Peace.
I honestly cannot believe how fast the holidays are approaching this year. The only thing I do is Winter solstice, but I don’t want to neglect friends & family that may celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, or anything else. I decided this year to make gifts and send them out. Use your homesteader skills, or take this time to learn some new skills. These gifts can help you save money, and give a truly thoughtful gift.
For many of these gifts, you only need a few ingredients. Essential oils, beeswax, and coconut oil. Visit Wellness Aromas to grab some oils there, the rest you can buy locally, or on Amazon.
1. DIY Wax Melts
Wax melts are a great gift to folks who love natural scents in their homes. Typically store-bought wax melts are made of harmful chemicals such as paraffin wax which emits toxic chemicals when burned. Making these on your own can bring down the level of toxicity while keeping on the scent. One Good Thing has a great simple recipe that you can tweak to your own tastes.
2. DIY Candles
I recently made some candles and realized I loved it. The last time I made candles was in 6th grade camp years ago. We made the ones that you dip. You can pickup a kit from any craft store and do your own labels. I love them, and again they aren’t made with all the harsh chemicals.
3. Make Your Own Soap
I haven’t tried making soap yet, but it is certainly on my list of things to do. There are soap making kits at your local craft store. What’s great about this is that it makes a perfect little handmade gift, but you can use those skills for yourself or even for opening up your own shop.
4. DIY Sleep Pillows
If you can sew a basic stitch, you can make a sleep pillow. Just get some rice and essential oils that help you sleep, like lavender for example. The Tiptoe fairy has a great step by step way to create them here.
5. Make Your Own Body Scrub
This is a lovely gift and super easy to make. I made some sugar scrub not too long ago, and I loved it. Just get some jars and decorate them and use some color for your scrub. Use these recipes from treehugger.com.
6. DIY Chapstick
This project looks super easy. Something Turquoise has step by step instructions complete with printing your own labels. I will definitely try this soon.
7. Make Your Own Lotion
A simple and natural lotion is sure to be a great handmade gift idea for those close to you. You can always tweak the type of essential oil, but Lia Griffith has a fantastic easy recipe on her blog.
8. Make Your Own Custom Tea
Growing herbs and veggies, I have stumbled across a use for them that people have been doing forever it seems. This was herbal tea. I grow mint and rosemary and lavender right now, but I hope to do more to make more types of tea. You can even buy the herbs online and have a company custom create a tea. Nwedible has a great comprehensive guide to making your own teas at home.
9. DIY Incense
I have made incense before and they are rather easy once you gather all your materials. This is a great gift, and I am sure your friends will love it. Here is a great video that helps just in case you may get lost.
10. Bake Something
Home made baked cookies are a great addition to your handmade gift idea box. There are so many recipes out there and they are easy to package and send quickly.
