DIY Christmas Gifts: Gifts for Her

I love getting people gifts. I have so much fun shopping for everyone and picking something out that I know they will enjoy. But some times the gift list can get long and now that I have kids my number one priority is making sure they are covered before I start buying for everyone else. I know I tend to indulge my kids which is probably something that can not be continued every year. I also know that gifts aren't the most important part of Christmas but I still tend to get excited.

When it came to my friends and fmaily this year we didn't have a lot of money left over. The army keeps screwing up the husband's pay and with us going to Wi and all the activities we have planned up there I didn't want to short ourselves or anyone els this year.

I have so many close friends here in town. Friends that have become my family. Friends that are always there whenever I need them and I wanted to do something special for them. A friend and I teamed up and decided to do a relaxation kit, or a spa day in a bag. We found recipes for all the bath/spa ingredients and bought the rest. Here is what we came up with

Relaxation Kit

Bath bomb

Peppermint Body Scrub

A Votive candle

Wine glass

Mini bottles of wine

Found these cute bags at the Dollar Tree

Peppermint body scrub

Mason jar label found off Pinterest

Bottles of wine and etched wine glass

Glass etched by Moi! You can order a chemical etching solution off amazon. I used scrapbook stickers to spell out the initals or names of my friends and then I covered the stickers with the etching solution. Finished product!

Spa in a bag

I personally love handmade gifts. They are much more personal and meaningful than store bought ones sometimes. Plus the time and effort someone put into your gift. It means alot! I hope my friends love it. I was so tempted to steal all their mini bottles of wine!

Peppermint Body Scrub

3 cups sugar

2/3 cup olive or coconut oil

10 drops of peppermint essential oil (I ordered mine off amazon) you can also use any essential oil you may like. Peppermint was just fitting for the season

Assembly

In three bowls divide the sugar

Divide the oil evenly between each bowl

Distribute the essential oil evenly between each bowl as well ( I used about 3-4 drops for each bowl

Red food coloring if desired spread between each bowl. I used two drops of food coloring for each bowl

Mix each bowl individually and then add it all together and combine as well. Then spoon out into jars. 

I found this recipe made enough for 2 mason jars worth of body scrub.

Word of advice-Use coconut oil over olive oil. I made a batch with olive oil and it was more oily than I would have liked. And no matter how many drops of essential oil I used I couldn't quite mask the smell of the olive oil

And the olive oil makes the mixture a yellowish greenish tint. Luckily I was adding food coloring to it. The coconut oil had a better consistency, feel and smell to it. Plus it was a pretty white so you didn't need food coloring if you don't want to add any
I found the trick is to mix the ingredients together really well. Use your hands. The consistency and texture should be similar to that of sand. If you find that the mixture is too oily keep adding sugar to get the consistency that you like. The above recipe is one that you can play around with

Oh and the above recipe makes about 2 mason jars worth.

Do you exchange gifts with your friends? what are some of your favorite handmade gifts to give or to receive?