Every holiday season I try to pull together a post to help with homemade gifts your friends and family will love to get. Of course you could gift any of my DIY skin care products but there are an elite few that top the list of gorgeous gifts everyone will be impressed by. I’ve thought long and hard this year and rounded up what I think are the best customizable DIY gifts. Dare I say these gifts could be artisan level depending on how you customize and present them?! Let’s get to it!
Dry Face Masks:
Dry masks are such a great gift idea because they have no shelf life, are so easy to make, easy to customize and needed by every woman and many men. You may ask what is a dry mask? A dry mask is ground ingredients that are stored in a jar. When you are ready to do a mask you scoop out a small amount, add water and a paste is created perfect to be used as a mask. Dry mask ingredients are easy to come by and work really well as an upper level skin care mask. Using dried herbs, oatmeal, activated charcoal, clay and even seaweed make a dry mask perfect for personalizing.
1 application is typically 1 tbsp. of dried mask and 1-2 teaspoons of a liquid. Thoroughly mix and apply to clean skin for 10-15 minutes. Remove with cool water and moisturize as usual. This varies depending on the ingredients you choose so basically you just want to look for the right consistency and add the liquid slowly. Your mask needs to be thick enough that it does not drip off your face.
Liquid options can be aloe vera gel, apple cider vinegar, witch hazel, hydrosol or even plain ole’ water.
To learn more about ingredients options for dry masks, read my guide on dry mask ingredients.
For specific dry mask recipes, I have a sensitive skin recipe, oily skin recipe and an anti aging recipe all linked below!
Be sure to attach a gift tag listing the ingredients and explaining how to use a dry mask. Also, dry masks would work well in a test tube. I found THESE 45 ml test tubes on Amazon which would give the recipient about 3 mask applications!
Dry Mask Recipes:
- Ingredients for Dry masks
- Sensitive Skin Dry Mask
- Detox Dry Mask for Oily Skin
- Anti Aging Pink Dry Mask
- Oatmeal Lavender Dry Mask
One last thought on dry masks, cleansing grains are the same as dry masks, just used differently. You might consider looking into that type of skincare diy as well.
Bath Salts:
Bath salts are a lot like dry masks. They are easy and super affordable to make, store well in a jar and have no shelf life. The gift recipient scoops about 1/4-1/2 cup of the mixture into a warm bath and then has more in the jar for the next bath.
Bath salts typically consist of epsom salt which is easiest to find and the cheapest option but you can also look into pink Himalayan salt and Dead Sea salt. Read my guide on the benefits of bath salts for more information.
Other salt bath additives are essential oils, oatmeal, dried herbs, dried milk and seaweed. For inspiration, read my Oatmeal Himalayan Salt Bath Soak recipe and my Mermaid Salt Bath recipe.
Since the majority of your bath salts is typically epsom salt, making a large jar for someone is very affordable and gives them plenty of baths. Making a bulk amount of bath salt and putting enough for one bath in a tube is also a neat way to gift as well. You can find THESE 25 oz glass flip top jars that are perfect for bath salts!
Check out my foot bath recipe. I included how to gift foot baths and have a free download for gift tags.
Melt & Pour Soap Bars:
Making bars of soap is crazy easy with melt and pour soap bases which are easily found on Amazon. If you aren’t familiar with melt and pour soap, it is a block of soap that you cut into pieces, melt on the stove and then pour into soap molds. You can add essential oils, fragrances, dried herbs, clays and activated charcoal. There are many options when it comes to melt and pour soap including goats milk, cocoa butter, glycerin, shea butter, honey etc.
I have an activated charcoal bar soap recipe, a coffee bar soap recipe and a post where I added fresh flowers. Those soaps turned out so pretty but it didn’t take long for the flowers to brown. Dried herbs are always better.
Beeswax & Soy Candles:
I love making small candles for gifts. You can make quite a few candles with 2 lb of wax but also making them in a 4 oz. jar like THESE makes the problem of tunneling (where the wax doesn’t burn all the way to the outer edge) a non-issue.
Beeswax candles require no scent since beeswax has it’s own unique smell as well as many benefits. Soy wax can be scented with essential oils or candle fragrance.
Find step by step tutorials in my How to Make Beeswax Candles post as well as my How to Make Soy Candles post.
Room Spray/Linen Spray:
Making a room spray or a linen spray for someone is a great idea. Everyone needs a natural way to freshen up their linens, upholstery and air and adding a beautiful scent becomes personal to you. Plus, making a room freshener is incredibly easy and cost effective! You’ll find easy directions in my linen spray post and my air freshener recipe. Plus, in my linen spray post, I give some really great essential oil combinations plus labels you might enjoy.
Gift Wrapping Ideas:
Foraging is a great way to add a personal touch to a present. Ribbons are great to tie around lids. They add a pop of color to any gift. If you don’t have gift tags, you can create your own tags just using card stock paper and a ribbon or twine. Wrapping homemade soap bars in brown craft paper and using pretty ribbons and sprigs of nature help to liven up the packaging in a natural way. Tiny bells are also a sweet addition to the ribbon.
I hope this post has helped encourage you to hand make your gifts this year. Nothing tells your loved ones you put effort into their gift like making it with your own hands, choosing ingredients specifically suited to them and curated essential oil combinations to make their product smell beautiful.
Happy holidays! Jenni
