WHAT YOU NEED – HOW TO DO IT

JAR – SALT – SCENT – COLOUR - DECORATION

A pretty container: A clean jam jar or pretty hexagonal jar (honey jars are good for this) works well, but be creative, you may find some unusual shaped containers at Cornucopia – of course you have to eat the contents first! You could buy a Kilner jar from Eynsham Emporium for bigger quantities; the choices are only limited by the contents of your kitchen cupboard and your imagination!

Enough salt to fill the container: Choose ordinary cooking salt or a chunky sea salt from the Co-op. Epsom Salts, if you prefer, are on sale in small boxes at Lloyds the Chemist or in larger quantities at The Eynsham Soap Company. All types of salt work pretty much the same, they just look different.

Scent: Essential oils are the best and easiest choice for scenting your salt but not all are gentle or beneficial. My advice is, consult a book from the library or stick to simple lavender. Lloyds the Chemist have a limited range of essential oils; if you want to experiment go to Witney or Oxford or buy from a reputable online supplier. As a rough guide you need 20 drops of essential oil per 100g of salt.

Colour: It isn’t necessary to colour the salt – especially if you're going for a natural look – but it can look nice if you do. Food colouring for icing cakes works well and is on sale in the Co op. Choose the colour carefully – once added, you can't take it out!

Decoration: A few flower petals from the garden are ideal for this. They should be perfectly clean - you don’t want greenfly or ants in your salts! - and ideally dried before use, or they go black/yukky brown. Scraps of ribbon, lace or pretty material are also useful to decorate your container. Don’t forget a little card to tell the recipient what it is – and the ingredients in case they are allergic to anything.

HOW TO MAKE THE SALTS

This is easy. Place the salt in a mixing bowl (glass or ceramic, not plastic). Add 20 drops of your scent and mix very well. Add one or two drops of food colour and continue to mix until evenly coloured. You can always add a few more drops but be careful, you don’t want to end up staining the bath or the person in it! The more you mix, the better the salts will be. Finally mix in the flower petals and pour the salt into your container (or just sprinkle petals on top). Pop the lid on and decorate the jar by tying with raffia (from the Emporium flower shop), ribbon or lace. Decorate your gift tag or use a bought one and tie it on.

The Eynsham Soap Company run regular workshops for children aged 8 years and upwards during school holidays – book a workshop and make a unique gift for parent, grandparent or teacher!
Jane Le Galloudec – The Eynsham Soap Company

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