6 Perfect DIY Holiday Gift Ideas Featuring Essential Oils

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The holiday season is much more meaningful than gifts and receiving. Both feel great, but what do you give someone who has everything? Time, care, energy, and creativity can be the most thoughtful gift. On this page, we will give your our favorite essential oil crafts featuring easy DIY recipes to inspire you to create a beautiful homemade gift (or several) for the people you care about.

Our Customers' Favorite Essential Oil Gift Ideas That You Can Make Yourself

Nothing quite says “your presence in my life is meaningful” quite like making thoughtful, homemade gifts, especially when using natural ingredients. Plus, they're very easy to double the recipe to keep some self-care items for you too.

And using essential oils in your DIY gifts shows how much you care for the well-being of those to whom you're gifting. While you could use synthetic fragrances, you know essential oils will complement their bodies and wellness in much healthier ways.

** PLEASE NOTE ** Don't be fooled by clever marketing. Not all essential oils are created equally. Make sure you're not wasting your money on fake or altered essential oils (even if they're labeled as “pure essential oil”). Don't miss our explosive report outlining the dirty little secrets of the essential oil industry to ensure you're not wasting your money on brands of oils that legally mislead you through deceitful marketing practices.

** Please note, we are participants in Amazon's partner program, and may receive small commissions from sales made through using our links. We will only link to products we've personally tried, use, and love. For more information, see our disclosure page.

Easy Bath Bombs

If you know someone you want to provide a gift to who enjoys the occasional (or frequent bath), create a few bath bombs to enhance their self-care bathing moments with an aromatic burst that is sure to please the senses. These bath bombs are surprisingly simple to create and make great stocking stuffers. This recipe will be enough to make 4.

Bath Bomb Ingredients:

• Baking Soda (1 cup)
• Citric Acid (1/2 cup)
• Epsom Salt (1/4 cup)
• Fractionated Coconut Oil (this is the fractionated coconut oil we use)
• 20 drops of your favorite essential oils (we use these)
• Witch Hazel (this is the witch hazel we use) in a spray bottle
• Ball Mold (this is our favorite ball mold)

Directions for putting together your DIY Bath Bombs:

• Combine baking soda, citric acid, and Epsom salts in a glass or metal bowl, and mix well.
• Add your coconut oil and essential oils of your choice, in this recipe we are using Stress Away and Peppermint. Mix well
• Mist your mix with witch hazel until it clumps
• Fill two halves of your ball mold, and push the halves together until they form a ball.
• Wait. Keep the mold closed for 30 minutes.
• Remove one of the sides, and allow to dry overnight.

Lavender Oatmeal Bath Salts

Bath Salts are a great tool for self-care, and one. of the easiest DIY gifts to make. This is especially thoughtful and welcomed if you're gifting to someone with strong empathic qualities.

Ingredients for your Lavender Oatmeal Bath Salts

• 1 cup Epsom Salt
• 1 cup Quick Oats
• 1/2 cup Baking Soda
• 30 drops Essential Oils
• Glass Jar to store them in (these jars are really cute)

Directions for making your Lavender Oatmeal Bath Salts

To make your Lavender Oatmeal Bath Salts, first grind the dry oats in a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder until they become a texture resembling flour. Mix all your ingredients in a bowl until your essential oils are evenly distributed throughout the mix. Then pour into a glass jar to store.

In this recipe, we used lavender and frankincense essential oils, but you. can choose any essential oil or blend that resonates with you. With there being such a wide variety of essential oils available, your DIY and pre-made essential oil blend ideas are virtually endless.

My personal favorite is using 5 drops of geranium essential oil, 5 drops of blue tansy essential oil, 10 drops of black spruce essential oil, and 10 drops of frankincense essential oil.

DIY Sugar Scrub Recipe

Sugar scrubs are my favorite hostess gift. I always feel they're a good idea because the winter season often comes with dry skin, and sugar scrubs help immensely with that.

• 4 oz quilted mason jars
• 1/8 cup Your choice of any cold-pressed seed-based oil (suggestions under the directions)
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar (or coconut/palm sugar)
• Essential oils for fragrance (suggestions for blends below)

How to put sugar scrubs together:

1. In each 4oz jar add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.
2. Add 15-20 drops of essential oil or essential oil blend of your choice to 1/8 cup of your oil.
3. Pour 1/8 cup of oil (any seed based oil will work) over the sugar in each jar.
4. Let sit long enough for the oil to surround all the sugar.
5. Stir.
6. Use or gift.

Check out our guide to making homemade sugar scrubs for ideas on essential oil recipes to add to them.

Eye Make-Up Remover Pads

This is a great gift for the person in your life who wears makeup on a regular basis. So many skincare items are filled with harmful ingredients, so having something healthy to help them remove their makeup is very thoughtful and helpful.

Ingredients for your homemade eye make-up remover pads

• 2 Tbsp Fractionated coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp Witch hazel
• 2 Tbsp Distilled water
• 4 drops of Lavender or frankincense essential oil
• 15-20 Cotton rounds
• Glass jar to store them in

Combine the lavender essential oil with witch hazel and water, then shake thoroughly. Press your cotton rounds into the glass jar until the liquid solution soaks through. Tighten the lid.

If you're using a mason jar like the linked above, you can make the packaging more festive by adding a thin piece of cloth between the lid pieces and adding a string or hemp cord bow around the lid.

Homemade Body Butter

Homemade body butter is a great DIY gift that may also double as a foot cream.

Supplies and ingredients you’ll need:

• Four 8oz wide-mouthed mason jars,
• a small saucepan,
• a butter knife,
• rubber-coated tongs,
• and a spoon

• One 16oz bag of Mango Butter,
• 1.5-2 Tbsp Beeswax,
• 1-2 tsp Arrowroot powder,
• 2 tsp Coconut oil,
• 2 dropper squirts of Argan oil,
• 1 dropper squirt of Jojoba oil,
• 1 tsp Rose ointment,
• Your choice of essential oils (~120 drops total)

You may choose to replace the mango butter with shea butter or cocoa butter… they’re all interchangeable. I personally chose to use mango butter because it doesn’t have as strong of a smell, which helps the essential oils stand out more.

Homemade Body Butter Instructions:

1. Fill a saucepan with just enough water to set the mason jar in without the water overflowing the jar. Heat water to a boil.
2. Separate the brick of butter (mango, shea, or cocoa) into quarters and stuff each quarter into an 8oz wide-mouth mason jar.
3. Add small a handful of beeswax pellets to each jar.
4. Add a tsp of rose ointment.
5. Drop the uncapped jar into the boiling water, and wait for everything to melt. Stir to thoroughly mix the mango butter, beeswax, and rose ointment.
6. Add a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil and 1-2 tsp arrowroot powder, and pull the hot jar out of the saucepan using the tongs. I also added two dropper squirts of the Argan oil and one dropper squirt of the jojoba oil at this time too. Mix the oil together using the butter knife.
7. Add desired essential oils.

For more ideas on which essential oils to use (and see additional tips and options), check out our DIY Body Butter post.

DIY Decorative Solid Hand Soap

These cute little hand soaps are lovely additions to any bathroom or kitchen and make fantastic stocking stuffers.

• 1 lb Soap Base (we love this goats milk soap base and this vegan glycerin soap base)
• 3 Tbsp Raw Honey (preferably locally sourced)
• 10 drops of Peppermint essential oil
• 10 drops Cedarwood essential oil
• Soap Mold (we love these flower soap molds and these snowflake soap molds)

Either shred or cut into cubes your soap base. Then heat up your soap, either on low heat in the microwave in 30-second increments or on the stove in a double boiler until completely melted.

Stir in your raw honey and essential oils. Then pour your mixture into your soap molds. Let your soap mix in the molds and rest until cool and hardened.

Foaming Hand Soap

Foaming Hand Soap Base Ingredients:

• 6 oz warm water
• 3 oz Castile soap
• 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite carrier oil
  (Our personal favorites are: sweet almond, grapeseed, or pure vitamin E oil)
• 20 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions to make your foaming hand soap:

Add your ingredients to a foaming hand soap dispenser, screw-on lid, and gently swirl to mix the ingredients together.

Check out our foaming hand soap recipe post for a variety of fun essential oil combinations to use, and a few other tips.

DIY Beard Oil

• ½ oz argan oil 
• ¼ oz jojoba oil 
• ¼ oz sweet almond oil 
• 7 drops of lavender essential oil
• 5 drops of rosemary essential oil
• 3 drops of cedarwood essential oil

Add your ingredients above to a 2 oz dropper bottle, swirl, drip a few drops onto your palm, rub your hands together, and apply thoroughly throughout your beard and facial skin.

Be sure to check out our Guide To Using & Making Beard Oil for more tips, tricks, oils, and recipes.

Lavender Bubble Bath Mix

This is a great gift for those who enjoy taking self-care baths.

• An unscented shower gel (this is our favorite) or Castile soap
• Vegetable glycerin (be sure to choose the vegetable-based, and not synthetic)
• Essential Oils (make sure you're using real oils, and not falling for clever marketing)
• Olive oil style bottle

To make your lavender bubble bath, combine all ingredients and gently shake to combine.

If you're looking for an easier way to share non-toxic bubble baths, you can also use these pre-made bath and shower gels:

• Lavender
• Sensation – an absolute must-have for fostering feelings of self-love and intimacy
• Evening Peace – great for unwinding after a long day
• Kidscents (my kids' favorite)
• Morning Start – great for feeling refreshed

Scented Diffuser Ornaments

These are among my kids' absolute favorites to make, and can also be used to make a diffuser necklace or diffuser bracelets too. (Or if you're pressed for energy, we have ideas for non-DIY diffusing jewelry too)

Ingredients to make your scented diffuser ornaments:

• Air Dry Terracotta clay
• Cookie cutters (we recommend using stainless steel cookie cutters)
• Pine or spruce essential oils

Roll out your Terracotta clay to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Use your favorite stainless steel cookie cutters to create shapes.

Use a straw or toothpick to create a hole at the top to create space for a string or piece of thin ribbon to thread through.

Allow your clay the space to sit for at least 24 hours while it dries.

Then add 1-2 drops of the essential oil of your choice. Our personal favorite is this black spruce that comes from trees grown under the Northern Lights in Canada.

What are your favorite DIY gifts to give?

These easy homemade gift ideas will surely be pleasing Christmas presents to family members and friends. Creating multiple would be perfect for gift baskets (one of my favorite ways to support nonprofit galas over the holiday season).

We would love to hear about what gifts you are making for your loved ones! Do you have a great gift idea not listed here? Be sure to share with us in the comments below!

And don't forget to check out our gift guide for essential oil lovers, and our gift guide for new moms.

Looking for more info about essential oils and adopting a healthier lifestyle? Be sure to check out our Healthy Home online course for tips on how to identify and replace common harmful products from your home.

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