Peppermint Candy Cane Bath Salts

by Jane Lake

Candy cane bath salts make a wonderful gift in a jar, particularly suitable for Christmas, birthdays or Mother's Day. We offer two different formulas here, so you can choose whether you want to make layered red and white bath salts, or tri-color bath salts of green, red and white.

Either of these recipes look great layered in a glass jar, decorated with a ribbon and bow. Although mason jars work well for this project, I prefer to recycle other food jars - tall, slim jars such as those sometimes used for olive oil or vinegar are perfect, because they offer lots of opportunity for layering the colored salts. If there is a plastic dispenser obstructing the mouth of the oil jar, you can usually remove it with a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

Because food jars vary in capacity, I've designed these recipes to make one cup of bath salts. Just double, treble or quadruble the ingredients to fill two cup or three cup jars, or to make multiple jars. If you don't know how many cups a jar holds, fill it with epsom salts then empty into a measuring jug before proceeding with the recipe. If you have some left over ... well, just fill the bath and enjoy!

Tri-Color Candy Cane Bath Salts

For each cup of bath salts, you will need:

1 cup of Epsom Salts (or 3/4 cup epsom salts mixed with 1/4 cup of sea salt)
1 teaspoon of Sweet Almond Oil
3 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
red and green food coloring (or liquid soap dye)

mixing equipment: bowls, egg cups, measuring spoons, mixing spoons, funnel, glass jar

Directions:

- Divide the epsom salts, placing 1/3 cup into three separate bowls.

- Divide the sweet almond oil, placing 1/3 teaspoon into three separate egg cups.

- Add one drop of peppermint oil to each of the three egg cups.

- Stir one drop of red food coloring into one egg cup, and one drop of green food coloring into another; the third egg cup of almond oil and peppermint oil remains uncolored.

- Empty the green almond oil mixture into one of the bowls of epsom salts. Empty the red almond oil mixture into the second bowl of epsom salts. Add the uncolored almond oil mix into the third bowl of epsom salts.

- Thoroughly stir each bowl of epsom salts to distribute the color and fragrance.Begin filling a glass jar with the bath salts, using a funnel to add each layer of color. You can tip the jar slightly to get an angled effect, but straight layers also look highly effective.

- Bring the epsom salts right to the top of the jar. Tap the jar on a table to settle the ingredients and use the back of a spoon to tamp the salts down a little bit; add more epsom salts, if needed, until the jar is filled completely to the top, then screw on the jar lid. (Tamping down the epsom salts prevents the colored layers from mixing before use).

Red and White Candy Cane Bath Salts

For each cup of bath salts, you will need:

1 cup of Epsom Salts (or 3/4 cup epsom salts mixed with 1/4 cup of sea salt)
4 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil
2 drops red food coloring
optional: 4 drops Glycerin

mixing equipment: two bowls, mixing spoons, funnel, glass jar

Directions:

- Divide the epsom salts into two bowls. Add two drops of peppermint oil and two drops of glycerin, if using, into each bowl. Add two drops of red food coloring to one bowl and stir to evenly distribute the color.

- Begin alternating layers of red and white bath salts in a clear glass jar, using a funnel. Make sure the jar is filled completely to the top to prevent colored from shifting before use.

Source: http://www.allfreecrafts.com/bath-and-body/candycane-bath-salts.shtml