I have a few lavender plants scattered around the yard. I really love lavender. I read about making lavender bath bombs in Living Craft magazine, and we have been having a week of rain, so the kids and I decided to make them. It was fun--we took the dried blossoms of the stems, and kind of mushed them, and mixed them with a cup and a half of baking soda, a half cup citric acid, a tablespoon of water, fifteen drops of lavender essential oil, a few tablespoons of olive oil--I added that last a little bit at a time until they could hold together pretty well, and some food coloring. My idea with the food coloring was to put in the tiniest amount of blue and red, so it would be sort of lavender. The kids' idea was to add a ton of food coloring, because food coloring is really fun, and so the lavender bath bombs turned a sort of smurf-like bright blue. They particularly enjoyed making the shapes. Again, I was picturing lovely little balls, but we ended up with pancake like creations. Luckily, I am not a perfectionist, and even if we were going to give them away, I wouldn't really care. They work, after all. It was fun--the citric acid and baking soda react when they get wet, so the pancakes expanded a little and became very light before they dried. And when you put them in the bath, they fizz, which is so exciting and makes bath time a little easier. Although apparently we did not crush the lavender flowers enough because they make a little bit of a mess in the tub. I didn't take a picture of that particular mess, however--you can just see them bubble. I would say that it was great science, and it might be for older or more precocious kids--how the citric acid and the baking soda react and fizz. I am actually not sure why, although I get a kick out of it. But it was fun.
We also have a bunch of dried lavender in the van, which was Elsa or David's idea, and it is very pleasant. I have another plant that I want to put in somewhere, but I am not sure where. I will figure it out though.
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