Nana Poo's Xmas gift - Homemade Candy Cane Bath Salts!

Money was pretty tight this year so I had to scale back on my Christmas gifts. My roommate/bestie and Aurora were really the only people I could afford to spend on. So what about everyone else... cookies! (More on that tomorrow) Nana Poo fit into another category though because she was having us over for Christmas dinner and I knew that she got Aura some goodies so I decided to make one extra gift for her to tuck under the tree with all the cookies...
Unfortunately, I am cursed with a stand up shower (I'd kill for a good soak!) but when I had a tub peppermint bath salts were my absolute favorite go-to for achy muscles. To make them festive, I added some color! I'm almost embarrassed to admit how easy and inexpensive these were to make.
I'm sure Nana Poo won't be offended if I share the wealth though, especially now that I've given her a cure for her achy back!
So without further ado...

CANDY CANE BATH SALTS:

You will need...

-One see-through cylindrical container with a tight fitting lid 

(mine was about 3 cups -if the opening is small, you'll also need a funnel)

-Epsom Salts 

-Course Ground Sea Salt (I used Baleine)

-Pure Peppermint Oil, preferably food grade
(I found mine at a craft store in the candy making section)

-Red food coloring (liquid, not gel or paste)

-One Ziploc baggie

-Two plastic disposable cups - These are OPTIONAL but they really help.

The easiest way to do this is to fill your container with 3/4 Epsom salt and 1/4 sea salt, tap it down to make sure it's full... now pour half into your plastic baggie and half into one of your cups 

(or any container that you're comfortable pouring from)

Now to the half in the baggie you're going to add about 8-10 drops of peppermint oil (you should be able to smell it THROUGH the baggie. It'll be super strong.) and about 5 drops of food coloring. Seal the baggie and massage the food coloring until it is evenly distributed in the salt. If the salt is red continue, if it's too light or too pink just add a few more drops of food coloring and massage it through again. Don't go too nuts though, you don't want the salt to be wet or it'll bleed. It should look something like this:

Now... pour this red mixture into your other empty cup. I'd say you can use another container but the peppermint oil permeates EVERYTHING so choose wisely. If you have no disposable cups around, your best bet may be to pour directly from the baggie and use a funnel. Just a kind warning. Now the fun part!

Remember those sand bottles you get at carnivals where you use the different colored sand to make art in the bottles? That's the idea here too! You're going to layer the salt, alternating white and red so it's striped, you can tilt the bottle if you'd like or leave it flat. Tap it on a hard surface after every two stripes to make sure the layers are compact. I try to end with red because no matter how good I am I always end up having to top it off with a little extra plain Epsom or sea salt at the end. You want to make sure the jar is super full so the stripes don't mix and mingle before you get to give your gift. Pop the lid on and that's it! 

Easy right?!?!?

When I was all done, I just tied on a little tissue paper and a bow to cover the lid and TA-DA:

Instant AWESOME Christmas gift... or just an awesome gift for yourself! 

1/2 cup in the bath will make muscle aches and fatigue disappear! 

Enjoy!