Don’t forget about Bungalow Boutique’s Ladies’ Night Out THIS Saturday, April 2nd, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. There will be LOTS of special sales on all the great products you’ve come to expect from Bungalow Boutique. See ya there!
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Tuesday Tutorial – Bath fizzies are the bomb!
This week’s tutorial is full of fizzy fun! Robert West, of Grandma Bert’s Treasures here at Bungalow Boutique is going to show you how to make bath fizzies right there in your very own kitchen! What a great little gift idea!
So here you go – read on, and then whip up some fizzy fun!
How to Make Fizzy Bath Bombs:
You should be able to get most, if not all, of the ingredients for your bath bombs at the grocery store. You will need:
1 cup Citric Acid (I bought mine online because it was too hard to find in any store)
2 cups Baking Soda
1/2 cup Epsom Salt
1/2 cup Table Salt
Distilled Water in spray bottle (I use half water and half Witch Hazel) You can get that at any grocery store or Walgreens
Vitamin E Oil
Almond Oil
Gather all your ingredients together along with a large mixing bowl. Measure out all the dry ingredients and put them in the bowl. Other than the 2:1 ratio of baking soda to citric acid, you can vary your ingredients quite a bit.
You can use dead sea salts for a portion or all of the epsom salt. I have used some bath salts that I purchased from Walmart and substituted them for some of the salts also. I use my hands to mix all the ingredients together and crush up any lumps from the citric acid, salt or baking powder.
Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and add 1/2 teaspoon of Almond Oil/Vitamin E oil (you can also use any other type of essential oil). I add a few drops at a time and mix it in really well with my hands.
Now comes the fun part! I put about 1/4 cup distilled water and 1/4 cup Witch Hazel in a spray bottle and mark the bottle so it doesn’t get used for something else by accident. Start by squirting a few squirts of the water mixture into the bowl. You will see some of the dry mixture start fizzing–that is all right.
Now, mix this all up really well with your hands. The key to making bath bombs is to get exactly the right mix of dry and wet. Too dry and your bombs will crumble and fall apart. Too wet and they will fizz and grow into some pretty funny looking creatures. If you get it too wet, you can add more Citric Acid and Baking Powder making sure to keep the ratio of 2:1 (Baking soda:Citric Acid)
To test when your mixture is ready try picking up a half handful and squeeze it together. Does it clump into a ball and remain clumped into a ball?
If it remains clumped, great, you can begin molding the bath bombs. If they are still too dry, use the spray bottle and add just a bit more water and mix it all really well. Just add a little bit at a time, it only takes a few sprays of water to make a big difference. It is better to add too little water than too much.
Now it is time to mold the bath bombs. The key is to get the mixture packed really really tightly. The most popular mold seems to be ball-shaped. In the picture a plastic two-piece ball is being used. Let the molded ball sit for a minute or so, then tap the side of the ball firmly with a spoon and gently lift it off. Then place the molded ball onto some paper towel on a cookie sheet to dry.
I have tried experimenting by adding color, if you do this, add it to the water mixture and spray the color into the dry ingredients.
I have found that the best molds are to use the silicone cupcake liners with paper liners in them. If you make them into a cupcake shape, you can make a regular Royal Icing add some baking soda (for fizziness) and sodium lauryl sulfate (for lather) to the icing. Just don’t get tempted by how good the frosting looks and lick your fingers or the beaters, it is REALLY nasty!
Then pipe your frosting on as you would for cupcakes. Let all your bath bombs dry, undisturbed, for 24 hours before using them. Make sure you tell your kids and husband that these are not food–they will be fooled and want to taste them.
Be sure to come by the Bungalow Boutique and visit Grandma Bert’s Treasures, there will be bath fizzies for Mother’s Day!
Unveiling our very first Tuesday Tutorial!
I could hardly wait for Tuesday to roll around this week, because I was soooo excited to kick off our a great new feature (drumroll please) “Tuesday Tutorial“. That’s right – every Tuesday we’re going to bring you a fun, crafty and simple tutorial from one of our vendors, or a guest blogger. So here we are – it’s finally Tuesday, and here’s our very first tutorial, brought to you with lots of love from Rachel, one of our very talented, super cute, and totally awesome crafters!
Hi! I’m Rachel from Maybe Matilda and I have a fun, quick, adorable project to share. Ready? Here we go.
With spring and summer almost here (yippeeeeee!), I’ve been trying to think of ways to improve my normal warm weather outfit which pretty much consists of capris, tee, and sandals. Not terribly stylish, I know. I need simple, cute additions that will up the style factor without adding layers or too much time.
Enter the new star of my spring wardrobe, the ribbon flower belt!
It’s colorful, cute, fun, and a cinch to put together–you probably already have all the materials you’ll need to make one. You’ll be sporting your new belt in no time :-)
All you’ll need is some ribbon, fabric (you could really use just about any fabric for this–I used some mystery fabric that’s been hiding in my stash, awaiting its calling), thread, and a teeny bit of felt.
Start by cutting a small circle of felt (about 1 1/2-2 inches around)–you’ll put the felt at the back of your flower and stitch the petals onto it, and it will add some weight and sturdiness to your flower.
Cut about 7-9 large circles (about 4″) from your fabric and cut a slight scallop around the edges (I didn’t cut the circles individually . . . I just folded the fabric quite a few times and cut once. It doesn’t have to be perfect!).
Now cut 4-6 smaller circles (about 2-3″) from your fabric, and scallop those edges as well.
Center 2 of your large circles on top of your felt and, using your needle and thread, stitch once or twice through the center, securing your circles onto the felt piece.
Now take another large circle and fold it in half, then in half again, creating a 4-layer triangle shape.
Repeat this 3 more times, arrange in a circle shape on top of your circle base with the center points overlapping, and stitch several times through all layers, securing the triangle-shaped petals.
(The picture shows just 3 of the petals stitched on . . . I sewed them on one at a time.)
Using a combination of large and small circles, continue to double-fold your fabric and stitch it onto the flower until it is as full as you’d like. Stitch through all the layers a few times to make sure it’s secure, and repeat for a second flower!
Now wrap a ribbon around your waist and cut it to the length you’d like, making sure to leave enough room to tie it and have some ribbon hanging down. Cut the ribbon ends on a diagonal and, if you’d like, run the edges over a flame to seal them and prevent fraying.
Tie the ribbon on and mark where you’d like the flowers to sit. Using your needle and thread, stitch through the felt onto the ribbon to attach the flower to your belt.
That’s it! Now you have a super trendy ribbon belt to jazz up your blah summer outfits!
Bungalow Boutique 
