DIY Natural Beauty Gift Basket

This is a simple little gift basket that I put together using dome diy beauty products and some chocolate, plus a homemade gift tag that I made at a party. Don't Forget to watch the video to see how I put it together!
if you would rather watch the video on youtube follow the link HERE.

Basic lip balm recipe;
In a double boiler, Melt 1 Tbsp beeswax, 2 Tbsp cocoa butter, 1 Tbsp almond oil, a few drops of tangerine and vanilla oil. pour into containers.

DIY ginger snap body scrub

Pink Peppermint Lip balm I used a different one but I haven't posted that recipe yet.

The goats milk soap is a basic melt and poor soap from etsy.

Berry basket from target

Alter eco chocolate bars

Honey patties

Other things you could add are things like a mini loofah, tea, bath salts, clay mask, bubble bath, nail polish, lotion, anything that you like that is shelf stable.


I post a video and a blog every week, if you want new posts emailed to you then don't forget to subscribe over on the side ->

I'm not sponsored by anyone, I just really like these chocolates and they were on sale, so extra bonus!

Gingersnap Body Scrub DIY

HEY! I did another video! This week I made a gingersnap body scrub. Gingersnaps are my favorite cookies to make and to eat this time of year and I love to make sugar cookie body scrubs so I thought why not use molasses and make gingersnap body scrubs! I also figured the spices would be a bit warming this time of year too. You can use essential oils instead of the spices, but I felt like keeping it simple and making a recipe that pretty much anyone can make without buying anything special. I used sugar for this scrub (duh, cookies! am I right?) and I used coconut oil and almond oil for the moisturizer. I wanted to use coconut oil because I wanted that rich fattiness to kind of mimic butter without, you know, using butter. Anyway this is such a fun recipe because I felt like I was making cookies but unlike cookies this will last longer. Wouldn't this make such a cute gift pared with some homemade gingersnap cookies? If you would rather watch the video on youtube you can easily click the link HERE.

Ingreadiants: 
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (or 1 cup white with 2 Tbsp molasses)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup liquid oil (such as almond)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp ginger, ground
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice)
  *optional body wash/liquid body soap, 1 tsp to 1 tbsp

Directions: 
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.
This also works well as a lip scrub just make sure you don't put any soap in it if you use it for that. You can  use just coconut oil and use a little extra to make tubes of lip scrub also. Maybe I should make a video on that.

I've been posting lots of videos and I have a whole bunch more in the works so if you want to keep updated subscribe via email on the side -> or you can also subscribe to my youtube channel, that button is on the side to or just use THIS LINK.

Vanilla Orange perfume diy

This is such an easy perfume, that lasts all day with a lingering scent of vanilla, orange, rose and subtle notes of tree resins to round out the sweetness. The base is a mixture of infused vodka. You can make this whole perfume by simply infusing vodka with vanilla, orange rinds, rose petals, and tree resins, or you can use a base of vodka and add in extracts and oils, or just oils. What I did this time was mix together vanilla extract (homemade) with vodka (so that its no to strong) and added in orange oil, rose water concentrate, cedarwood oil, and elemi oil (similar to frankincense and myrrh).
If you want to make a body splash mix together equal parts rosewater or orange blossom water (or a combination of the two) and vegetable glycerin. I prefer the extract and oil recipe near the bottom. It is easiest for me since I always have the ingredients on hand.


All oil perfume
container for solid or liquid oil perfume. the liquid one should be an old essential oil bottle, a dropper bottle, or roll on.
1 oz of an oil, mango butter for solid, or jojoba, almond or another neutral oil.
5 drops of orange oil
5 drops of vanilla oil
4 drops of rose oil
1 drop of cedarwood
1 drop of elemi (or frankincense or myrrh)

All extract perfume.
This can be done three ways. Either making all the extracts separate and putting them together later, or mixing all the ingredients into one extract and having them saturate the vodka together. The third way is by mixing pre-made extracts with vodka, but you will still need to use a couple of oils.

If you are going to make the extracts separately follow how to do that here.
The ratio will need to be
5 parts vanilla (if making yourself use vanilla beans cut in half lengthwise)
5 parts orange (if making yourself use orange rind)
2 parts rose (making yourself use rose petals)
1 part cedarwood needles
1 part tree resin. (use a resin such as myrrh or frankincense)
Vodka to cover and vodka to dilute once you've made your extracts.

Mixing them before you put it into the bottle will make it easier to tell the ratios. Add in the vodka and let sit until the scent is to your desired strength. If it gets to dark be careful not to get it on your clothes.
If you make your extracts separate you will need to mix them together in about 4 weeks.
You can also make any of these extracts and mix them with essential oils.

Extract and essential oil perfume.
25 ml bottle
15 ml vodka
9 ml vanilla extract
7 drops of orange oil
4 drops rose oil or 10 drops rosewater concentrate
1 drop cedarwood oil
1 drop elemi, frankences, or myrrh

Mix into a 25 ml spray bottle.

Body splash
Using this recipe  for rosewater glycerin body splash, make your base. You can use all rosewater in this recipe or orange water and use rose oil, or do half and half. You may need to add in more orange oil no matter what depending on your preference.
Depending on what water you use, use the ratios above as a guideline.

Some other oils that can be nice to add are, fennel, tangerine, and geranium.

I sure do hope this makes sense. If you need more help feel free to comment below.

Coconut honey face wash and mask

One of my favorite things to wash my face with lately is a mixture of 4 tbsp of coconut oil mixed with 4 tbsp of raw honey and a pinch of vanilla powder. The coconut oil and honey bolth even out skin tone, moisturize, are antibacterial, and very healing. This also works  as a mild  scrub because of the vanilla powder. 

                        

When I'm ready to make a new batch I soften up my 4 Tbsp of coconut oil first. Once its a creamy consistency I whisk in the 4 Tbsp of honey. Then I take a heavy Pinch of Vanilla powder and mix it in. 

Other optional add ins are cinnamon, wild tumeric (culinary tumeric is fine too, it just isnt as healing and it has a tendancy to add color instead of even it like the wild,) and ground oats. Powdered herbs such as lavender, roses, calendula, and holy basil are nice options too. 

When I wash my face I like to wash it with just warm water first and I pat it dry until it is just damp. Its easier to apply with damp, warm skin. Then I use about 2 tsp and spread it around my face. I let it sit for 5-20 minutes, depending on if I forget about it, and if I don't have much time I will just go ahead and wash it off. When I'm ready to wash it off I take a warm washcloth and gently rub my face with it in circular motions. Then I rinse my washcloth and wipe off the rest. A splash of water, a gentle towl drying, and moisturizing with a few drops of jojoba oil and one drop of seabuckthorn oil is all I need to finish off my skincare for the evening. 

New Mexican red enchilada sauce

This is my favorite enchilada sauce. Their are no tomatoes, just Chilies, garlic, a little salt, and oregano. Man this sauce is amazing. Smokey, smooth, and a little sweet. Sometimes I like to mix it up by adding different kinds of peppers and maybe some cilantro and cumin.

Ingredients:
6-8 Dried red chili pods, stems and seeds removed
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp oregano
Water

Directions: 
Cover the chilies with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Put that and all the other ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Put back into a pot and simmer for 20 minutes. This will keep for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator or freeze.

That's it! If you want to make a more mild sauce with tomatoes, add in a can of roasted tomatoes when you blend it, or a can of tomato sauce.