HELOISE Mix up a great homemade gift for the holidays

Dear Heloise: With Christmas right around the corner, I was hoping you would reprint the recipe for bath salts. I don't remember the correct ratio of the Epsom salts and glycerin. When I made this wonderful mixture for gifts in the past, I found that mixing the food coloring with the glycerin first, then mixing that into the bowl with Epsom salts, made the mixing easier. Sherry, via e-mail
Don't you love this easy-to-make, cheap and fragrant gift? It does make a great homemade gift for the holidays or anytime, and it's been more than a year since this was last printed. You asked (as well as many others), so here it is.
All you need is:
3 cups Epsom salts
1 tablespoon glycerin
Food coloring
A favorite perfume or cologne
Use a glass or metal bowl -- not plastic, because it will stain. Pour the Epsom salts in a bowl, then add 1 tablespoon glycerin, a few drops of food coloring and some of your favorite cologne or perfume (or mix the glycerin and food coloring first, as you mentioned). Stir the ingredients until all of it is combined and the color is just right! You can add more color, too.
Now it's time to package this fragrant gift in pretty, airtight containers. Apothecary jars with a latch work well and come in different sizes and sometimes colors. Look in the housewares or kitchen department of your favorite discount department store. FYI: A tightfitting lid is key to keeping the fragrance and moisture intact.
Attach a small card or tag to the container with instructions on use: Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup to a warm bath.
What a great gift idea for Christmas or any time of the year! Heloise
P.S. Hey, make a batch for yourself, too!
Dear Heloise: My wife and I enjoy your column in The (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) Tribune.
Each morning when I go downstairs to the kitchen to bring up a cup of "wake-up" coffee for my wife and myself, I carry the two cups in a medium-size loaf pan instead of on a tray.
The loaf pan is just the right size for two coffee mugs; they do not slide around as they would on a tray. If I do spill a drop or two, it stays in the pan and does not fall onto the carpet.
I hope this little hint can help someone else who has the task of procuring the morning cup of coffee. Robert Brown, Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Dear Heloise: As soon as I receive weekly fliers from the three nearby supermarkets, I write the date they will expire in the upper right-hand corner of the front page. Then, in the top margin, I write the name of any advertised item I might be needing, followed by the sale price, and also note with a (c) if I have a coupon.
This is an easy way to compare for the best price. And when a family member or I go to the store, a quick check of that store's flier will show the list of what to purchase and if there are coupons. Arline Parker, Grand Rapids, Mich.
XSend a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
King Features Syndicate