It’s nice to give homemade gifts to the people you care about. For instance, at Christmas, these may be the people who aren’t in your immediate family, whom you don’t normally shop for, but you still want to remember.
Of, if you have a large family and you pick names, to buy presents for just one person, you can still give small, homemade presents to everyone else, just to show them you care.
Homemade Gifts From Essential Oils
(This post contains affiliate links, and if you purchase a product I receive a referral fee, at no extra cost to you.)
Homemade gifts using natural essential oils are so easy to make, and always very much appreciated, especially if the recipient is health conscious and wants to avoid toxic chemicals. These plant-based extracts can be used to make bath salts, foot scrubs, soaps and general, all purpose cleaners. You can also make luxurious lotion bars with essential oils that eliminate the need to carry around a bottle of lotion. These bars can be put in a plastic bag and tucked into your purse.
Because essential oils are highly concentrated, only a relatively small amount is needed. So these gifts are economical, as well as fun to make.
Here are a few ideas for Christmas presents, housewarming gifts, teacher appreciation presents and shower favors.
Epsom Salt Lavender Detox Bath
This was a very easy gift to make. In the past, I’ve given it to people not generally on my Christmas gift. Because it is so simple, and inexpensive, the recipient won’t be embarrassed if he or she doesn’t have a gift for you. They also won’t feel obliged to give you a present the next time they see you.
Epsom salt and baking soda, with a little lavender essential oil added, is used by many people as a general detox bath. A half cup in a warm tub of water will gently draw toxins out of your body. (However, make sure to take this bath in the evening, when you plan to stay in, as lavender is a natural sedative and can make you drowsy. Also, make sure you don’t fall asleep in the tub.)
This mix can also be used as a foot soak. It smells great and softens your feet, so dead skin can be easily removed. (Diabetics should consult with a physician before trying this.)
Homemade Epsom Salt Bath Soak
Lavender is associated with cleanliness. So it’s often used as a kitchen disinfectant, these “bath salts” also double as a great household cleaner. One way I use them, other than to soak my feet, is to put a teaspoon into my bathroom sink, and scrub it with a sponge. It cuts right through dirt and grime.
Anyway, here is a very easy recipe, so you can make your own lavender bath salts.
Lavender Epsom Salt Bath Recipe
Get a clean, empty Mason jar with a lid. (If you don’t own any empty Mason jars, they’re available here)
Put enough Epsom salt in the jar so that there’s only an inch and a half of room left.
Cover this with a half inch of baking soda.
Add 10 to 15 drops of lavender essential oil. (It’s available here)
Shake the jar and tie a decorative tag on the jar. (Decorative gift tags are available here)
Where to Buy a Good Brand of Lavender Oil
Lavender is among the most versatile of the aromatic oils, and it’s one of the essential oils that I have to continually replace. I use it so much. If you need some lavender oil, I highly recommend Plant Therapy. It smells exquisite and is made by a company that works with world famous essential oil expert Robert Tisserand. Plant Therapy oils are not sold through multilevel marketing channels.
Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub Recipe
This is also very easy to make. Professional pedicures are expensive. This natural scrub may make it possible to go a little longer between trips to the nail salon. Plus, the active ingredients are plant-based, so you won’t be exposing yourself to potentially toxic chemicals.
Empty medium-size jelly jars are what I used to package the peppermint foot scrub I made as a few extra presents to give this Christmas. Here is is a very easy recipe, which could also be adapted if you wanted to make it in bigger batches, such as if you needed larger quantities for homemade baby and wedding shower favors.
Put one cup of granulated organic brown sugar in a bowl.
Melt two tablespoons of pure coconut oilon low heat.
When it becomes liquid, slowly add it to the sugar. You don’t want it to drip, but you want to coat the sugar crystals.
Add 20 drops of peppermint oil and shake. (Peppermint oil is available here)
Put the mix in an empty jelly jar and cover with a decorative lid. (If you need decorative jelly jars, they’re available here.)
Where to Buy a Good Brand of Peppermint Oil
Peppermint and lavender oil are equally versatile. Out of all the essential oils I own, these are the two I constantly run out of. Since I buy a lot of peppermint oil, I’ve been able to sample a number of brands. Plant Therapy is excellent. This was the first kind of Plant Therapy oil I tried, once I decided I didn’t necessarily need to buy MLM essential oils. I was so blown away by the quality of Plant Therapy peppermint oil that I became a repeat customer.
&
Easy Bath Bomb Recipe Without Citric Acid
I was surprised by how easy it was to make my own bath melts, otherwise known as bath bombs. Mine are closer to bath melts because they slowly dissolve, rather than fizzle. That’s because I didn’t have any citric acid in the house, and I didn’t feel like running to the health food store to get some.
So I made my own bath melts with ingredients I had on hand. Since I didn’t have a fancy mold, I used an antique deviled egg plate.
The entire process took very little time. But the bath melts needed several days to air dry. Otherwise, they would have crumbled when I tried to take them out of the mold.
Make Your Own Bath Melts Recipe
Here is the easiest bath bomb recipe I could find. It yields nice smelling bath bombs/melts that will slowly dissolve when put in water. They smell great and make nice non-toxic DIY gifts.
1 cup of baking soda
1 cup of Epsom salt
20 drops of essential oils (They’re available here)
Bottled lemon juice, plus an equal amount of water.
Empty plastic spray bottle (available here)
Combine the baking soda and Epsom salt in a bowl. Put the lemon juice and water in an empty spray bottle. Slowly spray this mixture onto the baking soda and Epsom salt. Stir and keep adding more spray until you have a consistency that can be molded. Add the essential oils and mix thoroughly right before you spoon this into the mold.
Round Molds For Bath Bombs
You definitely don’t need to buy special molds to make bath melts. I used what I had on hand. However, you can also find round molds, if you want something more uniform and professional looking.
&
Easy to Make Body Butter Recipes
Unfortunately, many lotions and moisturizers contain potentially dangerous chemicals, such as parabens. Although the link has not been proven, there are growing concerns these compounds could be one reason we’re seeing so much breast cancer. That’s because they mimic the female hormone estrogen.
The good news is natural plant-based body butter is so easy to make. So it definitely makes more sense to use something that’s safe and non-toxic on your skin. Here’s a really easy body butter recipe. You can vary the recipe by adding different types of essential oils. (Your imagination is the limit.)
Whipped Shea Body Butter Recipe
1 cup coconut oil (It’s available here)
1/2 cup of shea butter (It’s available here)
Essential oils (They’re available here)
- Heat the shea butter and coconut oil over low heat until they become liquid.
- Set aside and cool for 15 minutes
- Put the oils in the freezer for just 10 minutes. You should see them begin to solidify around the edges
- Put them in a mixing bowl and whip with an electric egg beater for 11 to 12 minutes.
- Add your favorite essential oils just before you finish whipping
Body butter will last for about six months. It makes a great gift. If you need shea butter, here’s the brand I use and highly recommend.
&
If you’d like a texture that’s firmer than body butter, you can also try making a salve.
You can do this with the same body butter concept, with the addition of beeswax. In this post, I described how to make your own essential oil sleep salve.
The post linked to above contains a simple recipe for a salve, or balm. You can easily adapt this by adding different combinations of essential oils. I used a sleep blend. But you can also make a gardener’s hand salve that contains lavender essential oil. Or, a bug bite balm with lemon eucalyptus essential oil.
DIY Easy Essential Oil Salve Recipe
You can use whatever essential oils you have available to add to your DIY salve recipe. This is also a good way to use up essential oils, before they go bad. Essential oils have a limited shelf life. Anyway, here’s a really easy homemade salve recipe.
1/4 c of coconut oil (You can get it here)
1/4 c shea butter (You can get it here)
1/4 c of beeswax pearls (You can get them here)
Melt the ingredients above in a saucepan on low heat. Watch closely to make sure this mix doesn’t smoke. As soon as it becomes a liquid, and all of the beeswax has completely melted, remove from the heat. Add the essential oils and pour the mixture into a container, which has a cover. You can also use empty mint tins. The finished product should look solid, as you can see in the photo below.
Homemade Essential Oil Gift Idea Recipes
If you’re making essential oil gifts in large quantities, you may also want to considering using Now brand essential oils. They are sold by a reputable company. These aromatic oils also come in large bottles, which you can see below.
Homemade Essential Oil Spray for Sleep
About half of all adults suffer from chronic insomnia. A number of people (myself included) use essential oils to help us fall asleep.
We’re living in very stressful busy times. Nearly everyone can use a natural calming remedy. Even if they don’t regularly have problems sleeping.
A gift that would be very much appreciated is an essential oil sleep and relaxation spray, made with essential oils. It can be sprayed on a pillow right before bed. Or you can spray it in a bedroom, right before sleeping.
Essential oil sprays are really easy to make. You just need a few ingredients, including essential oils of your choice. You also need a glass spray bottle. (Plastic may degrade when exposed long term to potent aromatic compounds.)
Natural spring water
Large glass spray bottle (You can get it here)
40 drops of lavender oil (You can get it here)
4 oz of alcohol free witch hazel (You can get it here)
Put the alcohol free witch hazel in the spray bottle and fill almost to the top with water. Leave just enough room to add the lavender essential oil.
This recipe also makes a great linen spray, to neutralize the smell of oily hair on pillows, sheets and blankets.
Homemade Soap With Essential Oils Recipe
I have yet to try my hand at homemade soap with essential oils. This is something I’d like to do, possibly this year.
People love homemade all natural soap that doesn’t contain parabens, sulfates and other nasty chemicals.
So, for now, I will defer to someone else with experience in soap making.
Here are some DIY soap recipes from a site called Lovely Greens.
Disclaimer
These statements have not been approved by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use essential oils unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.
You Might Also Like
Here are more healthy gift ideas.
