The DIY stocking stuffer three different ways

We all have 3 sleeps to put everything together and make sure we finished off everyone's gifts. In my opinion, my favorite gifts (to both give and receive) are homemade. They're so much more personable, and they show the time, thought, and effort that was put into them. For the last couple years now, one of my favorite homemade gifts to make has been sugar scrubs! The most fun part is finding cute little jars to put them in. And, the great part of scrubs is that you can specialize them for different parts of your body. Since sugar is pretty rough, I like to consider mine body scrubs, just since the exfoliation of the sugar granules would be a little rough on the face. Another great DIY is a salt soak for the bath (but that's a post for another day). Since I love using sugar scrubs, I thought I would share with you guys three of my absolute favorite recipes for them. But, you can play with them, find your scent, and discover lots of new options for yourself too!

Scrub #1 // Vanilla Chai

Start off with your jar about 3/4 full of sugar, you need a little room for mixing and adding a few things. Grab one bag of spiced chai tea, open it up, and dump the contents into your sugar and mix until they are well combined. Add vanilla starting with 1 teaspoon. Melt your coconut oil and stir until your scrub is the desired consistency. The key here is that you do NOT want it to be liquidy, the coconut oil will set in between the time you make it and gift it, and it will be too solidified at that point to use at all! You want all the sugar to have been mixed with the oil, but you want it to still have a loose and granuley texture to it. A good way to test is to run your hands under water and try the scrub on your hands. You want to feel the exfoliation of the sugar granules, and feel the softness of the coconut oil, but you don't want your hands to feel oily, like you just dipped them in coconut oil! Add sugar / oil as necessary until you have the right balance. Once your consistency is about right, take a good wiff, and add more vanilla as needed for scent. 

Coconut oil is great for hydration and repair, chai is great for aging, dry skin, and puffiness. Sugar is a great exfoliator, and helps to hydrate your skin from within. Pure vanilla is an antioxidant, is healing (especially for inflammation) and antibacterial, and full of Vitamin B.  

Scrub #2 // Vanilla Lavender Chamomile

Start with a jar 3/4 full of sugar, just like your last scrub. Drop in the contents of one bag of chamomile tea. Mix with sugar until well combined. Add in your 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add coconut oil to desired consistency, and mix until everything is well combined. Lastly, add a few drops Lavender essential oil. I suggest starting with 2 drops with a small jar, mixing and sniffing, adding lavender and vanilla from there until the scent is right for you. 

Chamomile has such effective anti-inflammatory properties that it is used in natural creams and ointments that prove to be 60% as effective as hydrocortisone creams, it is also safe for all skin types (but not hypoallergenic of course), including sensitive skin. Lavender essential oil is mostly used for aromatherapy. It is great to use before bed because the oil is very calming, especially when rubbed near the temples, and can help with falling asleep. It is also extremely beneficial to treating acne. Lavender is great for pain relief from soreness to regular muscle aches. 

Scrub #3 // Peppermint Mocha

Every time I open this jar of scrub, I can't stop smelling it! This one is probably my favorite, but some people are kind of weirded out by the fact that the main ingredient is coffee (which also makes a big shower mess). Start with coffee and sugar, about 1/4 of your mixture should be sugar, and 3/4 should be coffee. Mix these well! Mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Melt coconut oil and combine until consistency is good. Now add 2 drops of peppermint oil and work your way up with both peppermint and vanilla scents until the smell has that just perfect balance! You'll know it when you smell it, it smells exactly like a peppermint mocha!

The smell of peppermint oil alone can help with nausea and headaches, so just take a wiff of your jar when you're feeling icky! It is also a fantastic stress reliever. Since peppermint has menthol, it is cooling and helps improve skin texture. Coffee has an insane amount of antioxidants, which can help with aging, reduce swelling (so great for puffy eyes). The coffee grounds are a great exfoliator (I add in sugar because I think sugar is an even better exfoliator). With all the caffeine, it improves blood circulation and energizes your skin!

5 Tips for making a good sugar scrub:

i) Use your senses! Touch and smell are the two things that will help you out the most making these. You'll learn what feels right, and what smells appealing, which are the two most important parts of making the scrubs.

ii) Use organic / pure ingredients when possible. The natural properties of food items are often removed in non-organic foods, like raw honey has antibacterial properties, but not normal honey.

iii) Mix SLOWLY. Start with a little and go up from there, with both coconut oil and essential oil, too much is irreversible, so you may as well take it slow and make it right.

iv) Mix well. The last thing you want is to give someone a scrub where the bottom layer is just pure sugar and isn't mixed in with the coconut oil. This leaves a part of the jar totally unusable, and you want the homemade gift to be perfect, right?

v) Don't be afraid to get funky with it. Try different scents and textures, you'll find what you love, and coconut oil and sugar are easy to find, so throwing a few out that don't turn out isn't the end of the world.

Last but not least, dress up that sugar scrub! Wrap it in a bow, and make a little label with the ingredients and their benefits if you have the time. If not, wrap in a bow and slap on a little name label.

What are your favorite DIY gifts to give? Have you ever made a sugar scrub?