Christmas Gift: Homemade Bath Basket

Homemade Christmas gifts can be both affordable and thoughtful. One gift that's easy to make and would be appreciated by most of the women on your list is a homemade aromatherapy bath basket. I collect baskets throughout the year at thrift stores, which can be lined with colorful Christmas paper (or novelty print fabric in a Christmas theme) and filled with an assortment of relaxing homemade bath items. Decorate the basket with some holiday ornaments, Christmas cookies and such. With the stress of the Christmas holiday season a little unwinding is in order and aromatherapy is great for relieving tension.

All of the recipes below call for essential oils. Some to consider are: bergamot, chamomile, frankincense, geranium, lavender, mandarin, neroli (orange blossom), rose, sandalwood, and tangerine.

Bath Salts
6 cups Epsom salts
3 cups sea salt
Essential oils for scent
Food coloring

Mix the Epsom and Sea salts in a glass, ceramic or plastic bowl then add 6-12 drops of essential oil gradually as you stir the mixture around. Then do the same with the food coloring. Place in a plastic container with a snap on lid and place it in a dark cupboard, shaking the mixture once or twice a day to make sure the oil and color is thoroughly dispersed. A week later your mixture is ready. Place in containers. I save jars for this purpose and decorate the lids with fabric or hot-glued decorations. Christmas, holiday, or seaside themes can all be nice.

Fizzing Bath Bombs
1 cup citric acid
3 cups baking soda
Essential Oil
Water

Citric Acid may be found at the grocery store or a chemical supply. If not MountainRoseHerbs.com has it for $3.25 for a pound. In a non-reactive bowl combine citric acid and baking soda. Then add essential oil until it smells right (about 15 drops). Mist the dry ingredients with water from a spray bottle while stirring. Add water slowly until the mixture starts to stick together. You can then roll it into balls about the size of golf balls and leave to dry. This will take a few days, unless it's humid and then it can take up to a week. Wrap each one in plastic. One or two dropped into the bath will fizz and disperse the scent, while softening the skin.

Sea Salt Exfoliating Scrub

2 cups sea salt
1 ½ cups almond, grape seed, or soy oil
several drops essential oil
food coloring

Mix all ingredients and place in a glass jar. This scrub is amazing for softening skin. It exfoliates and moisturizes in the bath or shower.

Scented Candle in a Jar

Gather together:

Paraffin wax
Crayons
Candlesticks
Thick widemouth glass jars Essential oils

Note : old jelly jars work fine as does anything meant for canning as these are tempered glass. If you want to use any other type of glass container make sure it's tempered, as non-tempered will break when you add hot wax.)

To melt paraffin safely you need to have a double boiler. If you don't have one you can make one. Just use an old pan from a thrift store or a coffee can and set it about 4 inches of water inside of another pan. To ensure the bottoms don't touch use a metal jar lid with a few holes poked in it and place it under the pan or can holding the wax. Start with a few pieces of wax, adding more as they melt.

Medium to medium-high heat is best. Too hot is a fire hazard. Add pieces of crayon to color the melted wax, stirring with a clean stick. When you finish melting the wax remove it from the heat and let sit a few minutes while you do the next steps.

Use a serrated knife to cut the candle sticks down to a height just under the height of the jar then dip the bottom of the candlestick into the melted wax and stick to the inside bottom of the jar. When the it's solid enough to let go add 20 drops of essential oil to your wax and pour it into the jar filling it so only the wick is left exposed.

It is helpful to warm the jars a bit by running hot tap water on the outside of the jars so they are less likely to pop when you pour in hot wax.

You can also make pillar candles by using the exact same technique replacing the jars with a used milk carton. When the wax solidifies you simply tear the carton off.

You can include other items like loofah, or a wash cloth, herbal tea, a relaxing CD, or whatever else you can think of. Homemade Christmas gifts can be very economical and show the recipient how much you care. And caring is what the holidays are all about.