Those who know me know I have a weed problem: I like to grow it, but don't partake that much. In the three years I've tended a garden, I've always made room for a few cannabis plants. I'm more than a little intrigued with the plant: the growing, the processing and its many uses.
But what to do if you don't smoke it? I can't sell it. I give it away to friends, but unless you have those kinds of friends, how much can they take?
For about a year, I've tinkered with creating edibles -- with varying success -- gummies (taste terrible!), chocolates (all the rage!). Along those lines, I have also made cannabis butter and THC- and CBD-infused oils. These, as with the actual bud, are not legal to sell, so they are mostly gifted.
But this winter, we've taken our cannabis obsession in a whole different direction by making bath salts, bath bombs and a pretty great salve. These, of course, will not alter your state of mind, but could aid your body in relaxation and recovery.
Our first go was making bath salts by taking the cannabis oil I made and mixing it with Epsom Salts and essential oils. We added natural coloring to some to make them pretty and gave them fun names: Hippy Dream has a mix of patchouli and sandalwood oils in it and was left its natural color; Christmas Cookie has a combination of peppermint, sweet orange and vanilla oils and we used beet root powder to give it its pink color; and Mellow Yellow (originally named the Citrusy One) mixes lemon, grapefruit and sweet orange oils and uses turmeric for coloring.
Again, there's no high associated with the salts but all three smell great and provide a really relaxing soak in the tub.
From there, we decided to take the salts and make bath bombs, which means mixing them with citric acid, cornstarch and baking soda. Our first attempts were hilarious and a complete failure! For one, the recipe we were using said to add water to make a sand-like texture. It didn't say "don't use too much or these things will bubble up and fizz all over the counter," which of course they did. The second problem is we didn't have a mold -- a specific mold -- for making the bombs. We basically used a rubber ice cube ball maker with a hole in the top. The fizzing mixture proceeded to flow out the hole in a steady stream. Trying to dry the molds in front of the fireplace only made the mess worse!
Finally, after watching a few YouTube tutorials, we got the mixture right by cutting down on the amount of water, used the right type mold, and voila, perfect little bombs!
Our final project was making a salve (see top picture). We combined our cannabis oil with organic beeswax, African shea butter and extra-virgin olive oil and then added sweet orange essential oil for scent. It's a simple process and a really nice balm for dry and cracked skin. We had made a similar salve earlier, but without the shea butter or olive oil, and while nice, it lacked the creamy consistency of this version.
We plan to do more of these products, so if you're interested in any of it (including bud), be in touch. Some of the products are on our Shop page, others are not allowed for sale.