Gift and Craft Ideas

[Blubayou]

This thread is dedicated to posting craft ideas that can be used as gifts or to sell. Please feel free to post your ideas and pictures.

Bath Bombs
Bath bombs can be tricky little things to make, or more particularly, to get right! Here are a few common problems, issues, and tips if you're having problems attempting these creations.
Remember that bath bombs are basically baking soda, citric acid, and some sort of moisturizing oil. Scents and colors can be added as needed. Pretty shapes can be used, as shown by my heart and bean bath bomb mini-gift basket picture.

The exact recipe for the perfect bath bombs doesn't exist, since it all depends of what exact ingredients are being used, as well as the general humidity level of where you live! Getting a bath bomb right means finding that perfect balance between dry and wet enough to form and hold.

If you get the bomb too dry, it will crumble and fall apart, no matter how long you let it dry. If you get the bomb too oily, it will become a goop and never dry out, unless you bake it hard in the oven. If the bomb is too wet with anything containing water, it will fizz, growing like a monster out of its mold.

The best advice is to just try some of the many bath bomb recipes out there, and adjust the ones you like the most for great results. Remember that bath bombs can also contain cornstarch, oatmeal, scents, moisturizers, colors, dried flowers/herbs, and other fun extras.

Fizzing Bath Bombs?
If you're bath bombs are fizzing out of their mold, it means they're too wet. The food coloring or fragrance you used may have been water based, causing the citric acid to fizz out.
If the problem is minor, you can wait a few minutes for everything to fizz, then mix bomb batter again, and press into molds. If the problem is major, you may need to mix in more baking soda, or ditch the batch all together.

Where Do I Get Citric Acid?
Citric acid is often used for canning, or in pharmacies. Some people claim to find it at stores like Wal-Mart, but it is pretty rare. What most people find are fruit preserving powders that contain citric acid. Most pharmacies only have citric acid tablets, which are expensive and too compressed.
Look for loose citric acid at stores with canning supplies, emergency survival supplies, pharmaceutical supplies, health food groceries, or bath making supplies. The finer ground the citric acid, the better it will work.

How Do I Get The Best Results?
To get the best bath salts you need to know the exact recipe that works. After that, it has a lot to do with the steps. Always mix the dry ingredients, like baking soda and citric acid, together completely before adding anything moist.
Try to mix the moist ingredients together before adding them to the dry stuff. This means mixing the oil, coloring, and fragrance together in a little bowl. They will not blend, but rather break into tiny dots. This helps spread the water levels, making sure no one "pocket" of water hit's the citric acid, causing undue fizzing.

When you mix wet and dry ingredients, make sure to mix very, very, very well. You want everything nice and even, without any oil pools or dry clumps. When you press the batter into a mold, make sure to press it in evenly and firmly. This will make the bombs strong and solid, where just lightly pressing it in can leave bubbles of air.

[Blubayou]

Sugar or Salt scrub
Ingredients
2/3 cup Turbinado sugar
1/2 cup grape seed oil
2-4 Tbsp. honey
12 drops essential oils of choice (I used lemon)
Directions
Mix ingredients and place in a clean, air tight, glass container.
To use: Rub desired amount in gentle, circular motions on areas you wish to exfoliate, avoiding the face. Rinse and repeat if necessary.

You can easily customize this recipe by using different sugars, oils, and essential oils. You can also use salt in place of the sugar.

[Blubayou]

Silky Scrub Bath
These homemade scrubbing bath salts are fantastic as a gift to a friend or to yourself! They're easy and cheap to make, they work wonderfully, and are extremely simple to personalize. They combine exfoliating, moisturizing, and relaxing fragrance all in one product, yet are cheaper than store bought body wash and don't require a loofah or moisturizing sponge. The scrub can help with many different kinds of skin problems. All you do is mix the salt and oil a little, take a handful, and scrub your entire body.
Approximate Time: 15 minutes

Supplies
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup baby oil
2 tsp rose oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sea salt
1/4 cup Epsom salt
Instructions

Use a large bowl if making more than one batch. If only creating one batch, just mix the ingredients in the jar the bath salts will be held in.

Pour 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup baby oil, 2 tsp. rose oil (or other flower essence), 1 tsp. vanilla extract in a small saucepan and mix well. Stir over medium heat until oil begins a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and keep stirring for 30 seconds. Let cool.

Mix 1 cup sea salt and 1/4 cup Epsom salt in a separate bowl. Pour cooled oil into container the bath salts will be kept in. If making more than one batch, use a large mixing bowl.

Immediately, but slowly, stir in salt. It's OK if the salt falls the bottom and the oil rises, that's natural. When you use the product, you must mix it up a little with your fingers, so the oil and salt mix again, then take a palm full and scrub away!

For alternate scents try 2 tsp. almond oil, orange extract, vanilla extract, lavender oil, jasmine oil, lilac oil, or any other scent, even some of your favorite perfume.

For itchy skin, reduce sea salt to 3/4 cup, and add 1/4 cup finely chopped, uncooked, oatmeal. Stir oatmeal and salt together in a separate bowl, then slowly stir into oil.

For both cost and health reasons, I never add color to my salts, and instead store them is decorative colored or frosted jars. If color is desired, add 2-6 drops of food coloring to salts before mixing them with the oil.

[Blubayou]

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Mix in a Jar

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups packed confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Layer ingredients in order given in a 1 quart wide mouth canning jar. Clean the inside of the jar with a dry paper towel after adding the confectioners' sugar and after adding the cocoa powder. Be sure to pack everything down firmly before adding the flour mixture, it will be a tight fit. Store in a cool dry place away from a heat source so condensation and clumping does not occur. Instructions to attach to Jar:

[Blubayou]

Cobbler Mix in a Jar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon powdered vanilla

Combine and blend the ingredients in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.
Attach this to the Jar:
Berry Cobbler:

4 cups fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries or boysenberries)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 package Cobbler Mix

Preheat oven to 375ºF. In large mixing bowl combine berries, juice, sugar and cinnamon. Place berries in a 13x9-inch pan. In small mixing bowl blend the butter with the egg. Add the Cobbler Mix & stir until the mixture sticks together. Drop the cobbler topping by tablespoonfuls on top of the berry filling. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

[Ron]

I like getting those little cards that are small and unobtrusive & filled with--"CASH!"