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You are here: Home / Homestead Abundance / 55 Last Minute Herbal DiY Gifts

55 Last Minute Herbal DiY Gifts

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DIY gifts are gifts from the heart.   They are extravagant.  They are full of meaning.  They are an expression not just of thoughtfulness, but also of the giver’s personality and creativity.  And they aren’t “cheap”, but they can be frugal, more so if the herbs came from your garden. These 55 last minute DiY gifts can be made in large quantities in an afternoon, ready for the unexpected guest, the hostess gift, or neighbor gift or just because you want to bless a friend or family member.

Herbal DIY gifts go a little deeper because they offer the gift of health and wellbeing plus good taste, affecting the whole body, mind, and emotions.  If you are looking for a few last minute gifts let me save you the icy streets, the traffic jams, the waiting for a parking spot, the pushing through crowds of shoppers, the waiting in lineups to pay, or waiting for the parcel to arrive.  Instead, open your herb cupboard and make these homemade herbal gifts this afternoon.  You can thank me later.

Herbal DIY gifts go a little deeper because they offer the gift of health and wellbeing plus good taste, affecting the whole body, mind, and emotions. If you are looking for a few last minute gifts let me save you the icy streets, the traffic jams, the waiting for a parking spot, the pushing through crowds of shoppers, the waiting in lineups to pay, or waiting for the parcel to arrive. Instead, open your herb cupboard and make these homemade herbal gifts this afternoon. You can thank me later.

Herbal tea for easy diy gifts

Making herbal tea is as easy as taking the dried herbs from last summer’s garden and combining them into flavourful combinations that do double duty for good taste and good health.  Peppermint, lemon balm, spearmint, rose hips, and raspberry or strawberry leaves make a delicious base that you can add dried berries to for an everyday herbal tea blend.   Here’s some ideas to get you started.

I picked these herbs because I can easily grow them in my zone 3 climate (except ginger which I can buy at the grocery store. There is nothing magical about these specific herbs except that they are local to me. It frustrates me when an herbal recipe calls for exotic ingredients but a common local herb would have sufficed. So use this recipe as a guide for your own herbal alchemy.

 

 

Or try one of these premeasured herbal tea blends. 

Nourishing Nettle Tea 3 ways

Bedtime tea

Herbal tea for pain and cramping

 

Herbal Bath

Bath bombs are a fizzy parcel of hydrotherapy in a joyful single serving portion. The dry bath bomb enters the bath tub and immediately erupts in fizzy, foaming delight that is reminiscent of the volcano demonstrations at grade one science fairs. However, the bath bomb is even more wonderful because it explodes with fragrance and herbal goodness, moving a mundane bath into the realm of therapeutic delight. But even though they are wonderful, soothing, and fragrant, the technique necessary to make them at home is difficult to master.

At the end of the day, a relaxing herbal bath can rejuvenate and nourish your body, relax you, and relieve stress and pain.  Try these herbal bath recipes for DIY gifts.

 

 

Herbal Bath Tea Bags

Rose Bath Bombs for relaxation

Dead Sea Bath Salts for Romance

Handmade soap

 

Salves and Ointments

I made a dozen herbal salves in one afternoon!

Salves and oinments made from local herbs are powerful medicinals that nourish the body.  Here’s a few basic ones for a Wellness Gift Basket.  Each salve can be made in about 15 minutes, if you’ve already got herb infused oils to work with.  If not, add an hour of herb steeping time to efforts.  You can make a lot of these in one session, so don’t feel overwhelmed.

 

 

Anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic Pine salve

Cayenne-Ginger salve for sore muscles

Headache salve that really works

First Aid Salve

 

Lip Balms and Moisturizers

Cosmetics contain toxic chemicals that are absorbed through the skin into the body.  These chemicals have to be expelled from the body through the liver and the kidneys taxing these organs.  The best way to be kind to the liver is to eliminate the optional toxins we put on the body by using natural cosmetics.  Herbal cosmetics heal rather than attack the body.  Everytime you give your loved one a natural cosmetic you increase their health and longevity.

Learning how to make lip balm is the entry “drug” to making our own cosmetics, deodorants, tooth powder, hand lotion, eye serum, face moisturizer, bath salts, Foot balm, and massage bars. The techniques used in making lip balm are similar to making most other cosmetic products, except soap.

 

 

Lip Balm

Naturally Colored Rose Lip Balm (a bit fancier)

Peppermint Lotion Bar

Massage Melts

Herbal Sunscreen

Elderflower AntiAging Cream

Elderflower AntiAging Eye Serum

Bayberry Hemp Beard Balm

 

Herbal Beverages

Herbal beverages increase our sense of Joy and wellbeing.  The Mead takes a little longer to execute.  I like to leave mine for 6 to 9 months after bottling before we open it.  But it’s worth the wait, with a rich, complex honey flavour.  The elderberry means that this is antiviral, immune boosting, and anti-inflammatory, too.  Mead makes an especially lovely DIY gift.

Dandelion mead

 

 

Elderberry-Blackberry  Mead

Cranberry Kombucha

Dandelion Mead

 

Herb Infused  Vinegar

While herb infused vinegars can take a while to steep, they can be bottled and given with the herb still in them, within a week after bottling.  The colour change in the vinegar begins immediately and gets more pronounced with time. Herbal vinegars are used as an ingredient in salad dressings, sauces, and marinades.  Plus herbal vinegars are incredibly health giving.

Limoncello is a slightly bitter, refreshing aperitif. Traditionally served icy cold, before meals to stimulate digestive juices, the bitter principle in limoncello is stimulating and carminative. Have a glass before a heavy meal, or serve it up with dessert. Your liver will thank you.

 

 

Fire Cider

Sage Oxymel

Berry and Herb Infused Vinegar

Cherry Liqueur

Limoncello

Creme de Cacao

Kaluha

 

Herb Infused Oil

Garlic oil, rosemary oil, hot pepper oil, basil and dill infused oils are prized culinary oils.  They are so popular that high end stores offer these infused oils in small bottles at a premium price. The problem is they all carry the same flavours of oils.  When you make your own you can off your list herbed oils that are unique.

Directions: Place 1 cup of dried spices in a quart jar.  Fill the jar with 3 to 4 cups of high quality olive oil.  Put the jar in a cool, dry place.  Shake it as often as you think of it.  After 3 weeks to a month strain the jar and retain the oil.  If using fresh spices or herbs the jar should be stored in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature to prevent botulism.

 

Herb and Spice Blends

Warming, digestive, soothing, and comforting, homemade masala chai is nothing like the coffee shop drink. It’s worth making your own Masala Chai from scratch, both for flavour and for its therapeutic benefit. This is my chai tea recipe.

 

 

Chai Spice mix

Herbed Salt

 

Herbal Room Fresheners and polish

“A bayberry candle burnt to the socket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket.” New England Proverb

 

 

Christmas Essential Oil Blends

Beeswax Tealight Candles

Beeswax Pillar Candles

Bayberry and Beeswax Candles

Rolled Beeswax Candle

Wooden Cutting Board Conditioner

 

Herbed crackers, cakes, and cookies

Savory pizzelles are better than the finest, high end store-bought cracker. A base of eggs, butter, flour, and baking powder can be spiced up with grated cheese, sesame seeds, flax seed, nuts, onions, garlic, fresh herbs, lemon peel, or spices. And the recipe is enough to please 4 to 6 people for appetizers. Double the recipe for a bigger audience.

 

 

Flax Crackers

Parmesan chive pizzelles

Dill and Lemon Pizzelles

Pumpkin Spice Pizzelles

Anise Pizzelles

Rose Pizzelles

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (gluten-free)

Butternut Spice Bundt Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake

 

Herb infused honey

Rose honey 5

 

 

Rose Infused Honey

Elderberry Syrup

 

Spiced Jams and Jellie

If you still have some apples left from the summer harvest, mix up a quick batch of hot pepper jelly or chai spiced jelly while you are waiting for dinner to cook tonight.  If you are out of apples you can use a package of commercial pectin for these homemade Christmas gifts. 

While they are sour they are not as sharp as rhubarb or cranberries, requiring less sugar to make them into a very delicious jelly. The flavour is unique, like wild blueberries with a huckleberry after taste. Once you’ve made your first batch, you’ll be planning more into your fall foraging trips.

 

 

Hot Pepper Jelly

Apple Chai Jelly

Oregon Grape Jelly

Traditional English Mint Sauce

 

For Pets and Fur Babies

Your fur babies and working dogs benefit from herbs, too. Try these DIY gifts for the dog and cat on your list.

Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to fiddle with pet treats every day. Let’s make it easy so you actually will do this for your dog or cat. These are a make once and serve up daily turmeric chews. They take less than 15 minutes to make, plus an overnight chill period. They offer turmeric for dogs in an easily absorbable way. They are convenient for you. They are therapeutic for both dogs and cats. And they are super inexpensive to make, with only 4 ingredients.

 

 

Turmeric Chews

Working Dog Paw Wax

 

Herbal DIY gifts go a little deeper because they offer the gift of health and wellbeing plus good taste, affecting the whole body, mind, and emotions. If you are looking for a few last minute gifts let me save you the icy streets, the traffic jams, the waiting for a parking spot, the pushing through crowds of shoppers, the waiting in lineups to pay, or waiting for the parcel to arrive. Instead, open your herb cupboard and make these homemade herbal gifts this afternoon. You can thank me later.

 

Or give the gift of herbal education with a class from The Herbal Academy of New England. From now till December 31st, get all classes at The Herbal Academy for 10% off.

 

Your Turn:

How many gifts do you have left to make or buy?  Did this list inspire you? 

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Filed Under: DIY Gifts, Green Living, Herbal remedies and natural health, Homestead Abundance Tagged With: diy gifts, herbal gifts, homemade gifts

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