Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Childmade Gift: Homemade Bath Fizzies

M's little friend just turned five the other day.  M and G helped me to make little heart shaped peppermint bath fizzies for a gift.  The directions came from Martha Stewart.
Things I liked about this as a birthday gift:

1.  It allowed M and G to give the gift of time and service instead of their parents' money.
2. The bath fizzies really are a fun gift to receive (unlike, say a picture, which may not be very exciting for the receiver)
3.  Bath fizzies get used up and don't add to the toy clutter problem so many families have.
4.  They were fun and interesting to make.  The girls enjoyed stirring the ingredients together, spritzing it with a spray bottle, and packing it into the heart-shaped ice cube trays.

Things that weren't as wonderful:

1.  Citric acid can be a bit difficult to find.  (It is sometimes sold for canning, and can be found at Central Market for any interested Austin readers)
2.  They take a long time to make.  You have to moisten the mixture slowly with a spray bottle so that it doesn't fizz while you're doing it.  Martha Stewart's website warned that spritzing could take quite a while, and it DID. We spritzed for about 35 minutes before it was ready to pack into the trays.
3.  It can be a bit messy.  G, in fact, spilled the entire bottle of peppermint oil onto my dining room table.  At least the mess smelled pleasantly of Christmas though!

What are some other child-made gifts you have enjoyed giving?

5 comments:

Mariel said...

hi katey! i am really enjoying your blog. i think how you present your ideas is the same way that i present mine in my blog... again, it's just what i think! :)

anyway, last year, my daughter and i didn't make gifts, we made Christmas wrappers instead. :) here's my post about it... http://www.thelearningbasket.com/2011/09/christmas-craft-special-gift-wrappers.html

maryanne @ mamasmiles said...

This is a project I've been meaning to try for a while. Thanks for the pointers - it's especially good to know it can take 35 minutes of spritzing!

My 5yo likes to sew little animals, which can make good gifts for family members and close friends.

sarah said...

This is awesome, you have the best ideas, especially for thos of us with small kiddos

Sue Walker said...

delightful

Vanessa at Rescuedgoods said...

Great idea-I love to have the kids create their own gifts for friends and family.