I love to give homemade gifts to friends and family. I think it makes gift giving so more personal and special. There are so many wonderful products that can be made with essential oils and a few simple ingredients. But I think my most favorite thing about gift giving is the presentation, wrapping the gift in such a special way that it’s almost as good as the gift itself.

This sweet little gift would also be fun for any of your female teachers as well…or anyone for that matter. I decided to go with a lemon theme to make it bright and cheerful.
The supplies you need are:

• Berry baskets ( I used the natural but they come in other color options)
• Parchment paper or tissue
• Basket filler
• A pretty ribbon of your choice
• Mini Jars
• Empty chapstick containers
• Empty tins in 1oz-3oz sizes
• Epsom Salts
• Essential Oils- I used, lavender, bergamot, lime, peppermint
• Beeswax pellets
• Coconut Oil
• Shea butter
• Avacado Oil
• Vitamin E Oil
• Jojoba Oil
• Fresh Rosemary

Once you purchase the items for product making like the shea butter, coconut oil etc, you have them on hand for a while to make other items. They last a pretty long time and it only takes a small amount for each of the products, so the investment is worth it if you plan to make more items in the future!

The products I made to go into the basket are:

Lavender Bergamot Lip Balm
Citrus Mint Hand Salve
Lemon Rosemary Hand Scrub
Lemon Cuticle Butter

Lavender Bergamot Lip Balm

2 t avocado oil
2 t shea butter
2 t beeswax
1 1/2 t coconut oil
1/4 t vitamin e oil
15 drops bergamot (or you can use geranium)
8-10 drops lavender
In a double boiler melt and mix all ingredients except the essential oils. Remove from heat and add the essential oils. Then spoon (with a funnel) or pour into lip balm tubes. It will harden once it cools so be sure to put in containers as soon as the oils are added. I just made labels on Word in an address label template. Avery has a lot of templates you can use on their website as well.

Citrus Mint Hand Salve

1/4 c coconut oil
2 T shea butter
1 T cocoa butter
1 t beeswax ( I like to use the pellets)
2 drops jojoba oil
1 drop vitamin E oil
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops lime essential oil
10 drops mint essential oil

Melt and mix all all ingredients except the Essential oils in a double boiler. Once melted and combined, remove from heat and add the essential oils. Then immediately spoon into your tins. It will harden once cooled. I got the labels for this salve from the blog www.attagirlsays.com. I used my own recipe though.

Lemon Rosemary Hand/Foot Scrub

For the hand scrub~ In a large bowl,  mix 2 cups of epsom salts, one drop of yellow food coloring, 30 drops of lemon essential oil. Stir well. Then add finely chopped fresh rosemary.  Mix all and then add to pretty jars. Make a label to add to your jar or tie a little tag to identify the product.

Cuticle Lemon Butter

1 T coconut oil
1/8 t beeswax
1/8 t almond oil
1/4 t shea butter
2 drops vitamin e oil
20 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
Melt all the ingredients in a double boiler. remove from heat then add oils. mix well then spoon into tins(size of your choice I used 2 oz tins)

Once all of your products are made, you can create labels or tags for each product. I made mine on Avery website and used their templates.

I purchased these little envelopes with the paper inside in the scrapbook section of a craft store as the card. On the outside I put a label on that said. “when life gives you lemons, wear them”, then inside  I just said Happy Mothers Day. But you can put whatever you want to say. If it’s a teacher gift, you can thank them for a great school year.

To put the basket together, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the basket and place inside as a liner. You can fill with shredded paper as well. Place your items in then wrap up with the liner and tie a big bow around the whole basket. I added a sprig of greenery buy a piece of fresh rosemary would be beautiful too. You can either tuck the card inside or attach it to the ribbon.

There’s just something special about creating and giving homemade goodies. It adds such a kind and personal touch. The packaging is also important to spotlight your goodies. Knowing you took the time to create such a beautiful gift means a lot to people.
I hope you enjoyed this DIY and can make some of these for gifts as well. It’s also nice to have these on hand for last minute or “just because” gifts. I’d love to hear your thoughts and please feel free to respond with any questions you may have. I appreciate feedback and I’m so glad you are here. I’ll be sharing another gift basket idea soon, so stay tuned…

Below are some sources for a few of the products. Just tap on the photo and it will take you right to the source.

Happy Decorating!