Easy bath muffins & is it worth the pain?! bath bombs & test tube bath potion

The widely circulated recipe for bath bombs is pretty simple and goes something like this

8 oz baking soda (1 cup)

4 oz citric acid (between 1/2 and 2/3 cup)

2 oz corn starch (A little less than half cup)–optional

4 oz Epsom salts ( about a half cup)

Mix dry ingredients together.

2 tbs plant oil–anything from olive or coconut oil to Jojoba or almond oil

3/4 tsp water. Do not over measure this!

2 tbs essential oil (this is an oil to add a fragrance; lemon eucalyptus, tea tree, etc.)

2 drops food coloring (optional)

Mix together wet ingredients

Slowly add wet ingredients to dry until they begin to clump.Add more plant oil if needed.How much extra oil you’ll need to add depend on what plant oil you use. I had to add quite a bit more jojoba oil!

Maybe I’ll get better at this but one messy kitchen and plenty of trial and error later, I was able to make some imperfect bath bombs.

Wipe both halves of a bath bomb mold with oil. Fill both half with your mixture.Push into both halves of a bath bomb mold. Press together firmly, tap with a spoon or on the side of the sink to loosen, open mold. If halves don’t fuse, add a tiny sprinkle of water and try again. Allow bomb to dry for a day.

Super easy bath muffins

1/4 cup each baking soda, corn starch, citric acid , epsom salts. Mix together.Add 1/2 tsp water and 1 tsp essential oil.

Add coconut oil until malleable. (Olive oil can be used also. but will make a flatter muffin.)

I added some dried ingredients such as lavender, ginkgo leaves, passion flower leaves, or and even a coffee bean)

Pack into tiny muffin cups.

Artistry lacking but top left is made with a tiny bit of coffee extract, top right with tea extract, bottom two contain bits of dried lavender and ginkgo leaves.

I started considering this– do I want corn starch? What do I really like? The mild scent and the epsom salts are what I’m after. I came up with this recipe that can be put into a plastic test tube with a screw top ( yes, you can find them on line) and has ingredients you can find in a grocery store.

Test tube grocery store bath potion

2 packages true lemon or true lime

1 tablespoon epsom salts

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 or 2 drops scented oil

Mix. Make a little funnel from a slip of paper and add mixture to your test tube. Will add a slight fizzy boost to any bath. Can be doubled depending on size of test tube. This is something kids can make!