Make Your Own Holiday Gifts

A christmas or two ago, a friend asked me if I would help her set up a Do-It-Yourself Holiday Gifts Workshop. She wanted to share the joy of natural wellness with her mother, sister, best friend and her mom’s best friend, by letting them create their own Holiday Gifts, while she’d foot the bill on material. What a sweet gift!

I loved the idea, and had so much fun thinking out options and setting up the following: I created 4 different ‘stations’ and wrote the recipes of the product we’d make on parchment paper that I’d placed on the table. Most stations had several options to get creative according to people’s personal preferences – as while one person may lo-o-o-ve Lavender, another might prefer Peppermint or Lemon.

To help inspire you to make your own natural and waste-free Holiday Gifts this year, here is what me made:

1. Coffee Scrub:
I don’t drink coffee, so had no idea what coffee to pick for this. I then came across  the Ethical Bean brand, which has a little ‘sniff’ hole on the back of the package, and smelled them all. There was only one that smelled really great to me, called Lush, so I got it. It turned out to be the type that my friend’s mom drink, so it was a winner from the start.

For the scrub we used:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup ground coffee
• 2 tablespoons of lavender pods (I found dried ones at The Soap Dispensary, a Vancouver favourite that sells all sorts of beautiful things in bulk)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable glycerin – which is nice and soft for the skin, and doesn’t make your bathtub as slippery as an oil might
• Dark Glass, air-tight containers (from The Soap Dispensary)

2. Rollerball Blend (5 mL):
We used 30 drops of essential oils, and topped it up – using a pipette – with Fractionated coconut oil. I put a couple of options out, but also left options open to create something according to people’s intuition.

Rollerball bottles can be found on Amazon, Aromatools, and other essential oil suppliers.

Happy day:

• • 10 drops lavender
  • 10 drops lemon
  • 10 drops wild orange

– Top with FCO

Allergy/Seasonal blend:

• • • 10 drops lavender
    • 10 drops lemon
    • 10 drops peppermint

– Top with FCO

Sunshine & Focus blend:

• • • 15 drops wild orange
    • 15 drops peppermint

– Top with FCO

Achy muscle Blend:

• • • 15 drops lavender
    • 15 drops peppermint

– Top with FCO

3. Epsom Salt Soak

We used:

• • • 1 cup epsom salt
    • 1 cup baking soda
    • 2-3 drops of essential oils of choice
    • dried flowers or other prettiness
    • Mason Jars to store, cute labels to personify

Oily Inspiration: some added the grounding Balance blend, others used the calming Serenity blend. A drop of two of Deep Blue was added by some, to help soothe sore muscles.

4. Aroma Mist Spray

This is a great way to freshen up a space, or to spruce things up without using a diffuser or when a diffuser is found to be too intense.

We used:

• • • Distilled water
    • about 1/2 tablespoon of witch hazel (with alcohol, this helps to bind the essential oils and the water)
    • Between 7-10 drops of essential oil of choice
    • Glass Spray Bottles which were bought at The Soap Dispensary

Oily Inspiration: On guard, the Protective blend – which kind of smells like the Holidays – to help support your immune system, Lavender, for a spritz on your pillows to help you get a good night’s sleep, or a mix of Wild Orange and Peppermint for a focused afternoon at work.

Now it’s your turn to get crafty!

This was super duper fun event to put together, and can very easily be replicated for your own family and friends! It’s a beautiful mix of gifting things and an experience – for getting to spend time together and creating yummy things is the highest good.

Enjoy getting crafty – if you need ideas, supplies or support, or would like me to host a DIY Class for you – let me know!