This year, I’m learning to live with less in my 2014 Simplicity theme year.  That means finding innovative ways to save money so we can spend our money in the places we really need to (or want to). Ever since I started running, I’ve been using bath salts more and more, and I love them. And the recipe is so simple (and includes a cheat!) – and best of all, they make great and inexpensive gifts.

Pinspiration: Soaking Bath Salts. This easy, useful project can be completed in 15 minutes. And recipes save your tired, achy muscles and make cute, inexpensive gifts.  We made these gifts for all of our kids teachers, our friends and our family (and I saved a few for myself, too).  These hard-working bath salts remove toxins from the body, relax muscles and help calm the spirit.  They are so easy to make – worth it!

Start with the right supplies.  We easily found all of these items at the big box store or online. You’ll need:

• Epsom Salts
• Essential Oils
• Colorful Bath Salts (yes, this is the cheat! – adds cute bits of color to the recipe – easy!)

Mix the ingredients together. Here is the complete recipe for our blends:

• Epsom Salts needed for all recipes, 4 lbs per recipe – add these ingredients for the blend you like:
• Calming Blend: 20 oz Stress & Tension Relief Bath Soak, 20+ drops of Lavender Essential Oils
• Relax Blend: 20 oz Aches & Pains Relief Bath Soak, 20+ drops of Lemon Essential Oils
• Health Blend: 20 oz Cold & Allergy Relief Bath Soak, 20+ drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oils

Store ingredients an airtight container. I use one scoop or more for bath soak or foot soak. These salts can be stored for quite a while.  I started making our holiday gift batches around Halloween and was ready to gift them by Christmas.

Cute packaging makes it a great gift. Store items in mason jars and add a wooden scoop as trimming.  Then you can easily gift this to everyone you know – especially for the small gifts needed – and start them on their path to more frugal, and still wonderful laundry detergent.