92. Pinecone Fire Starters

If you live some place where pinecones are plentiful, why not take yourself for a little walk, collect a bunch, and make these simple fire starters?

91. DIY Spa Gift Basket

Everyone needs a little pampering. Why not create your own spa gift basket, filled with luxurious (hand made & inexpensive) ingredients...

90. DIY Vanilla Latte Spa Candle

I don't know about you, but most store-bought candles these days are a bit too overpowering (olfactorily speaking). That's why I LOVE these subtly scented candles. They won't overwhelm your senses, but they will offer up some mild, relaxing scents.

63. Lotion Bar

Easy Lotion Bar

MATERIALS:

2 oz beeswax
1 oz almond oil
1 oz cocoa butter
Fragrance (by the drop, until it is the scent you want)
soap mold


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt the beeswax and cocoa butter in a glass container in the microwave, or a clean pot on the stove.
2. When it is completely melted remove from heat and add the almond oil.
3. Then add your fragrance and/or coloring.
4. Pour into your mold (this can be deodorant tubes, soap molds, ice cube trays, muffin tins, etc) and let set up completely.

Extra Rich Lotion Bar

MATERIALS:

3 oz beeswax
2 oz mango butter
1 oz almond oil
1 oz jojoba oil
1 oz hemp oil
Fragrance
mold


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Melt beeswax on low heat.
2. When melted add the mango butter.
3. Remove from heat when mango is almost melted.
4. Add the other oils, and mix together. Add your fragrance, and/or coloring.
5. Pour into your mold and let set completely.

Resource: make-stuff.com

61. Solid Perfume

This is an inexpensive and easy way to create a personalized scent for a nifty gift.

The only ingredient that can get expensive is the essential oils, especially if you make a complex scent blend requiring an initial investment of many different essentials. Of course, there's nothing wrong with picking a single pleasant scent. One bottle of an essential oil will make lots and lots of perfume; you use only drops at a time!

MATERIALS:

1 tablespoon Beeswax (available at craft shop)
1 tablespoon Almond Oil (or Jojoba Oil or Vitamin E - available at natural foods/health store)
8 - 15 drops Essential Oils (available at natural foods/health store)
a pan
a small glass bowl or jar (to use in conjunction with the pan as a double boiler)
a straw (used for stirring wax when melted)
1 container (preferably glass, ceramic or stone but plastic is acceptable)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Put about an inch of water in a small saucepan, then put a small glass jar or pyrex bowl in the water. Measure out the wax and almond oil into the jar/bowl and bring the water around it to a boil.
   
   The wax will melt gradually; when it is 100% liquid, remove from heat and stir in the other ingredients with a straw (the wax will start to form solid on whatever you do your stirring with — a straw has little surface area so you lose less of the end product, and it's disposable so you don't have to clean it off). When everything is thoroughly mixed together, pour the liquid wax immediately into your final container. In about 30 minutes, it will be cooled, solid and ready to use.
2. To use the perfume, simply rub a finger around on the surface of the waxy perfume, then rub that finger on the area you want to smell good — the inside of your wrists and behind the ears works well.

Some tips for devising the ultimate scent recipe:

• combine drops of various essentials, totalling 8 -15 drops in all
• pick a primary scent and use more of that one, then one or two "background" scents, using less of each
• check out various aromatherapy sites for info on the psychological properties of various scents

Some nice essentials for background scents are:

• clary sage (a slightly smoky herbal scent that's supposed to help creativity and concentration)
• orange or ginger provide a warming sensation (good for people who are always cold)
• ylang-ylang is a floral that isn't too sweet or girly for guys, but it's a happy smell and subtle enough for a backdrop
• cedar (repels insects)

Scent Recipes (and purported aromatherapy effects):

1. For Men:
   6 drops essential oil of pine (confidence)
   4 drops essential oil of ylang-ylang (mood-elevating, energizing)
   3 drops essential oil of clary sage (concentration and creativity)
2. For Women:
   5 drops essential oil of ginger (sweet and warming)
   4 drops essential oil of orange (warming, mood-elevating)
   2 drops essential oil of ylang-ylang (mood-elevating, energizing)
   2 drops of clary sage (concentration and creativity)

Source: Instructables.com

If you dig this, you may also dig Jan Berry's book:

101 Easy Homemade Products for Your Skin Health & Home A Nerdy Farm Wifes All Natural DIY Projects Using Commonly Found Herbs Flowers & Other Pl
by Jan BerryTrade Paperback

10. Eye Pillow

MATERIALS

a 7" x 7" square of fabric (if you don't have a ruler, open your checkbook cover and trace around it)
2/3 cup rice
5 - 10 drops essential oil, available at health food stores. Rosemary and chamomile are both said to relieve stress, stimulate relaxation, and ease insomnia and headaches; try peppermint to tame a hangover.
needle and thread
an envelope of piece of thin cardboard for filling pillow

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Before you start, add 5 - 10 drops of essential oil to 2/3 cup rice. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then mix well to blend, and leave it for about an hour. This allows the rice to absorb the oil, preventing greasy spots on your fabric. If you're making several pillows, you can mix up a big batch of rice and oil at once. Alternately, you can skip the oil and use 1/4 to 1/3 lavender flowers in place of some of the rice.
2. Fold the square of fabric in half, right sides facing (the opposite side of what you want to show up should be on the outside; you'll turn it inside-out after you sew it up)
3. Sew along the long side and one short side to form a pouch. If you're sewing by hand, keep your stitches small. Look at the decorative stitching on your jeans for a guideline.
4. Turn pouch right side-out. You can use a pen with a lid to poke out the corners and make them nice and square.
5. Fold open edge in about 1/2" on itself; iron. (If you don't have an iron, just skip this step and you'll fold it in when you sew it.
6. Fill pouch with 2/3 cup scented rice. Slightly roll up the envelope lengthwise, slide it into the pouch, and use it to hold the pouch open and while you fill it with rice.
7. Sew up open side. If you didn't iron the hem in earlier, then make sure you fold in the unfinished edges. If you're hand sewing, sew several extra stitches at the beginning and the end of the seam to prevent it from unraveling.

Recline, situate pillow over closed eyes, and relax. Eye pillow may be chilled or stored in the freezer for use over the eyes or forehead to help ease a headache or hangover. If fragrance fades, revive with a few drops of essential oil along seam.

From Smile and Act Nice