From Creating Luminaries and Greeting Cards to Making Your Pumpkins Glitter, Epsom Salt Helps You Create and Have Fun

While Epsom salt is hundreds of years old, now there's a new way to use it: making crafts.

The Epsom Salt Council has added a new page to its website with instructions for a variety of craft projects. Frost your windows, decorate champagne glasses or make sparkly Easter eggs. Whether it's Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Halloween, the Holidays or just an uneventful day at home, Epsom salt can help you celebrate and have fun.

"Using Epsom salt as a craft medium is becoming more and more popular," said Amanda Formaro, a former craft expert for Disney's Kaboose.com who now runs the website Crafts by Amanda, which offers easy tutorials for kids and adults. Formaro offered guidance to the Council as it created its new web page.

"Epsom salt is perfect for creating pretty textures for all sorts of projects," Formaro said. "And it's an inexpensive material that's readily available at discount stores, dollar stores, pharmacies and groceries."

Among the projects featured on the Epsom Salt Council's new web page:

• Shimmering luminaries — Add sparkle to candleholders at a party or even a wedding.
• Greeting cards — Customize a homemade card for someone you love.
• Early frost fall décor — Coat your pumpkins and gourds, making an attractive fall display.
• Holiday jars — Paint them red, white and blue on the Fourth of July or choose different colors for other holidays. These are great for holding napkins, straws and utensils, dressing up your celebration.
• Snowballs — You can hang them as ornaments or place them in a basket or vase for a winter-themed centerpiece.

"There are so many fun crafts you can do with Epsom salt, and this is another reason why it's always been one of the most versatile household products," said Epsom Salt Council Vice President Mark Vincent. "Whether it's creating a craft, relaxing with an at-home spa treatment, soothing aching muscles, boosting your garden, or nurturing your health, we are pleased that people keep finding new benefits of Epsom salt."