Handmade Gifts

I meant to put this post out before the holidays but then it would have been a spoiler for all my family members that read my blog!  So I'm posting them now so anyone can use them as inspiration for birthday or other gift occasions in the new year!

1.  Lip Balm
These were the biggest hits!  I made 50 tubes of lip balm in just about an hour.  I learned how to make these through a friend who hosted a class with a DoTerra Essential Oil representative.  The recipe is simple: 1 tsp bees wax pellets (Hansi organics off Amazon), 1 tsp shea butter (you can also use cocoa butter), 1 tsp coconut oil, 3-5 drops essential oil.  You can also add a little Vitamin E oil.  The woman showed us how to use the silicone cupcake liners as double boilers.  Melt everything together (add the essential oil toward the end) and then pour into containers.    

 I made lavender and peppermint lip balms and labeled them with the ingredients and gifted some of them in these little mesh drawstring bags.  The biggest expense is the container.  I got mine for a fair price at Amazon (about 22 cents per tube).  However, now that I know I can do this process successfully and I am now in LOVE with the lip balm, I can buy 100 tubes at a time for a better price.  I barely put a dent in the other materials.  I estimate the cost per balm to be about 50-60 cents.

2.  Rainbow Hand Kites
This was an idea found on pinterest.  I gave these to my kids for Christmas and they loved them!  I bought the ribbon at Dollar Tree and there was enough ribbon for 6 kites.  The wood rings are 3 inches in diameter and the best deal I found was at www.craftamerica.com   After measuring each color and tying them in rainbow order, I hot glued the knots to the ribbon and to the wood.  I sealed the ribbon edges with a lighter. These cost $2 each to make and took about 15 minutes each.

3.  Stamped Fabric Gifts
Stampin' Up stamps can be used with fabric paint and will wash off easily.  I used my stamps to make a shirt and some dish towels.  These take less than 5 minutes to make each one.

For this shirt, I stamped the flower in the center, then used the eraser end of a pencil to do the beads.  I outlined the flower with white and silver puffy paint.  Once the glitter puffy paint dries, it looks really pretty.

These are Aunt Martha's flour sack towels from Amazon.  I could have found less expensive ones, but theses were the perfect size and texture I wanted so I didn't mind paying a little more.  I used a ruler to line and space the stamps evenly at the bottom of the dish towel.  I stamped the kids' hands to make the trees then decorated them with puffy paint and painted the trunks.  The possiblities for this project are endless!  Different stamps or handprint designs can make a great gift for any occasion.

4.  Wooden Puzzles

I bought wooden puzzles at Hobby Lobby and had my son draw his own design and paint them himself.  He gave one to his sister and one to my nephew.  

5.  Salt Dough Ornaments
There are several variations of this recipe on Pinterest.  Many of them post equal parts salt, flour, and water. However, my dough was too wet, so I started with 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour and gradually added water starting with 1/4 cup until I got the dough consistency I wanted.  Roll them out into whatever shapes you want.  Use a straw to make a ribbon hole for ornaments.  You could also cut them into squares to make coasters or shape them into whatever you want.  Bake them at 200 degrees for 2 hours, turn them over halfway through.  I made these at school with my students and my son made the ones pictured below.