Rainy Day Activity: Homemade Bath Salts

Lavender is my favorite bath addition and in addition to smelling amazing, has many medicinal and aromatherapeutic properties you might not know about. Lavender is natural antiseptic and is great for healing healing minor cuts, burns, and insect bites. Lavender is known for its soothing and relaxing properties and has been shown to relax muscles, ease headaches, and relieve stress. Even better, lavender is naturally soporific--perfect for a bath right before bed.

So the question is, how to get the lavender in the bathtub? If you have fresh or dried lavender, you can put it right into a mesh tea bag and drop it in the tub as it's filling up. Since for most of the year I don't have easy access to fresh lavender, I prefer the bath salt method. Easy, smells great, and they last forever. Also, combining lavender with epson or sea salts is especially good for muscle aches and pains, as salts are known for their healing properties.

Recipe for Lavender Bath Salts:

1 bag of Epson Salts (usually sold in a cardboard box at your local drug store)

*if you want to step it up a notch, try one of these high end fancy salts

1 small bottle of lavender essential oil
*you can actually use any essential oil for this. Grapefruit, jasmine, and rose are some other nice ones

Preparation:

Pour salts into large mixing bowl.

Mix salts with essential oil. The more salts you use, the more oil you need. At least 20 drops for a solid scent. Add more if you like a stronger scent.

Pour into plastic bags and tie with ribbon, or use these cute tins and affix your own labels!

These also make great party favors, bridal or baby shower gifts!