MOMCRAFT: Bath Fizzies

Welcome to the newest SoulGlue Crafts blog feature: MomCraft. In this monthly post, I will provide directions for a self-care focused craft for anyone (not just moms!) who needs/wants to take a break from the daily grind with a creative activity. My goal is to make these crafts 1) Doable within a half hour 2) Easy to do while standing up and 3) Easy to incorporate kids into (if they're interested). 

I'm kicking this feature off with directions for bath fizzies, also known as "bath bombs." You drop these compact chunks in the tub to make the water fragrant, bubbly, and delightful. Because I had never made fizzies before, I did a quick Internet search for directions. I found a Martha Stewart tutorial that I liked, and began collecting my materials. The nice thing about this craft is that you will probably have most of the materials already--that was a definite draw for me (I feel as if I'm starting to creep out the craft store sales people because I'm there so much). Here are the materials you will need (thank you Martha Stewart!):

1/2 cup citric acid

1 cup baking soda

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

Food coloring

10 to 15 drops essential oil

Spray bottle

Silicone ice cube tray

Flour sifter

Large bowl

Measuring cups

Mixing spoon and/or whisk

The one ingredient challenge I had was finding citric acid. I looked in two different craft stores and one grocery store for citric acid and could not locate it. I ended up ordering food grade citric acid from Amazon for around $12. 

I adapted the following instructions from Martha's tutorial to better reflect my process:

1. Take large measuring cups (and/or small bowl) and mix together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch. I found it helpful to use a whisk to mix everything together, as the spoon seemed to leave the ingredients separated.

2. Place flour sifter in center of large bowl and sift mixed ingredients into bowl. Whisk/stir in sugar.

3. Fill spray bottle with water and add food coloring. Make sure that the nozzle on your spray bottle is turned to the lightest spray option. (The number of drops you will need depends upon the size of the spray bottle you use, as well as the color you would like your fizzies to have. I added six drops to my 8 ounce spray bottle, which resulted in a very pale pink color. If I did this again, I would add more drops of food coloring for a brighter color.) 

Too much spray! I adjusted the nozzle after this first spritz.

4. Spritz mixture lightly until you can pack the mixture with your hands. The goal is for the mixture to become damp, but not fizz. To do this, be patient (meh) and do one spritz at a time (instead of going bananas and spraying water all over the mixture at once). 

The mixture will clump together easily when damp enough.

5. Add essential oil one drop at a time until strength of scent is to your liking. (I chose grapefruit scented oil (yum!) and ended up using *I think* 30 drops. The oil I used was not super high quality stuff, which was probably why I needed to double the amount of drops.)

6. Using your hands or a spoon, mix everything together until the color is consistent and the oil is blended.

7. Spoon, or use hands, to pack mixture firmly into ice cube tray. Let dry at room temperature overnight. Pop out of tray gently. 

Before...

After!

Here's the big question of the day, though: Do these things work? The answer is...yes! I tested them last night, and they fizz. The fizz is not epic and will not make a bubble bath, BUT it will make the tub water smell lovely. I also found that the essential oil in the fizz made my skin really smooth. Cheers to a good crafting experience all around!