Before putting away the Easter eggs, the boys and I whipped up these simple DIY bath bombs. Those Easter eggs that collect dust in our closets can be out to good use any time of year.
You’ve probably already put away all the Easter decor and baskets. Even so, you can always dig them back out because they’re the perfect size and shape to make fun bath bombs with the kids.
A couple of weeks ago, in the grocery store, T saw a shelf of bath bombs individually wrapped in plastic. If you’re not familiar with bath bombs, they’re concoctions of ingredients that, when dropped in a bath, fizz up and release nice, relaxing aromas into the air and water. As of late, they’ve been all the rage.
Depending on how they are manufactured, they’re sometimes made of mostly clean ingredients. But it’s not uncommon for them to include a whole bunch of ingredients that really aren’t that great for us. So much for a relaxing and restorative bath full of chemicals and junk?!
As an alternative to decoding a bunch of ingredients and (sometimes) overpaying for commercial bath bombs, the boys and I decided to make our own. They’re so easy, and the boys have a blast doing these types of projects. T and I made a batch years ago from a Green Kid Crafts kit, and he couldn’t get enough of the fizzing in the tub.
I don’t have the recipe for the Green Craft Kids kit anymore, so we decided to use an adaptation of a recipe I received from ConsumerSafety.org.
Consumer Safety is an organization that “strives to make information about recalls and safety-related news about drugs, medical devices, food, and consumer products accessible to everyone in a transparent, easily understandable way.” The site provides myriad avenues for obtaining recall and safety information, government policy activity related to safety, and more.
Consumer Safety researches all sorts of products and helps consumers understand, as in the case of bath bombs, what common ingredients we should do without. For example, some bath bombs include, among others, things like:
- Fragrances ~ phthalates, which are hormone disruptors
- Parabens ~ a preservative that’s a known endocrine disruptor
- Glitter ~ not only does this send small pieces of plastic into our water system, but do we really want that in our baths??!
Increasingly, holistic and natural beauty companies are introducing new products to the market that offer more opportunities to avoid the junky ingredients that we should be avoiding. But making our own, particularly because they are so easy, is such a fun and simple, healthier alternative.
With nearly all the ingredients on hand (we had to buy cornstarch), the boys and I made our own batch of bath bombs a couple weekends ago. We put all the chocolate covered raisins and chocolate covered pretzels from the eggs into a container (after eating quite a few, of course) and used the eggs as molds.
We let the bath bombs dry overnight and then the boys couldn’t wait to try them in their baths the next day. It kept them entertained for a quite a while, so no complaints from me about that.
Try this project and renew the life in the plastic eggs that almost all of us have collected over the years. The eggs are a perfect shape and size for bath bombs, and it’s a fun way to put the seasonal toys to work outside of the Easter season.
Of course, don’t forget to check out the linked posts below and share you own!
- 1 cup baking soda
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup epsom salts
- 4 tablespoons cream of tartar
- 2-1/2 tablespoons coconut oil (you can replace with vegetable oil if desired)
- 4 teaspoons essential oil (we used lavendar, but any option will work)
- ¾ tablespoon water
- Food coloring (or food coloring gel)
- In one bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (baking soda through cream of tartar)
- In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (coconut oil through water). If you're using regular food coloring, mix with the wet ingredients. If using food coloring gel (like we did, because it's what we had on hand), mix in after combining wet and dry ingredients.
- Slowly mix together the wet ad dry ingredients. It's important to do this slowly to prevent the mixture from reacting, which will decrease the amount of fizzing when placed in the bathtub later.
- Whisk together all ingredients until the mixture forms crumbly texture. It should be fairly dry but just wet enough to hold its shape when molded together.
- Fill the egg shell with mixture, patting down after each addition to make sure its tightly packed throughout the mold.
- Gently squeeze the egg shell together to remove the bath bomb from the mold.
- Allow to sit and dry overnight on a towel.
- Enjoy in the bathtub!
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