I have always been big on homemade Christmas presents and used to help my children, when they were young, to make gifts for their friends and teachers etc. I still make most of my gifts – some are for eating and now with my Essential Oils at hand, many gifts are for pampering. It is very easy to make gifts with Essential Oils. Keep reading to find out just how easy it is!

Bath Salts

Bath salts are easy to make with your favourite oil and some Epsom Salts. This year I included some dried rose petals. You can package the bath salts in small jars or you may be able to buy empty Christmas baubles. Fill these with the salts and tie a ribbon at the top for a festive and useful gift!

Scrubs

Sugar based facial and body scrubs make a wonderful gift. They generally contain oil and honey as well as raw sugar for that ‘scrub’ effect. You can ‘flavour’ them in various ways. This year I made Spiced Coffee, Lime and Coconut and Lavender. Recipes for some great scrubs can be found at one of my favourite sites: The Inspired Little Pot.

Perfume

This year I have been making perfume using the Essential Oil blend for women. I added 20-30 drops of oil to a roller ball bottle and filled it up with Fractionated Coconut Oil. I included a few dried rose petals to make it look pretty, Simple!!

Foaming Handwash

If you are trying to avoid using fake perfumes then you will probably turn up your nose at the soaps provided in public bathrooms. So make your own soap and gift some to your friends too! You can purchase mini foaming hand wash bottles that fit nicely in a handbag. This makes a great gift. Here is the Foaming Hand wash Recipe.

 

Handmade Soap

I use a goat’s milk base ‘melt and pour’ soap for this and add in Essential Oil. Ylang Ylang and Patchouli or Lavender make nice soap scents. Melt about 200 g of soap base in a microwave for a few minutes or in a Thermomix for about 8 minutes on 80 C, Speed 1. If the soap is not runny by this stage, turn up the heat to 90 C for an extra minute or two. Add about 1/4 cup of grapeseed or olive oil and 30 drops of your Essential Oil choice and mix in well. Working quickly, pour the soap into a silicon mould. I used snowflake and Christmas tree shapes this year. Spray the surface with vodka to remove any bubbles that may have formed and set the soap in the moulds in the freezer. When set, pop out and package!

I hope these ideas are useful for you and your friends!

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Until next time,

Gillian (and Andrew)