conversation hearts bath bombs

Yesterday my daughter had a play date with her best buddy, who’s a boy.  He wanted to play pirates.  She wanted to play wedding.  He refused and there was much drama.  And then they played pirates.  And his mother and I just looked at each other and nodded our heads.  It starts so young…

Why tell you that story?  Because it’s coming.  That once a year tribute to romance that gets everyone in a frenzy and leaves them disappointed. Valentine’s Day. The days of a dozen roses and cheap chocolates in a heart shaped box are long gone.  If you believe pinterest, everyone is enthusiastically making bouquets of pom pom flowers and their own lingerie. And expecting their boyfriend/husband to be doing the same. And if you’re single? It’s the worst.  Once you’re too old to pass valentine’s cards around to everyone in your grade school class, it should be illegal.

  This year, I know a lot of single women.  Women who have recently lost boyfriends.  Women who are single because they still need to be by themselves.  Women who are single because they are so fabulous they can’t find anyone worthy of their affection.  And the only thing worse than the bouquet of fuschia-dyed-carnations-bought-on-their-way-home-from work flowers are not getting them at all.  So instead of whipping out my glue gun to make my husband something he would just be bewildered by, I made something for my girlfriends instead.  Ladies, you are excellent.  I hope Ella grows up to be as awesome as you.

conversation hearts bath bombs

ingredients:

• 1 c. baking soda
• 1/2 c. citric acid
• 1/2 c. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. epsom salt
• 2 tbl. baby oil
• 1 tsp. witch hazel
• 1 tsp. essential oil for scent
• food coloring(optional)

Whisk all your dry ingredients into a glass bowl. You can skip the cornstarch, or epsom salts. The cornstarch is a skin softener, and epsom salts relieve tired muscles.  Just keep the ratio of 2:1 baking soda to citric acid. In a separate bowl, whisk all your wet ingredients together.  Add wet to dry, a little at a time, whisking while you do this..  I used a kid’s medicine dropper for this.  Your mixture may fizz a bit.  Keep adding wet to dry, in small drops.  Test bath bomb by squeezing a clump together.  If it holds, you are ready to mold!  You may have some extra liquid left.

  I used a silicone mold to make the hearts.  Push mixture into molds forcefully to compact, but don’t let the mold push out of shape.  You can also do this with cookie cutters.  If using silicone molds, let dry at least 4 hours or overnight.  If you use a hard mold, you can tap these out after about 10 minutes.  Put on a a cookie sheet to dry thoroughly.  Once dry, mix a little witch hazel with red food coloring and paint on the hearts with a very small paintbrush.