Creating a Cottage Industry (Article #4)

In the last article in the Creating a Cottage Industry series, we examined the health and beauty space and shared a perfume recipe. In this article, I wanted to continue examining health and beauty products, and share a few more of my favorite product recipes.

Scented Rocks

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/2 cup salt

• 1/4 tsp essential oil

• 2/3 cup boiling water

• food coloring

• kitchen utensils

• kitchen gloves

Recipe

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Stir in the boiling water and essential oil (or other fragrance).

3. Separate the mixture into balls that are the desired size of the individual rocks. Add food coloring by the drop to each ball, mixing or swirling until your color is achieved. Have fun!

4. Shape the balls place them on a silicone mat or piece of parchment paper and allow them to dry. Place them in a shallow dish or bowl for a fragrant decoration.

Tips:

1. Substitute a small quantity of your favorite perfume for the essential oil.

2. Adult supervision is recommended. Gloves are also recommended, as essential oils and fragrances may be irritating to the skin or toxic.

Fizzy Bath Bombs

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp citric acid

• 2 T cornstarch

• 1/4 cup baking soda

• 1/4 tsp fragrance oil

• 3-6 drops food color

• 3 T vegetable oil

• Mixing Bowl

• Waxed Paper

• Small Cup or Bowl

Recipe

1. Mix all dry ingredients (citric acid, cornstarch, baking soda) in the bowl.

2. In a different bowl or a small cup, mix the vegetable oil, fragrance, and coloring together.

3. Slowly incorporate the oil mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix well.

4. Place 1" balls of the mixture on waxed paper. They will be semi-hard within 2-3 hours, but allow 24-48 for them to fully dry before storing them.

5. Store bath balls in a sealed container, away from moisture.

6. Add a few to the bath and enjoy! For gift giving, the balls may be placed in individual candy cups.

Tips:

1. Fragrance and/or coloring is optional.

2. Suggested vegetable oils include coconut oil, avocado oil, apricot kernel oil, sweet almond oil, or olive oil, although any emollient oil is good!

3. Use small molds to make three-dimensional fizzy bath shapes.

Bath Salts

Ingredients

• 2 cups Epsom Salts

• 1 cup Sea Salt or Rock Salt

• 1/4 tsp Glycerin

• Food Colors

• Essential Oils or Perfume

• Jars with Lids/Stoppers

Recipe

1. Combine Epsom and Sea (or Rock) salts

2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Generally, a drop or two of fragrance is sufficient. Use ingredients containing water with care (color, certain fragrances), since too much water will dissolve salt.

3. Spoon salts into the jars and seal them. Decorative labels listing ingredients are a nice touch!

Tips:

1. Make certain jars are absolutely dry. Salts absorb moisture, so this project will work better if done in low humidity.

2. Kitchen fragrances work well. Try extracts of vanilla, lemon, orange, cinnamon, or mint.

3. Not all essential oils are appropriate for bathing! Some essential oils are naturally colored (e.g., chamomile is blue). Recommended oils for bathing include lavender, rose geranium, rosemary, or jojoba.

4. Colors or fragrances may be omitted, if desired, for persons with chemical sensitivities.

Next week we will look at my favorite cottage industry: food!