Awesome DIY All Natural Gifts for Christmas with Essential Oils!

It's coming faster than I could ever imagine!!! Christmas is only a week away! But no fear you can put these easy but high quality gifts together in no time! Links provided for reference are also affiliate links which means I could earn a little money if you buy from them but it does not cost you any more. (Thank you for your support!)

ALL NATURAL HEATING PAD: For this project you need all natural cotton fabric such as flannel, rice and a sewing machine.

1. Cut cotton fabric to make a pouch.

• for each pad you need to cut 2- 8x20 inch pieces. 
• place two pieces together right side in
• sew three sides shut, leaving one end open for filling
• turn them right side out

2. Add 6 cups rice.
3. Sew end shut.

• If you wish you can divide it up into three parts with 1.5 cups in each part. You would simply add 1.5 cups rice, sew it at 1/3 line, add 1.5 cups, sew at 2/3 line, add the last 1/5 cups and sew it shut. This does make sewing the end a little harder.

4. Include instructions for the receiver: Microwave about a minute to desired temperature (careful it gets hot!) Add a drop of essential oil to the pad then place pad on skin. Enjoy!
5. Include a sample bottle of essential oil and a special note! (I recommend including lavender for relaxing or peppermint for pain)

Sterling Silver Diffuser Necklace:  For this project you need pliers, a chain necklace (I used 20" Sterling Silver), a 3 inch eye pin and 5 lava beads (I used 8mm size).

1. Find the center & cut your necklace in half with wire cutters. It helps to wiggle it when in the cutter.
2. Attach one end of the eye pin to one end of the cut necklace. It helps to open it slightly. Then once on, close it again so it does not slide off.
3. Add 5 lava beads.
4. Curl the end with the jewelers tool, but don't close the loop yet.
5. Add it to your other end of the cut necklace then close the end.
6. Wrap with a sample bottle of your favorite blend and a special note!

Yuletide Reed Diffuser: For this project you need a small bottle with a narrow neck, sunflower oil (or similar thin carrier oil), your choice of essential oils and reeds. (I really liked these wavy reeds which are naturally dried in the sun and not died or bleached.) Note: I found my bottles at Michaels. You want one with a small neck and wide base to limit the evaporation and reduce the chance of it getting knocked over.

1. Wrap a ribbon or jute twine around the 10 reeds for gifting. Add a note with instructions for the receiver: Remove cork and insert reeds in top of bottle. In 24 hours turn reeds over to help oil saturate entire reed. Turn reeds once a week or as desired.
2. Using the funnel, add 1/4 cup oil to the bottle.
3. Add 40-60 drops essential oils. We used equal amounts of pine clove and orange. A second options being abundance and peppermint in equal amounts.
4. Seal bottle well with cork. 
5. Wrap and add tag. 

Bath Truffle: For this project you will need baking soda, citric acid, white kaolin clay, cocoa butter, Shea butter, essential oils, a mold, lavender essential oil, dried lavender buds (optional) and pink Himalayan salt (optional).
1. Measure by weight 4 oz cocoa butter and 2 oz Shea butter into glass jar and put in a double boiler to melt.
2. Prepare mold by adding dried lavender buds, Himalayan sea salt or other top like rose petals to the bottom.
3. Mix in a separate bowl:

• 2 cup baking soda
• 1 cup citric acid
• 1 cup kaolin clay

4. Once oils are melted remove from heat and add 20 drops of lavender & mix.
5. Pour oils over dry mix & mix with spoon. Once mixed kneed with fingers to finish mixing.
6. Press into molds. In my mold it made about 19 cubes.
7. Refrigerate about 30 minutes then remove from mold.
8. Wrap with tag & instructions for receiver:

Drop one bath truffle into your bath as you fill it. Enjoy!

Snow globe Cookies Top: You will need the lid and ring off your mason jar, white paper, hot glue, miniature ornaments or other small decorations, decorative snow, clear plastic ornament.

1. Trace lid onto white paper and cut out.
2. Hot glue white circle to top of lid to form your base. 
3. Hot glue ring to lid. (Lid on bottom).
4. Cut off thread hangers off the miniature ornaments and hot glue them standing up & facing forward onto paper the on lid.
5. Place a small pinch or two of snow in center.
6. Put hot glue on the edge of one half of ornament. Center on lid with hook towards the back.
7. Allow to dry while you fill jar

Snow globe Cookies Jar: You will need a quart mason jar, orange essential oil, measuring cups and the ingredients for the cookies. It also helps to have a jar funnel for this project.

Add ingredients to jar in order, do not over fill or it won't all fit.
1. 1/3cup sugar
2. 10 drops of orange essential oil- you can mix slightly but try to keep it level
3. 1/3 cup brown sugar (pack it in)
4. 3/4 cup flour
5. 1/2 tsp baking powder
6. 1/8 tsp salt
7. 1 cup oats
8. 1 cups cranberries (a little less than 1 cup, do not pack it in the measuring cup. this ingredient is important to not over do it or your chocolate chips will not fit!)
9. 1 cup white chocolate chips (may end up being a little less)
10. add snow globe lid (instructions above), ribbon with cooking instructions.

Instructions to tie to jar:

❄❄Snowglobe Cookies❄❄: Pour cookie mix into a large bowl; stir to combine. Beat in 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Drop by the tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 3 dozen.

I hope you have a blessed Christmas and enjoy making these fabulous gifts. For more ideas, see my other posts on Christmas gift ideas here: 2016 Gift ideas and 2015 Gift ideas and 2014 ideas and Men's ideas.

Merry Christmas!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Five more DIY gifts for Christmas using Essential Oils

This years "Christmas Make and Take" was a ton of fun. I took it up a notch with some of our projects. We made gifts which were a little more time intensive but overall are fairly easy and truly make great gifts for everyone on your list.







Comfort and Joy Lotion Bars: First up is my all time favorite lotion bar. I have been gifting these for years and I always get tons of compliments. These bars were seasonally scented with Joy and Orange essential oils to create a fun and luxurious bar. They are great for dry cracked skin. Rub them in your hands and the heat from your body will melt the oil. These bars are very moisturizing. I get cracked skin along my finger nails in winter and I will rub my lotion bar on the cracks at bedtime. By morning the crack will be gone.

You can use lots of options to make this with different molds. I use a small loaf silicone mold but you could make hearts for Valentines, silicone muffin mold for round shapes as well!

You will need:
1 cup beeswax
1 cup mango butter
1 cup coconut oil
1-2 tsp vitamin E oil or about 5 capsules of vitamin E
50 drops of essential oil- for this project we used 25 drops of Joy EO and 25 drops of Orange EO

In a double boiler melt the beeswax, mango butter and coconut oil. Once melted, remove from heat and add Vitamin E and essential oils. Then pour into molds. Let completely cool before removing from mold or if using deodorant containers make sure it is cooled completely before adding the cap.

Using the mold above I generally get 10-11 bars.

Essentially Infused Sea Salt Trio:Second we made Essential Infused Sea Salts in Rosemary, Basil and Oregano. I found some super cute jars (wedding favors) and some great coordinating stickers and boxes.

1. Rosemary bowl combine: 2 level Tablespoons sea salt with 1 drop of Rosemary EO
2. mix well then add 1 level Tablespoon dried Rosemary
3. mix in bowl and then scoop/pour into jar with a funnel
4. place the cover and label it, repeat with each herb, (keep separate bowls for each herb)

Diffuser Bracelet:Third up is diffuser bracelet. Using natural stones, Amazonite and Lava we created super cute bracelets and paired it with a mini dropper bottle so each person could share their favorite scent with the receiver.

1. Cut 9-10" of magic cord (1mm)
2. use 16 amazonite stones (8mm) and 3-5 lava stones (8mm or 10mm) to make your bracelet (don't fill the string or you won't be able to tie it!!!
3. triple knot it (hardest part)
4. put one dab of superglue on the knot
5. once dry, cut ends.

White Christmas Bath Bombs:These Luxury Bath Bombs with White Angelica EO and Lavender EO were like heaven....oh they smelled sooooo good. When you are ready to use them, fill your tub, climb in and drop in the bomb!

1. Combine in a large glass or stainless steel bowl until well blended: 

• 8 ounces Baking Soda for your skin and the bathwater
• 4 ounces Corn Starch
• 4 ounces Epsom Salts

2. Add the following ingredients and blend well: 

• 2-3 tsp. witch hazel
• 15 drops of Essential Oil for scent (more or less depending on how strong you want it and what scent you are using)
• 2 tsp. almond oil for your skin
• Food coloring if you want colored bombs and water.

3. At this point, your mixture should resemble wet sand.  Adding the food coloring helps you figure out if it’s well-mixed, an even color means a good mix.  When you squeeze some in your fist, it should hold together.  If it doesn’t, add witch hazel a teaspoon or less at a time until desired consistency is reached. ***Don't add too much liquid or it expands... a lot.

4. Add 4 ounces Citric Acid (this is what gives you the fizz). Mix well, but use a spoon for this because the pure citric acid can irritate your skin.

5. Once well mixed, tightly pack it down into your mold.  Let it dry 24 hours in the mold before removing.

Christmas Spirit Scented Soap: Finally we made Christmas Spirit Scented and swirled soap. I have wanted to do a soap for a long time. We used a glycerin melt-and-pour soap with shea butter. Its important when shopping for soaps that you look at the ingredients and choose one that you are comfortable with. 

1. Chop the soap into cubes and melt slowly in a double boiler or microwave. 
2. Once melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. 
3. Add your essential oils and mix well. (We used approximately 5ml bottle of Christmas Spirit for 2 1/2 pounds of soap.)
4. Pour into molds.
5. Let it set slightly, when a skin starts to show on the top is the best time to add liquid soap colorant. I used 5-7 drops in each muffin cup. stir slightly with a popsicle stick.
6. Spray with rubbing alchohol to break surface tension and pop a y bubbles. Leave to cool and harden. Do not place in fridge to speed it up- this will result in sweaty soap.
7. Once completely cooled wrap in saran wrap.
8. This recipe made 12 bars of soap, but will vary depending on molds you use and how much you fill them.

Looking for more ideas? You can view more projects here:
Five New Fabulous Christmas Gifts you can Make with Essential Oils
5 Easy DIY Christmas Gifts with Essential Oils
Mens All Natural Bath and Body Products Using Essential Oils

Let me know what you are making this Christmas. I would love to hear about it!

Blessings!!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Green Your Clean Series! Your body products

So far, we looked at a few areas of the home: the bathroom, the laundry room and the kitchen. Now lets wrap this up and take a look at how you may green up your personal body products.

When you look at all the things you put on your body, the chemical load can really add up. Lotion, shave gel, soap, shampoo, conditioner, mousse, hairspray, foundation, eye shadow, toothpaste, deodorant... I could go on and on. Look at the ingredient list on just one of those products...pretty crazy huh? 

I do not recall exact order I took when changing over products. It was one thing at at time. Taking the first step. Mostly I looked for stuff I could replace (and still be satisfied with it) without paying a ton of money for. This is how I ended up making most of my stuff (much cheaper) and ultimately what led me to Young Living.

Here is a little list of things I have done and hopefully you will find some you can try crafting. You can change the essential oils used for the scent or benefit you desire.

Foaming Shave Soap - love this stuff!

Sugar scrub - great exfoliant

Foaming Hand Soap - this can also be used in the shower or bath

Deodorant - no stink here!

Bath salts also here - so many options!

Roll on Perfume

Lotion Bar

Face Serum - replaces my face moisturizer

Pillow mist 

Magnesium Oil - great way to get your magnesium

Baby wipes - not just for babies, works great for clean ups of many kinds!

Waterless Hand Sanitizer - oh, this stuff is the bomb!

Here are two new things I have done that I have not talked about before:

Thieves Toothpaste: I made this one last year. Pretty simple to make. If you try it let me know what you think. This recipe makes a small amount which is nice, since you do not need much.

What you will need:
1/2 tablespoons bentonite clay
1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt - finely ground
1/2 tablespoon hot water
4-5 drops Thieves essential oil



Stress Away and Lavender Whipped Body Butter: This is awesome for all over lotion. I have made it with a few different essential oils but I think stress away and Lavender are my favorite combinations.

What you will need:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup mango butter (or shea butter or cocoa butter or a mix or each)
1/2 cup sweet almond oil
1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
essential oils of your choice! (I put in 10 of each stress away and lavender but I do love my oils!)

Melt the coconut and butters in a double boiler. Remove from heat and add almond oil, vitamin E. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours until it starts to solidify. Then mix in a stand mixer with the whip attachment to get it a whipped consistency. It will take several minutes. Add essential oils and mix them in. Store in a jar on your counter. (If your home it really warm it may melt but you can always whip it back up.)

So what do you want to replace? What have you tried? What is missing from this list?

Where ever you decide to start, have fun playing and enjoying all your chemical free body products.

Blessings!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Mens All Natural Bath and Body Products Using Essential Oils

I was at a loss for ideas for the men on my Christmas list so I started to dabble in essential oil ideas. I tried out a few things and had my husband test them to see if he approved. Below is what I came up with in a pinch. Great for gifts for Birthdays or Fathers Day too! 

Merry Christmas & Enjoy!

1. #2 Spray, Stink away, Poo-pourri or Stink no more spray. 

A spray made up of essential oils that you spray into the toilet bowl before you go, it will trap the smell in the water and there will be no stink. My husband really went to town with this one... he ended up coming up with personalized names for each person he was gifting it to.

In a 2 ounce glass bottle combine:

2oz. Distilled water

3-4 drops glycerine
1/2 teapoon epson salts

20-30 drops of essential oils of choice (see list below for ideas)

Shake well.

Have fun with it & Make up some fun labels.

2. Men's Muscle Bath

 
Using the benefits of magnesium,baking soda and essential oils to help with soreness, fatigue and stress (and so much more!). 

1 cup epsom salts

1/2 cup baking soda

6-8 drops essential oils, I used 4-6 lemongrass and 2-3 cedar wood (or other oils based on your preference)

3. Men's Foaming Shaving Gel 

This has a nice lather and great smell. My husband gave this one a thumbs up.

1/2 cup aloe gel (I have this kind)
1/2 cup liquid castile soap (I use this kind)
2 Tablespoon Almond oil (I used my calendula infused)
A few drops of vegetable glycerin
4 capsules or about 1/2 tsp vitamin E
10-15 drops essential oils (I used 8 of Cedarwood, 8 Lavender and 4 Lemon)

Put in a 10 ounce or larger foaming soap container. 

4. Men's Super Magnesium Oil 


Magnesium oil is a great way to get more magnesium, adding essential oils can give you more benefits. Spray the magnesium oil on your body after you get out of the shower. Let it absorb into your skin a few minutes before getting dressed. The fist time you use it you may notice a tingle or itchy sensation. This will subside the more it is used. Start with a few sprays and work your way up to 10-15 sprays a day.

For a 16 ounce spray bottle or larger. Boil 1 cup water and 1 cup magnesium flakes (like this) until flakes are dissolved completely. Let cool. Pour into spray bottle. Add 8 drops Valor essential oil and shake well (see list below for other essential oil ideas)

Essential oils to try with your guys: this is not an all inclusive list and everyone had different likes/dislikes but here is what I have found to be popular with the men I know. Please note if you are using any citrus oils you should use glass bottles or containers as the citrus will eat away at plastic. Also citrus oils can increase sun sensitivity and should be avoided when you will be in the sun or exposed to UV rays.

Cedar wood

Citrus Fresh

Lemon, Orange, Tangerine or any citrus oil

Lemon grass

Idaho balsam fir

Ginger

Vanilla

Vetiver

Sandalwood
Evergreen Essenece

Cypress
Pine
Shutran

Looking for more ideas? You can view moer projects here:
Five New Fabulous Christmas Gifts you can Make with Essential Oils
Five more DIY gifts for Christmas using Essential Oils
5 Easy DIY Christmas Gifts with Essential Oils


New to essential oils? Check out my post on how to buy oils and learn more!

Blessings!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.

Winter in Summer

Quite honestly, creating a winter wonderland in August did not sound like a good idea to me when my daughter first requested it. However I took the challenge and did the best I could. If a five year old's opinion means anything- I did good.

Creating games based on the Frozen theme....A few of which included... coloring sheets, face painting, pin the nose Olaf, Frozen Freeze dance, Do you wanna build a snowman?- using marshmallows, pretzels and raisins (the missing nose led up to the Olaf game) and the much requested pinata.

I forgot to take pictures of many things I had put in place prior to the party starting. But here are a few of the pre-pre photos. What I love the most about this is these three pieces did not cost me anything to make. I had all the materials on hand, most of which are reused or donated from other people or places. I had a great magic maker in my mom who finished up Elsa for me and made her come to life.

As we are still eating our sparkling snow cupcakes and cleaning up from the snowstorm, my daughter is already planning her next party. As long as she does not change her mind I love having the extra time to plan & create!!!

If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Google+, Twitter or Facebook.