When you're wracking your brains trying to think of unusual baby shower favors that you can give your guests that are not too expensive, why not try giving away bath salts? These can be bought in bulk, colored with food coloring to suit your color scheme, and made fragrant with your favorite essential oils. Packed in prettily decorated jars, this is a truly wonderful gift to both give and make.
Once you've purchased Epsom bath salts in bulk, you can tint them in pretty pastel colors with food coloring. Go slowly, mixing it in drop by drop while stirring it slowly and thoroughly. It's best if you tint it a pound or so at a time and then mix it all together at the end to get an even color.
Once you have the color that you like, get some essential oils to add fragrance to the salts. Scents like orange and lavender or rose are best for pregnant women as it lifts the spirits yet makes them happy. It's best to check aromatherapy sites to confirm which essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy. Aniseed and bitter almond oils are only two of the oils that are not good for pregnant women, as are cinnamon, clove, and ginger.
The bath salts should be scented slowly as well, several drops at a time. It's best to make it a tad stronger than you normally would to compensate for the scent fading over time.
It's cutest to recycle baby food jars to hold the bath salts. Create your own labels on the computer and spray paint the bottle covers in your preferred colors. Or, you can use canning jars to hold the salts if you prefer. Decorate the covers with silk flowers hot-glued on top and tie a ribbon around the neck.
Why not add bath accoutrements to this to make it more complete? A bath puff made of tulle or a loofah would make a great complement, as would a rich lotion or bath oil in a complementary scent. Put them all in a woven basket with a pretty washcloth. Held in place with a tulle ribbon tied on the outside, it's a truly luxurious gift.
Another way to present this favor is to create a table setting with a selection of different scents of bath salts in large glass bowls. Provide scoops for each bowl, too. Arrange a pile of pretty circles of netting or glass jars for the guests to use. At the end of the baby shower, ask the guests to help themselves to whatever bath salts they would like to have.
When they're done filling up their containers of choice, tie a
ribbon around them. The circles of netting make an instant bath
sachet. It's a great way to individualize the favors, as some guests
will even create sand art with their glass jars.
It’s definitely not mandatory to give favors to your guests,
but it's special touches like this that let the guests know how
special they are to you and the mommy-to-be.