5) At my house we celebrate a new theme every month. February is Valentine's day, August is Beach, October is Halloween, and so on. For May, we're celebrating Star Trek.

There's not a lot of decor out there for Star Trek. I've been able to find some things, like pillow covers, bedding, dinnerware, etc. However, for our list of decor, I've had to do a lot of crafting for this theme.

1) I've crafted larger sizes pillow covers. It's easy to find 16x16 or 18x18., but not 12x2o or 16x24. I even had a slight mishap with the 12x20 pillow cover. I misspelled "boldly". I initially had "To bodly go". 

2) You've seen the garden flags, but I have also designed lawn sticks. I accidently painted the plywood circles with regular acrylic paint instead of outdoor painting. I'm hoping it'll be fine.

3) I took kitchen/dining linen and added Star Trek icons: table runner, napkins, oven mitt and pot holder. I also did a bathroom hand towel. I did have one mess up where I put the icon up-side down. A trick: heat the opposite side of the fabric while pulling the vinyl off. Be careful not to burn yourself.

4) I've got tons of wood signs and cutouts designed and painted. Some will be placed at the bar and wine cabinet, some will be on the tv stand. 

5) Last, I've got hanging welcome signs for our doors. 

My favorite part of the experience has been discovering the joy of .svg files. There are a variety of graphic designers on Etsy selling images in .svg files. These files are designed with layers in mind so you can use Cricut to cut each layer in a different color. Some designers even give you commercial or small business use, so you can sell items with their design on them. 

Needless to say, it's been a journey to say the least. Come back here as I post more instructions to see what other stories or mishaps I have to share.

No not those bath salts. I’m talking about the bath salt you use when taking a bath.

I am sure you are asking yourself “How the heck did Melissa get involved in making bath salts.” The answer is Yoga.

When I first started taking yoga, I attended a class called Slow Flow with Essential Oils. The instructor mixed in various combinations of essential oils into the yoga session. It made the experience invigorating and I wondered how she chose the combinations of scents that she did. I began doing the research, picked up a book to understand the combinations and mixes. As I familiarized myself with how essential oils and aromatherapy worked, I started thinking how I could incorporate this into the crafts I already enjoyed doing. And then it hit me, Harry Potter. No surprise there.

I started by creating scents that represented different aspects of the Harry Potter world. For example, scents to represent the different houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Once the scents were created, I had to figure out how to use those scents. Harry Potter bath salts were born.

Bath salts are very easy to make. They consist of 5 ingredients: Sea Salt, Epsom Salt (to soothe tired muscles and reduce inflammation), Baking Soda (to soften waters and alleviate skin irritation), Essential Oil and soap coloring, as an option. On top of the 5 ingredients for the bath salt, you will also need a bowl and spoon to combine them, an eye dropper to add the oils, a jar to store the salt in and a funnel to pour the salt into the jar. 

The measurements of the ingredients are as follows:

• 6 parts Sea Salt;
• 3 parts Epsom Salt; and
• 1 part Baking Soda

Part is whatever measurement you use. So if I use cups as my measurement, it would be:

• 6 cups Sea Salt;
• 3 cups Epsom Salt; and

• 1 cup Baking Soda

Now what scents and combinations you add is totally up to you. If you decide to use a single scent, like lavender, simply add drops of the oil to the salt mixture. I typically do ½ the amount of oz I am making. 2 oz = 1 drop of oil, 4 oz = 2 drops and so forth. 

So, what if you want to use a combination of several oils? It’s more than just adding a drop of each of the oils you want into the salt mixture. The right combination of oils can produce a specific scent. Some oils react better to others while some have a stronger scent and can be overpowering. These are things to consider when choosing your oils as well as when mixing them. When creating a combination of oils, it’s best to mix them in a separate small bowl. I don’t have time today to go into how to combines, maybe I’ll use it as a topic for another speech. However, there are website and books you can use to help you determine the right combination of oils as well as amounts. Once your combination is mixed, you would them add in the drops you need, allowing your bath salt to have the scent you desire.

The last ingredient for the salt is the soap color. How many drops of soap coloring is equal to the oz you create. So, 2 oz of salt mixture equals 2 drops of coloring. Now stir and combine everything and you have yourself some bath salts.

Believe it or night, I got all these ingredients from Amazon. Fairly easy to get, fairly easy to make and not all that expensive either. Plus, these homemade bath salts last 1 year.

Naturally, the last step of this process is to add the bath salt to the jar. The good thing about this recipe is that if you don't make enough to fill your jar with the first batch, make more and keeping adding it to the jar until it is full.

And that is how simple it is to make bath salts.

Want instructions on how to make bath salts, click here to check out my craft corner.