I made a lot of gifts this year for Christmas. I list them all below and list my 3 favorites at the end of the post (no jumping ahead peeking!)

1. Milk Bath. I found a fabulous recipe for milk bath using powdered milk, corn starch, and baking soda. The recipe also called for Epsom salt and essential oils but I left those out to avoid skin sensitivity issues.
2. Lotion Bars. My hands get so dry with eczema during the winter time. I found a recipe using coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax for lotion bars. Again, you can add essential oils but some of the ladies these went to have skin allergies. I like the smell of the plain bars. They healed my eczema cuts fast!
3. Lip Gloss. Another recipe using coconut oil, beeswax, and shea butter. Essential oils can be added to this too but I left that out.

There are pictures below of each in various stages of completeness. I was very surprised at how easy it was to make the bars and lip gloss.

I also made dip mixes and flavored salts. All the recipes are below.

Matcha Salt

• 1/2 Cup Sea Salt
• 1/2 Cup Matcha Powder

Coffee Paprika Salt

• 1 Tbsp ground coffee
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp sea salt

Fiesta Dip Mix Spices

• 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp dried minced onion
• 3/4 tsp dried chives
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt

Dill Dip Mix Spices

• 1 tsp dill weed
• ¼ tsp seasoned salt
• 1 tsp onion flakes
• 1 tsp parsley flakes

Ranch Dip Mix Spices

• 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp dried onion flakes
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Italian Dip Mix

• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp onion powder
• 1/3 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp celery seed
• 1/4 tsp seasoned salt

I have to say though the absolute favorite gifts I made were the books I made for my three nieces. They are 17, 14, and 11. For the oldest I made a book about adulting since she will be heading to college next fall. For the middle one, I made a book filled with beauty tips. Finally, for the youngest, I made a book about being an Empath and how to implement self care while dealing with the emotions of other people. Sadly, I have no pictures of these to share!

Each book had some doodles from me and funny memes. I loved putting these together. It was so much fun to exercise my creativity and put together really unique gifts. The two older girls messaged me thanking me for the books and I was told the youngest really loved hers as well.

I highly recommend doing something like this. It’s so much more personal and unique. Homemade gifts put the focus back where it belongs – on showing others how much you care about them and appreciate them.