"Girly" Bath Gifts Your Kids Can Make At Home

Some of the best gifts I've ever gotten were things my young nephews made for me. Even if it's just as simple as a pipe cleaner bent into the shape of a heart, the fact that they made something just for me was very touching and sweet. Bath and body products are particularly fun to make and give, especially since they are a lot easier to make than you might think. Here are a few simple ideas for gifts your kids can make with things you may already have at home.

Here's something pretty much any bath-lover will enjoy.

Fizzy bath bombs

1 ½ cups baking soda

½ cup powdered citric acid (can be found at grocery and “big-box” stores)

2 tsp sweet almond oil

essential oil in whatever scent

food coloring

You can use molds for whatever sort of shape you want. Some people use things like confetti, glitter or dried flowers for decoration. It's all up to you.

In a large bowl, combine the baking soda and citric acid and sift until well mixed. In a separate bowl, combine ½ cup of the baking soda mix with whatever sort of decoration you're using. You're going to do this ½ cup at a time to make sure each “fizzer” has an equal amount of ingredients. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine ½ teaspoon of almond oil, 6 drops of food coloring and 6-8 drops of scented oil. You're going to do this ½ teaspoon at a time. Pour ½ teaspoon of the oil mixture into ½ cup of the baking soda mix and combine quickly until the color is evenly distributed.

Grease your molds with a bit of sweet almond oil, firmly pack ½ cup of mixture into each mold and let sit for 24-36 hours. When set, remove from mold and wrap as you wish. This makes roughly 3 fizzers.

Here's a festive, relaxing bath salt your kids can make for their favorite aunt.

Peppermint Bath Salts

2 cups epsom salt

½ cup sea salt

2-3 drops red food coloring

4-6 drops peppermint extract

Place 1 cup epsom salt and ¼ cup sea salt in a small bowl and add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil. Put the remaining salts, peppermint oil and red food coloring in another bowl. Stir both bowls well and pour the salts separately into a jar to make layers. Decorate with a ribbon or bow and give.

And lastly, here's a decadent body butter that's inexpensive and fun to make.

Coconut Body Butter- makes 10 oz

6 oz virgin coconut oil

4 oz scented cocoa butter

5-7 ml mandarin cold-pressed essential oil

1 tsp cornstarch

Melt the cocoa butter over low heat. Remove from heat, let sit for a minute or two and add the coconut oil. Whip with an electric hand mixer, slowly adding the cornstarch as you mix. Heat again, add the mandarin oil and beat to a cool whipped-cream-like consistency. Pour into a pretty jar and seal.

These are just a few of the simple gifts your kids can make for the bath-lovers in their lives. Happy holidays!