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23
2011
Sustainable Gift Giving - Part 2: Homemade Deodorant, Lip Balm & Bath Salts
by Jessica Filed in: Products & Services, Random Fun Stuff, ShoppingPart two of our Sustainable Gift Giving workshop focused on making your own gifts. We made a few different body care items, but also talked about ideas around gifts that aren't necessarily a physical thing. Think about gifts of time, effort or skill sharing. Sharing these very personal and thoughtful ideas with the ones you love the most is incredible for both the giver AND receiver, and really, isn't that what the holidays are all about?
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GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME by creating your own gift card for a service- Think things like babysitting, carwashing, petsitting, chores, making dinner, organizing a special outing.
- GIVE A HANDMADE GIFT like a memoir of cherished memories with that person, a book of family recipes, a collage of pictures and mementos, a mix cd of all your favourite songs, or a calendar filled with the birthdays and anniversaries of friends and family.
- OFFER TO TEACH A SKILL YOU POSSESS like knitting, photography, computer skills, financial planning, a foreign language, music lessons, canning tomatoes, cooking a favorite recipe.
Below are a few recipes we shared for natural deodorant, handmade lip balm, and naturally scented bath salts.
Marcie’s Homemade Deodorant
2 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda (works as a deodorizer)
2 Tablespoons corn starch (works as a mild antiperspirant)
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
2 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 vitamin E oil gel caps (puncture and squeeze out the oil)
Essential Oil
Directions:
Melt all the ingredients (except the essential oils) into a pot and give it a good stir. This should only take a minute or two, then add the oils you have chosen and stir again. Do not let the mixture reach boiling point. Pour mixture into a glass jar, and place in the fridge to set. This recipe will fill a 1/4 pint sized jar. Scoop a little bit out of the jar, roll it into a pea-sized ball, and rub it in. This jar will last you at least 3 or 4 months.
If you have really sensitive skin you can also add a few drops of calendula extract to your mixture, baking soda can be irritating for some individuals and the calendula will help the onset of any rashes or skin irritations.
*You can use any essential oil you like, and the amount will vary too on how strong you want it to smell. I like scents such as ylang ylang or orange, or lavender and vanilla. Because of the cocoa butter already provides a bit a scent, I had to add more essential oil then I thought to get the scent I was looking for.
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Ingredients- ready to go!
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Marcie’s Homemade Lip Balm
1 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp cocoa butter
1 tsp beeswax or soy wax
4 tsp shea butter
2 vitamin E capsules
*This recipe is unscented. So you can add anything you’d like to it. I suggest essential oils, extracts such as vanilla or mint or crushed berries like cranberries or raspberries.
If you are making them with crushed berries be sure to strain them first so no seeds get into your lip glass.
Directions
Melt all ingredients together in a pot. Once mixture is well blended, remove from heat and pour into a small jar. Allow to set in fridge until hardened.
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Pretty Little Packages
Candy Cane Bath Salts
(This recipe comes courtesy of www.makeyourcosmetics.com )
Yield: 20 ounces / Prep Time: 15 min. / Shelf Life: Indefinite
Ingredients:
2 cups Epsom salts
1/2 cup Sea salt
4-5 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (or any other essential oil of your choosing)
2-3 drops red or green food coloring (optional)
Directions:
1. Place 1 cup of the Epsom salts and 1/4 cup of sea salts in a mixing bowl or re-sealable plastic bag. Add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil and mix until ingredients are fully distributed.
2. Place the remaining salts in a separate bowl or bag. Add the food coloring and mix until the color is evenly distributed and you like the color. Add a few more drops for more color but be careful not to overdo it. Add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil and stir well to combine.
3. In a large jar or clear bottle, layer the white salts and the colored salts to create a striped effect, like a candy cane.
4. For gift giving, top off the jar with a big red bow and a few real candy canes. Merry Christmas!
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‘It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. The Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... He thought ...means a little bit more.’
How the Grinch Store Christmas by Dr. Seuss
