I love making gifts for the Thanksgiving and the holidays. It’s way fun. It makes me feel good. Keeps the stir crazy feeling at bay. And it’s usually a good time/fun bonding thing to do with the kiddos. I try and play up the whole giving over receiving thing too, but I’m pretty sure that goes in one ear and out the other. Oh well. One day maybe.
Anyhoo- here are my 4 favorite things to give. WITH links to all the supplies. This took me FOREVER y’all, so I hope you enjoy ❤️😍😘
Rosemary Grapefruit Bath Salts:
For some reason this scent combination is just amazing. You don’t even have to put it in the bath. You could just hide it and take it out every now and again to smell it when you’re having a bad day. I’ve had friends who have done that. No really, I’m serious. It’s the bomb.
And it’s got pink salt in it and little green flecks of rosemary, which makes it oh-so-pretty🤗.
For this you will need Epsom salts, coarse ground pink himalaya sea salt, fresh rosemary and grapefruit essential oil. I’ve also linked all of the products ON the products list below if you want to order them. I almost always use Amazon, cuz ain’t nobody got time for Michaels with 3 kids!!!!
Mix:
20 drops grapefruit essential oil
3 tbsp rosemary (get fresh from the grocery! It’s smells heavenly and I feel like the scent disperses more evenly when it dries IN the Salts❤️).
Mix all of this up in a large bowl. Then simply pour into your containers and voila! Done. (Funnels do make the pouring easier 😬… I forgot to mention that)
Pour the salts into these jars and press these labels on and you’re almost done!
You could even get fancy and give it with this Dry Brush and give the gift of self care and wellness! I like this dry brush because it’s A. Inexpensive and B. Has a long handle for those hard to reach places and C. Has a detachable handle for those areas you really want to work! I do this daily on me and the kids and I love it!
Vanilla Extract:
Because who doesn’t need vanilla extract for the Holidays, aka BAKING SEASON. It’s like the most perfect, most thoughtful gift ever. And it smells great, too.
This is also super easy, but does require a little forethought as it takes about 4-6 weeks for the vanilla to infuse.
All you need for this are:
80 proof vodka.
1 big glass bottle
Bottle funnel (optional, but makes pouring WAY easier)
That’s it!
I used 3 vanilla beans per cup and ended up making 4 cups of extract (13 beans total… one for good luck).
Simply split the vanilla beans lengthwise and place them in your glass jar with the vodka. Let that sit for 4-6 weeks. Or longer if you want! The longer it sits, the better it gets. Don’t be afraid to shake it, sniff it etc. during this process. It’s not a delicate thing.
Once you’re satisfied with the smell, taste and potency, just use a tiny funnel to pour it into your containers. Slap on a top, some cute labels, wrap it up and poof! A great, thoughtful, holiday DIY gift 🤗. If you really have it together you could gift it with a cute little cookie cutter or something.
PS- I never have it that together 🤷🏻♀️. Maybe one day…
Peppermint Extract
Another great gift idea for baking season. This one is like a candy cane in a bottle… for reals!
Same principle as the vanilla extract, except you use fresh mint. Fresh mint can be a little expensive in the winter, but grows like a weed in the summer. So a little forethought goes a long way again here. Just siphon away about 4 cups of mint leaves in the summer, submerge them in some vodka and BAM! You’ve got Christmas in July. And you can let it sit and have Christmas again in December. It doesn’t go bad!
Anyhoo, for this I used a 2:1 ratio. One cup picked, washed and dried mint leaves to 2 cups 80 proof vodka. Just wash and gently rub the mint leaves dry (the bruising helps the peppermint seep out of the leaves), put them in a glass jar, submerge the leaves with vodka, place the cover on the glass jar and let that sit for 2-4 weeks, depending on the desired level of potency.
When you’re ready to bottle the extract, rinse and sterilize your little glass jars, strain the leaves over a funnel to pour the extract into your bottles. Slap on some cute labels and package nicely 🤗.
Lip Balm
I was literally flabbergasted when I saw how easy it was to make all natural EOS like lip balm. And then of course, since I’m me, I went bonkers and made a zillion different scents 😬. My favs here were the sweet, non fruity, fill your whole house with baking smells type scents like vanilla, cinnamon, sugar cookie and coconut. Ohmygosh it was amazing. Lils&Q actually made this with me and we were all pretty wowed as we watched this liquid stuff solidify into lip balm. So I’ll take this as a science-mom/holiday bonding/spirit of giving parenting win too. Woot! Hey, gotta take em where I can get em. Ok, enough story time. Here is what you will need (everything is linked on Amazon😘)
10-20 drops essential oil of choice (i went by scent here: vanilla, cinnamon, sugar cookie, autumn assortment)
Once you have the goods, all you need do is combine the first 3 things in a microwave safe bowl- I used those nesting pourable bowls so it would pot easier- and microwave in increments of 30 seconds, stirring after each increment until everything is a liquid. Then you just stir in your essential oils and pour the mixture into your containers! And voila! Lip Balm🤗
The materials might seem a little expensive at first, if you don’t already have Shea butter and/or coconut oil, but this will make A TON of lip gloss. And there’s about a zillion other uses for Shea butter and coconut oil that come to mind! Plus it’s cool and fun to do ❤️
Wrapping/Trimming
Nothing says favorite things like brown paper packages wrapped up with string! Keep it nice, simple and elegant with the wrapping- it sends a nice message. You can also use really pretty sticks, pinecones or bits of tree/wreath trimmings as simple free and elegant extra touches.
I didn’t put links to any boxes, because it depends on what you make and how you want to package it. I’ve used cookie boxes, takeout style boxes and cellophane bags with trimmings in there too! The world is your <very fun> oyster😍😘. Let those creative juices flow!
Healthy Habitually 
Great gift ideas, definitely thinking of making these!
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