Our new addition was designed by the fabulous Jessica Hunggar who runs Design Dream Custom Logo,Branding, and Photo Cards on Etsy.  What do you think?

I think he needs a name.  Kitty wants to call him Sun Sun, but I vetoed that option.  I need something better than whatever a three year old can come up with off the top of her head.  So, I think we’ll have a “name the mascot” contest.  Details will be coming soon, so get your thinking caps on!

In November of last year a couple of my girlfriends and I took a class at Otion Soap Bar in Bellingham, WA.  We had a very fun time learning how to make a variety of holiday gifts including salt scrubs and scented melt and pour soaps with cool effects.  Without a doubt our favorite project of the night was making bath bombs.  Trendy body care boutiques charged up to $6 for one bath bomb, and here we were learning that it takes about 50 cents worth of materials, about 5 minutes and some practice to make your own bath bomb! 

It’s so easy, you can do it with the kids!  And it’s a great lesson in chemistry!  Acid + Base + Bathtime = Science Fun!

The hardest part of the whole process is procuring the citric acid.  You can order it online at BrambleBerry – Otion’s mail order company, find it in the bulk section of some groceries stores, or at soap making supply stores.   Here’s the recipe:

• One Part Citric Acid
• Two Parts Baking Soda
• A few drops of essential oil or fragarence oil of your choice
• Witch Hazel in a spray bottle
• Food Coloring or Powdered Colors from a soap making supply store
• Molds (you can buy bath bomb molds, use soap making molds that don’t have a lot of detail, I’ve had really good luck using a metal 1/2 cup measuring cup)

1. Measure your baking soda into a bowl.  Add your oil and color and stir with a whisk until it’s blended.
2. Add the baking soda mix into the citric acid and mix very well with your hands until it’s completely blended and lump free.
3. Spray 6 spritzes of witch hazel over the mixture and blend.  You want it to be moist enough to hold together when it’s squeezed, but not too wet.  It should look like this:
4. If it’s still too dry spray it with more witch hazel, 3 or 4 spritzes at a time.
5. Pack it into the mold.  Put a little in, mash it in super well and then add some more.  Keep packing until the mold is full.  
6. Let the mixture dry in the mold for a few minutes and then pop it out.
7. Let it cure at room tempature for a few hours and then store it in a moisture proof container!

We made champagne scented bath bombs and I tried using a new 3D mold from Bramble Berry.  As you can see it didn’t work out too well!  Nate got frustrated with getting the halves to stick together so we gave up and made “domes”. 

Anne-Marie, who owns BrambleBerry and Otion has some great tips and recipes on her site The Soap Queen!

Have fun!