Bath Bombs

[leosayershair]

Thinking of getting a bath bomb making kit, something for children to make & take home from party, maybe something like this

www.bath-bomb.com/pages/bathbombkits.html

Has anyone made bath bombs before & have any tips? Are they easy/hard to make? Also get to choose 2 fragrances, what kind of things go together?

Not really a crafty kind of person so would be grateful for any advice.

I am afraid I really wouldn't. They are not that easy to make.

Could you find something that won't be as messy? (Lots of the ingredients are powdery and there is lots of potential for spillage, on skin as well as work surfaces).

Thinking about it I have a great recipe for bath scrub using all natural ingredients. Let me know if you want it.

How old are the children involved?

I did a bath-bomb making party with a bunch of 9 year olds a few years ago and it was fine. To pre-empt as much as possible, I had everything pre-weighed/measured, so all they had to do was mix.

I often make bath bombs for family. Happy to offer any help/suggestions on fragrances etc if you decide to go ahead.

Bath melts are much easier to make than bath bombs, although they tend to make the bath a a bit slippery.

www.channel4.com/programmes/superscrimpers/articles/all/scrimping-tips-week-5

I've made bath bombs following the above link, easy enough to do with not much mess, especially with gloves and pre-measuring the ingredients.

I wouldn't put petals/glitter etc in them though - just makes a mess to clean off the bath.

I've also bought a make your bath bomb kit from HobbyCraft as a present for a 7/8 year old who managed fine with adult supervision.

make your own*

I made some with DD - who was 16 at the time. It took quite a lot of practice and you have to pack the stuff in much, much more tightly than the instructions suggested or it all sags even if you get it out of the mould in one piece. I wouldn't do it as a kids' party craft. At one point I nearly threw the whole lot in the bin, before I started ignoring the "loosely" advice.

What's an awful lot easier than the moulds is if you have any fancy ice cube trays you can make tablets / mini bombs. We have a load of fancy shapes from IKEA because I can't resist them, and the flower shapes worked really well. A little one would manage that - they just have to fill it up and pack it in well, no need to stick two halves together.

The next year we made soap. Again, took a bit of getting the hang of, you'd want to practice first, and of course it's hot. But mini coconut soap was lovely.

I have just bought some mini moulds in the hope that they would work better. I used my first attempt bomb last night, it was a bit lumpy, smelled nice though!

I don't use moulds for them, just shape them by hand - much easier to squash them all together.

I've made soap at home before too; just the melt and pour stuff which I added fragrance to. Reasonably easy except I don't have a double boiler so was stirring a scummy bowl over hot water for a while as it all melted.

We did our soap in the microwave (it was melt and pour too). The instructions were very clear that you absolutely mustn't overheat it so to start with we weren't heating it enough and it was solidifying even as we poured it. That's the sort of thing that a bit of practice would really help with.

Thank you for the advice & suggestions, like the idea of the mini ones with the ice cube tray.

MrsCosmopolite the children will be 7/8 and I think I will be following your advice so all they have to do is stir.

Flossyfloof what fragrance did you use, I'm thinking ahead now for presents for teachers.

skylark2 mini coconut soap sounds delicious.

Handy hints:
Put a plastic tablecloth on the table, and put two side by side under it, to contain mess. (Have dustpan & brush/hoover on standby)
Add your fragrance first to the dry mix.
Use an old teaspoon to drizzle almond oil/carrier oil into the dry mix before you spritz, and use some old metal spoons to stir with.
Decant some witch hazel into spray/spritzer bottles. It's easier to get the mixture damp rather than soaking wet, and it fizzes less.

Have some wipes ready to clean up afterwards.

Apropos of parties rather than bath bombs, I was in The Works earlier and they had a lot of little crafty things that a lady next to me, speaking to her friend said would be good for parties. Might be worth a look if you decide against the bombs?