100 homemade gift ideas » bath products

Homemade Gift Idea #92: Super Easy Homemade Lotion

aniccaph — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:18:04 +0000

Homemade lotion is gift idea that can be so easy it’s almost cheating. Combined with the other homemade gift ideas on this blog, such as the homemade soap, lip balm, and bath bombs, homemade lotion would make an excellent additional gift idea to a homemade gift basket of bath products. Most people enjoy lotion, and it becomes almost a necessity for some during the winter months as the air gets drier. Lotion can be a potentially successful homemade gift for men as well if scented properly. The following tutorial uses a premade lotion base that takes a lot of the work out this project. If you want to customize your lotion base check out this lotion making tutorial. You can purchase this lotion-making kit with all of the ingredients to make the lotion base from scratch.

Ingredients.

As with many of the other bath products listed on this blog, all of the ingredients can be purchased through brambleberry.com. They have an entire section on lotion-making products. You can also purchase a pre-made lotion kit that contains everything you need to make 4 4-ounce botttles of lotion. Of course, you are stuck with the scent and color that is in the kit.

Pre-made lotion base. If purchasing a gallon or more, consider buying a pump for the top of the bottle. Some health food stores actually carry lotion in bulk. Our local grocery co-op carries bulk lotion in their health and wellness section
Fragrance oil or essential oil. Essential oils, though more expensive, have a purer and less artificial scent than the fragrance oil.
Lotion Container
Avery full sheet labels if you want to personalize the bottle

Directions

This couldn’t be any easier.

Pour your desired amount of lotion into a Pyrex or other heat-resistant container.
Mix in your desired amount of essential oil or fragrance. Start with adding a few drops. Nothing exhausts the olfactory sense than over-scented lotion.
Pour into the lotion container. If the lotion will not pour well, try heating up the lotion in 10-20 second intervals. Don’t get the lotion too hot as it might start to separate.
Make your label and apply to the bottle and you are done.

Another way to dispense the lotion into the containers is to pour the lotion into a ziploc bag. Mix in the fragrance. Then, cut one of the corners out of the baggie, and squeeze into the container. This method will waste about 5% of the lotion however.

Also, you can add colorant in step 2 if you desire, but colored lotion just never seems natural to me.

I personally have not tried making these homemade gifts, but I’m sure everybody on your list will be happy to receive them.

Homemade Gift Idea #92: Super Easy Homemade Lotion is a post from: 100 homemade gift ideas

Homemade Gift Idea #94: Homemade Lip Balm

aniccaph — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:23:52 +0000

This is a homemade gift idea that you could combine with Homemade Gift Idea #97: Homemade Bath Bombs and Homemade Gift Idea #99: easy melt and pour soap bars to make a bath and body themed homemade gift basket. It seems relatively easy to make. The process seems a lot like the melt and pour soap bars. Judging from the amount required, you could make quite a few with just one batch. I haven’t given these as gifts yet, but as part of a homemade bath and body gift basket, I am sure your gift recipients will be impressed.

There are literally hundreds of lip balm recipes out there. You can find quite of few of homemade lip balm recipes at fromnaturewithlove.com. The recipe outlined below is adapted from soap-queen-blogspot.com. Everything you need, oils, waxes, flavors, tins, can be purchased through Brambleberry.com’s lip balm section. They also carry a meltable lip balm base that makes the process even easier. You don’t have to worry about the proportions, you just melt the base in the microwave or double-boiler, and add your flavor and/or color. The down side to this is you can’t customize the oil and wax ingredients, which is part of the creative fun in this kind of project.

The following recipe is adapted from soap-queen-blogspot.com:

Materials
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon beeswax
1 1/2 teaspoon sweet almond oil
1 teaspoon olive oil
20-30 drops of the flavoring of your choice
7 to 10 lip balm containers. It will vary greatly depending on the size container that you get.

Directions
You can do the melting process in the microwave, but you want to make sure you heat in brief 10-20 second intervals, stirring between each interval. To be safe, use a double-boiler or if you have a Pyrex measuring container, or other heat resistant glass for the procedure below. I like to use the Pyrex container method because it is easier to pour the mixture into the lip balm containers.

Add a few inches of water into a saucepan. If you are not using a double-boiler, place your Pyrex container in the saucepan.
Heat water on low.
Add coconut oil and beeswax. Stirring often, heat until they are completely melted.
Add olive oil, sweet almond oil, and flavoring. (If you are adding coloring, do so here)
Continue heating and mixing for a minute or two.
Pour mixture into small lip balm containers.
Let cool and you are done.

You can easily make fun homemade gift labels with by printing on self adhesive Avery full sheet labels and cutting them out.

Homemade Gift Idea #94: Homemade Lip Balm is a post from: 100 homemade gift ideas

Homemade Gift Idea #97: Homemade Bath Bombs

aniccaph — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:32:06 +0000

Such an unfortunate but catchy name. Bath bombs or bath fizzies make a great homemade gift idea because they are one of those luxurious indulgences that people often do not buy for themselves, but love to receive as a gift. They’ll love them even more when they realize it’s a homemade gift. They would make a great homemade gift basket accompaniment to Homemade Gift Idea #99: Easy Homemade Melt and Pour Soap Bars. You have probably seen them at bath boutiques, but basically bath bombs are balls of baking soda and citric acid that when dropped in water it dissolves, effervesces and releases the scents or other ingredients you put in them. Its kind of like bathing in bathtub full of Alka-Seltzer! It can be a soothing and therapeutic experience.

There are a couple of ways to make them. Here is the method I have used is based off a tutorial I found off of teachsoap.com:

The ingredients:

Citric Acid
A powder that you can find here at Brambleberry.com. You also might be able to find it at a local winemaking/brewing shop.

Baking Soda
Should be easy enough to find, check in your cupboard or refrigerator..

Witch Hazel
You can find this at here at Brambleberry.com. Otherwise you might find it at your local health food store or pharmacy..

Fragrance or Essential Oil
You can find this at, yep, you guessed it, Brambleberry.com, or your local heath food store..

Clear Spherical Molds
I found quite the selection here at soapequipment.com. I haven’t tried them, but I probably will. They have molds and bath bomb kits at brambleberry.com but no plain spherical ones which I prefer. I have also heard of people using ice cube trays..

I have tried colorants like food coloring, but think I would now prefer the simplicity of a white bath bomb. It’s just a matter of preference. If you do use food coloring make sure you only use a few drops per batch, otherwise it might stain someone’s tub.

The process.

It’s a bit tricky at first. You might have a bad batch or two in the beginning, or a few bath bombs that fall apart, but don’t get discouraged. You’ll get the hang of it..

1. Thoroughly mix 1 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of the citric acid. Make sure it is mixed well and there are no lumps.
2. Add your fragrance and color. Fragrances are your preference, but I enjoy essential oils like lavender or peppermint. If you are using food coloring, make sure to only use a few drops.
3. Lightly spray on the witch hazel while mixing. You want to spray enough on so the mixture just starts to stick together. Too much and the mixture will start bubbling and reacting.
4. Just after the mixture starts to stick together, press into the molds. Make sure you squeeze the mold halves together hard.
5. Wiat a few minutes, then tap them out of the molds.
6. Let sit a few hours or overnight, and then they’ll be ready for wrapping.

I have also seen some recipes that include epsom salt in the dry mixture, and almond oil to help keep the ball together. Some recipes also include cornstarch. I personally would advise against it, as I have read that it might irritate a rash or make it worse. There are conflicting views on this, but I leave it out to be safe.

I used clear colored wrapping, (I cannot remember what it is called… cellophane?) and raffia ribbon for the presentation of the gift.

I hope you enjoy making them. Make sure you make more than you need so you can indulge in this homemade gift yourself.

Homemade Gift Idea #97: Homemade Bath Bombs is a post from: 100 homemade gift ideas

Homemade Gift Idea #99: Easy Melt and Pour Soap Bars

aniccaph — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:59:39 +0000

Making homemade soap as gifts can be pretty easy and a lot of fun. Homemade soap bars are great gift ideas because you can also whip up pretty large and attractive batches of them in a day or two and satisfy your entire holiday gift list. I made these as gifts for the holidays a few years back and some of the recipients were sincerely unsure whether I had bought these at a boutique or if I had actually made them.

The process to making these gifts is quite simple. Basically melt the soap base for a few minutes in the microwave, add the natural scents and exfoliants, pour them into molds and let them cool. That’s it! Creating unique names and gift labels can add to the creativity and presentation of these gift to make them even more memorable. Soapmaking purists probably use a more difficult process that requires the use of lye and therefore there is a safety issue, but I found that the melt and pour soap variety as gifts are just as elegant, much easier and safer, and creativity can be involved in every step of the process.

Here is a video tutorial on how to make homemade melt and pour soap from the people at brambleberry.com:

Soap Base…

First of all I have found that Brambleberry.com can be pretty much your one-stop shop for all the supplies. This article is going to seem like an ad for them, but I have had a lot of success with their site and products. They specialize in everything that is soapmaking, from soap base and molds, to exfoliant and essential oil ingredients to even boxes and labels. You can get an olive oil soap base (as well as some of the ingredients) at Michael’s or other craft store if you can’t wait for the shipping, but Brambleberry.com has so many interesting and quality choices of soap bases that it would be a shame not to use them. I have used their Aloe Vera base, their creamy and dreamy goats milk base, shea butter, organic clear, a honey base and they even have shaving base, that would make a homemade gift idea that is more accessible for guys.

Ingredients….

As soon as your base is melted, you can add your ingredients. Now there are far too many options to mention here but I will mention a few. As far has scents, Brambleberry carries an enormous variety of essential oils and other types of scents. Again, you can get a few of these at Michael’s, or better yet your local health food store, Whole Foods or grocery co-op. They tend to be a bit pricey depending on the scent, that is why Brambleberry carries cheaper options like extracts and fragrance oils. Essential oils, though expensive, have a stronger, purer scent than any of the other types of scents so if you are making large batches I would recommend getting a few. The ones I’d recommend as essential oils are a nice soothing lavender, a citrus oil like bergamot which is a great uplifting “wake-up” scent, and maybe a rosemary, eucalyptus, or peppermint. You can also get a sampler kit from Brambleberry. They also carry a wide variety of exfoliants. My personal favorites are their shredded loofah and pumice. You can also be creative and use oatmeal, which a lot of people combine with honey, bamboo extract, which is a light exfoliant, and walnut seeds or even cornstarch. You can also look in your kitchen for ingredients like cinnamon and coffee grounds. You can find soap recipes to start out with at teachsoap.com. They also have a detailed tutorial on melt and pour soap making. You can use dyes and colorants, but I have found that once you add the other ingredients, the bars take on an already attractive, and natural looking character.

A few tips on scenting… The scents listed here are pretty universally enjoyed by men and women alike. I would keep the scents on the subtle side, and stay away from the more floral scents unless of course you know that the person receiving the gift will enjoy it. Also when your experimenting with scent combinations you smelling sense will often soon become overloaded, making it difficult to sample each smell. A tip that a local soapmaker once told me is to keep coffee grounds nearby, and smell them to sort of cleanse your olfactory palate between batches. Coffee grounds, by the way, are a great ingredient to include in a kitchen soap as it tends to remove or at least disguise strong smells. This is great for when you have chopped a lot of onions.

Molds….

Brambleberry carries carries a wide variety of soap molds. You might also find molds at your local craft store or Michael’s. I personally use just a standard rectangular soap mold I got from Michael’s. Again, I think that the soap ingredients make the bars attractive enough, and any unusual shapes might just make them look chaotic and busy.

Presentation…

Yes, Brambleberry also carries gift boxes for homemade soap. If you use these sliding gift boxes, make sure your soap molds are rectangular and small enough to fit. They also carry these natural-looking gift bags for homemade soap. These gift boxes are excellent for applying your own personalized gift labels that you can make from Avery’s full sheet labels that you can get from any office supply store. It was fun for me to come up with an overall design and unique names like “lavender dreamtime” or “sunny citrus”. If you don’t want to do all that, wrap them in some raffia ribbon from your local craft shop, and tie a little gift label to it.

I had fun making these as homemade gifts. Everyone I gave these to were very impressed.

Homemade Gift Idea #99: Easy Melt and Pour Soap Bars is a post from: 100 homemade gift ideas