I love DIY gifts, but I find that those who appreciate crafted presents are those who craft themselves. The following homemade gifts, however, can please even the pickiest of folks. After all, everyone loves to be pampered!
1. Heating/Cooling Pads
These sewn sacks or pouches are great for kids to take to bed with them, ease sore muscles of any age, keep you cool on a hot day of yard work, and can even provide aromatherapy. Plus they are easy and cheap to make!
What do use as a filler:
- Rice (classic – but I really hate the smell of it)
- Feed Corn
- Dried Beans
- Buckwheat
- Hemp
- Flaxseed
Additional Essential Oils or Herbs:
- Peppermint
- Lavender
- Eucalyptus
- Chamomile
- (Really anything you like the smell of – cinnamon, rose, etc)
Fabrics to use:
- Flannel (my favorite)
- Cotton
- Socks
- Towels
- Old (or new) t-shirt
Mix you filler and herbs and oils (make sure it is dry before you complete the project) and fill your fabric (sewn almost all the way up) then sew close. Easy!
My favorite heating pad (with instructions) is from The Green Wife – Love the shape and the fact that not all the filler will fall to one side or the other. It is easy to change fabrics to match the person you are giving it to as well. Now you can get sports team fabrics (perfect for the athlete to use on sore muscles) from both professional and college teams (on top of all the other awesome fabric for men and women out there).
The Green Wife's take on the classic heating pad
2. Bath Salts
- Mix Epson salts (or other mineral and sea salt) with yummy essential oils and put in pretty jars
- Krista Lynn suggests putting any essential oils or colors on a little piece of fabric and mixing it with the salts for better distribution.
- Jessika at Oh My! Handmade has her own recipe as well
3. Lip Gloss
- Not Martha has a very detailed post about making your own lip gloss
- College Candy has a super easy recipe to use
- Organic Authority claims they have the best lip gloss recipe ever … and I have to say, it looks super yummy and perfect for the holidays! (This recipe is on my to-do list!)
4. Perfume
This is one of my favorite DIY finds. It can be pretty versatile too – and it looks expensive. I present to you Design Sponge’s Solid Perfume Pocket Watch Tutorial (Lip gloss might be a nice filler as well).
How to Make Solid Perfume VIA Design Sponge
A perfume recipe is provided, but I might play around with it to include lemon and orange essential oils instead of the more floral ones listed.
5. Lotion Bars
I think these are neat – several recipes are available online and they all look pretty easy to make. Here are a few different recipes:
How awesome is this Nutty Butt Bar from Crunchy Betty? Looks yummy!
- Instructions with pictures from Crunchy Betty
- Little House in the Suburbs has two recipes
- Arizona Spa Girls has a recipe too, and for LOTS of different beauty products for men and women
Other gifts that pamper:
- Body and face scrubs
- Jars of foot soak ingredients with instructions
- Eye Mask (the kind that blocks at light when you sleep)
- Face masks
- Aromatherapy candles
- Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has a bunch of DIY recipes for body and face products
- Also check out Planet Green’s 50 All Natural Beauty Products You Can Make Yourself
The Life of Lulubelle 