The Hungry Canary

From Mother’s notebook · Five-page bath bomb notes

Mother’s Color-and-Scent Bath Bombs

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup baking soda
  • ½ cup citric acid
  • ¾ cup cornstarch (appears corrected from ½ cup)
  • ½ cup Epsom salt
  • 3 Tbsp carrier oil (choices noted: almond, avocado, olive, fractionated coconut)
  • 20–30 drops essential oil, type selected from scent combinations below
  • 1 Tbsp water or witch hazel
  • 3–5 drops coloring

Directions

  1. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk until free of lumps.
  2. Add the wet ingredients to a covered Mason jar, then shake hard to combine.
  3. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry while whisking gently to prevent too much fizzing. If fizzing is heard, stop and whisk vigorously to stop the reaction.
  4. Test moisture: when the mixture clumps, pinch a little together; it should retain its shape reasonably well.
  5. If too dry, add a small drizzle of liquid until the mixture holds its shape. If needed, use a spray bottle.
  6. Fill the bath bomb mold halfway, then pack down; continue filling and packing.
  7. Gently remove from the mold and place on a bag or gift-ready surface to dry for several hours, up to 24 hours.

Colors and scents

  • Purple + lavender
  • Yellow + lemon or sweet orange
  • Green + rosemary
  • Blue + eucalyptus
  • Pink + geranium

Notebook context

The color pairings and instructions appear across four photographed notebook pages; a fifth page, marked with a large X, supplies the quantities. A separate ingredient page written in matching pen was found afterward. That ingredient page has a large X through it, so the amounts are preserved as a crossed-out version and may represent a revision rather than the final formula. Family testimony indicates Mother made projects she wrote down.

Use notes

Essential oils require appropriate skin-safe dilution, and some oils can irritate skin or affect children and pets. Do not add large amounts of liquid to an effervescent mix; it can react prematurely. Avoid using an unidentified incomplete formula as a ready-to-make bath product without checking the full ingredient list.