Smelly Jelly Kelly

I've mastered the art of the smelly jelly, as well the art of being a poor graduate student, so it only makes sense to master the art of gifts on a budget.  Using jars, smelly jelly crystals, and fragrance oils found here, water, and some old food coloring that's too old for me to want to eat, but not too old to look pretty in stuff I can't eat, I made these:

Fragrance oils are $2.60 an ounce (about 30 mL), which contributes to 2 jars and a little extra for some lotion experimentation (I use about 14-15 mL per jelly jar).  A set of 12 jars (including the metal slitted lids and the plastic lids to keep the fragrance in until you're ready to use it) sets you back $14.29, but you could use any old candle jars or old jelly air freshener containers you have around, or re-use the 12 from this site (like I do) when your jellies dry out--just clean it out and make a new one.  One pound of jelly crystals only costs $6.75, and this is enough to make 80 jars.  So really, one jar costs about $2.56 to make.  And they smell awesome and like anything you want (there are TONS of fragrance options), plus they're really cute.  Score.

These fragrance oils can also be used in candles, which might be my next adventure in the summer.  If I can nail that down, I'd save a lot of money that currently goes to my candle obsession (though the air freshening smelly jelly jars do help abate that).

It wouldn't be an adventure if there wasn't a risk for failure...

HOLY BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, BATMAN!!

This afternoon I stalked the UPS guy for my package of soap/lotion makings.  Having no patience at all, I decided to make a bottle of blueberry muffin shower gel immediately.  I was SUPER excited about the blueberry muffin scent that I put the maximum amount (5% by volume) in 8 ounces of gel.  Um... yeah.. don't start at the MAX concentration... work your way up as you find the desirable result.  This is what happens when I let my artsy side take over my science nerd side; I'm pretty sure this other side to me is directly related to my hair color, and has nothing to do with cerebral activity. DOH! I really should have known better..
But I couldn't just accept failure from just the open bottle sniff test.. Oh, no, I was going to test this bad boy.. on myself.  As far as texture goes, it was kinda runny for my liking (watered down with the fragrance), and I could have poured that mess on a dry loofa and still gotten a lather.  So I lathered up the loofa and OH MY FREAKING BLUEBERRIES my olfactory system was ATTACKED! It's a blueberry muffin AMBUSH!  Needless to repeat, it was uber-concentrated. I knew that. Why did I do this, again?  But like a dumb blonde champion, I lathered up and finished my experiment.
Bright side: it's not a complete fail.  After drying off, I smell like a non-concentrated muffin, so the after-smell is good. I still need to dilute that bad boy, which now having used part of my experimental bottle, I can add more unscented soap (although, I'm thinking of adding unscented lotion to it to see if I can get a more moisturizing product).  I'll keep diluting it until I get a pleasant muffin scent that doesn't take over my poor nose, so it's not a complete waste.  Also a good note: the entire upstairs (the level with the shower) smells like blueberry muffins, in a pleasant way.  Kinda like I put muffin-scented air fresheners everywhere.  Speaking of which, I probably should have started small with, well, air fresheners...
The experiment continues!

*EDIT:  I made lotion with waaay less blueberry muffin fragrance, and it is a success! I actually quite like it! ...except for the part where I have to fight off the urge to bite myself because I start craving blueberry muffins...