, schedule a weekend to get together with your family or friends and check off your holiday gift list!

Easy Melt & Pour Gingerbread Soap Recipe

Ingredients:

16 oz. SLS free honey melt & pour soap base
.25 oz. gingerbread fragrance oil
1/4 – 1/2 of one square of Crafter’s Choice brown sparkle color bar for melt & pour soap

Instructions:

Using a digital scale, weigh out the melt and pour soap. Cut into chunks then place inside a large, heat safe glass measuring cup such as Pyrex.

Heat in the microwave in 30-second increments until all of the soap has melted. Then carefully remove the soap from the microwave. (The glass may be hot so I recommend using a tea towel to help out with the task.)

Now cut your color bar in half or into quarters. Stir up to half of one soap color bar into the melted soap base.

Once the color bar has melted completely, weigh out and stir in the fragrance oil.

Place your soap mold onto a small cutting board. Now pour the melted soap base into all six cavities of a silicone gingerbread man mold.

Should you have air bubbles on the soap after pouring, you can spritz the soap with rubbing alcohol to pop the bubbles.

Carefully transport your mold with the gingerbread soaps to the refrigerator to cool.

Once your soap bars have fully solidified, remove from the refrigerator and unmold.

Now all that’s left is to package your homemade gingerbread man soaps as desired to give as homemade holiday gifts.

I packaged mine in white boxes with ribbon, then labeled them with 2″ round custom stickers from StickerYou.

Fizzy Bath Salt Recipe with Essential Oils

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sea salt (or Epsom salt for sore muscles)
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid
1/2 Tablespoon green jojoba beads
1/2 Tablespoon carrier oil or vegetable glycerin
20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil (or peppermint essential oil for sore muscles)

Instructions:

Measure out the salt, baking soda, citric acid and jojoba beads. Combine in a medium glass bowl and mix well to ensure all of the dry ingredients are evenly incorporated.

In a separate medium glass bowl, add the carrier oil (or glycerin) along with the essential oils. Mix to combine.

Now pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Use a whisk or a fork to combine the liquid ingredients throughout the dry ingredients until there are no clumps remaining.

Finally, spoon your fizzy bath salts into airtight containers of your choice.

I used a glass jar I picked up at my local craft store. However, low profile PET jars work well too!

Now simply decorate your containers as you like to give as homemade holiday gifts.

I used my custom stickers on the wooden lid of my glass jar and carefully trimmed off the excess with scrapbooking scissors. I then hid the edge with some colored pom pom ribbon. Although you could also use a gold or silver paint pen along the edge of the lid as well.

For my low profile amber jars, I wrapped a ribbon around the container. I then placed the stickers I designed onto the tops of the jars to hold the ribbon in place.

I really love how versatile the custom 2″ stickers from StickerYou are. They offered a lot of different ways to customize my gift wrap for my homemade holiday gifts. It’s also easy to apply these stickers to regular gift wrap on your holiday gifts in lieu of traditional “to and from” gift tags.

If you aren’t big on round stickers, you can honestly get any size or shape of stickers your heart desires – all to your exact specifications. Sticker You even offers tools that make it easy to customize your stickers or labels for your homemade holiday gifts. So be sure to check them out!

More Homemade Holiday Gifts

Looking for more homemade holiday gift ideas? Check out some of these other homemade holiday gifts and custom label ideas I created using labels from StickerYou!

How do you plan to wrap your homemade holiday gifts this year? Be sure to share your ideas in the comments and have a wonderful holiday season!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Gift Guides, Holiday DIY, Homemade Gift Ideas, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath salt recipe, bath salts, crafts, diy, easy, essential oils, gift tags, gift wrap ideas, gingerbread, gingerbread man, holiday labels, melt and pour soap recipe, melt and pour soapmaking, soap recipe, soap tutorial, soapmaking, stickers