You’ve been known to pay more for lettuce that’s already chopped and rinsed. And those pre-moistened Windex wipes may cost more, but they save you at least five seconds hunting down glass cleaner and paper towels. The truth is, saving time is often more important than saving money for busy women, but when it comes to holiday gift-giving, DIY presents are a unique way to show that you spent more than cash creating something worth sharing.

Bath Salts

Bath salts are the easiest make-at-home beauty item around. Simply mix one cup of Epsom salts, one cup of baking soda and your choice of essential oils to create a variety of bath salt options.  (You can also color bath salts with just a few drops of food coloring.)  Pretty packaging is the key to making this simply assembled gift dazzling. Save-on-crafts.com has a variety of chic packaging options, such as lattice glass potpourri jars ($8) and glass mason jars with metal lids ($1.50 each).  Complement your container with holiday tin tags that read “Joyeux Noel” (12 tags for $14) and small wood scoops (10 for $10.99, also at save-on-crafts.com). Or, log on to myownlabels.com and create customized labels, and even hang tags, to fit your jar of choice for about .35 cents each. (Full details on my DIY packaging and free printable labels pictured below at the end of this post.)

Foaming Bath

I’m a bubble bath addict but I find it difficult to find bubble baths with ingredients whose names I can pronounce. And, since I like to keep it simple and pure when it comes to products I use on my skin, this Foaming Vanilla-Honey Bath recipe from Real Simple magazine has become a favorite. Simply combine one cup of oil (almond, sunflower, or canola) with ½ cup of honey, ½ cup of mild liquid soap and one tablespoon of vanilla extract. For the soap, soapgoods.com sells Stephenson’s Liquid Organic Castile Base for just under $40 per gallon which yields 40 four oz. soap portions, or, head to Target where a 32 oz. bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Pure Castile Soap for $15.29 will yield 8 portions of soap for $1.91 each. Pour the final product into two 8 oz. frosted glass apothecary bottles with corks, $2.99 each at save-on-crafts.com, or “upcycle” your own jar from a bottled beverage or condiment. Embellish with found objects, out of favor costume jewelry, paint, ribbon, etc.

Sugar Scrubs

Create custom sugar scrubs with a variety of essential oils and other ingredients most likely already in your pantry. Simply combine one cup of white or brown sugar, 1/2 cup of oil (such as  sesame, canola, grapeseed or, in a pinch, olive oil) and add three to five drops of your essential oil of choice. Mix all of the ingredients together and blend well.  Or, substitute the essential oils for two tablespoon of spices such as pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice. Make a candy cane scrub by adding peppermint oil to the sugar and oil. Separate the scrub into two batches and add a dash of red food coloring to one batch. Next, layer the white and red scrubs in a clear glass or PET jar, creating a visual candy cane effect and a sweet holiday gift that’s one of a kind.

{I picked up the fabulous containers, pictured at top, ideal for bath salts and sugar scrubs, at Old Time Pottery. For just $1.49 per container, these glass jars are available with assorted lid colors and the lid actually comes with a small scoop, ideal for bath salts and scrubs, built into the lid as pictured above. I’d estimate each container holds about 10 to 12 oz. of product once filled. I embellished the jar with simple red ribbon and metal & enamel charms by Blue Moon Beads. I got them on clearance at Michael’s for less than $2. Finally, I designed some pretty, round tags that read, “primp, bathe and be pretty.” You can download the printable labels, 4 per page here —  bepretty.}

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