If
you’ve ever visited a fair or craft show, you’ve
probably seen someone with a booth selling colored jars of decorative
sand. The "sand man" will let children and adults
alike place layers of colorful sand in decorative jars, then they use a
stick to press lines down the sides of the jar to make the sand a bit
more
attractive.
Usually the sand man’s booth is packed with children
delighted about making their little sand jars when other booths at the
fair have hardly any customers. This has been a product that
has been a proven bestseller at craft fairs for many years and probably
will for many years to come.
I have noticed a trend that makes candles using the same
method. Instead of sand, candle makers use candle wax that is
as fine as sand, the children layer the wax, the candle maker addas a
wick and then uses a torch to melt the wax on top to make a seal so the
wax will not fall out.
These also have proven to be good selling products at craft shows and
fairs.
You, yourself, can use this same method for colored bath salts, using
everyday items found at your local Wal-Mart. You will not
need to look for a supplier of jars, bottles or salt. All
you’ll need to do is to find a good source for fragrance, or
just sell colored unscented salts.
To do this, visit Wal-Mart and buy several covered bins to put your
salts in. The clear bins are best so that customers can see
the color of your salts from the side, because children usually are not
tall enough to peek inside your bins.
You will need a total of 8 bins, for 8 different colors.
The other supplies you will need are : food coloring, epsom salts,
mason jars with attractive lids, fragrance (optional).
Your customers will be placing their colored salts in mason jars,
instead of decorative jars. Mason jars are attractive
containers for bath salts.
To make your salts, mix 2 bags of salts in a stainless steel bowl (not
plastic), add a few drops of food coloring for color and stir until the
salts are colored completely and evenly. You do not need to
add much colorant, too much will stain tubs, I usually use 4 to 10
drops per 2 bags of epsom salts.
The colors of your salts will be white (leave uncolored), red (10 drops
red), green (7 drops green), yellow (7 drops yellow), blue (10 drops
blue), purple (5 drops red and 5 drops blue), orange (4 drops red and 7
drops yellow), pink (4 drops red).
Now pour your colored salts into your bins, and you are ready to
sell. If you decide to add fragrance, you will not want to
mix the fragrance with your salts just yet.
Your customers will want to choose their own fragrance, so what
you’ll need to do is to offer a selection at your table for
them to choose from. Add the fragrance to the jars BEFORE
they place their salts in their jars. Place ½ teaspoon per
jar and let them layer their salts on top of the scent. The
salts will quickly absorb the scent within a few hours so that the
complete jar is scented.
You do not want to add the fragrance on top of the salts, as this could
cause the colors to run and would ruin the design in the jar.
Make sure you include a safety note with your salts. Your safety note
should state that the salts should be used under adult supervision
ONLY, and to take care not to drop the jar as it is
breakable. Also, you should include directions for use, as
per FDA guidelines.
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