Want to give a gift that’s thoughtful, hand-made, full of herbal goodness AND easy on the pocketbook? This blog post is for you, my friend! With the holidays right around the corner, I thought I’d compile a list of some fantastic herbal recipes to get your creative juices flowing. Have a peek below! I have no business affiliation with any of these recipe-creators, I just think they’re wonderful ;) 

1. Herbal Bath Salts

Want to give the gift of relaxation and self-care this holiday season? Herbally infused bath salts are a perfect way to do so! I love this gift, because it's super simple and looks so beautiful in a glass mason jar. On top of that, herbal bath salts smell heavenly! They leave you lots of creative freedom to come up with scent combinations and offer that thoughtful, hand-made touch that makes people swoon a little when they receive it.

My favorite thing to do is throw in a little dried lavender or some rose petals to add that beautiful herbal touch! 

For some herbal bath salt inspo, head over to Mountain Rose's Herbal Bath Recipes here.  

2. DIY Herbal Body Butter 

Body butter is such a luxurious gift to give and can be really satisfying to make! It offers the healing properties of the herbs you use and offers soothing and moisturizing properties to keep skin happy and healthy, especially in the winter season. One thing to note- you'll need to prepare your own herb-infused oil as the healing part of your recipe (often infused with calendula, marshmallow root, plaintain, gotu kola, lavender or st-john's wort). So if you've never done this before, you'll to learn a new herbal skill- oil infusion! The recipes below have resources showing you how to do so. 

For an easy-to-follow recipe, with fewer ingredients, check out: 

• Grow, Forage, Cook, Ferment's Calendula Cream Recipe-NOTE: In this recipe, it mentions a specific preservative product, but you can easily add some vitamin E to preserve the shelf life, or check out Mountain Rose's 5 Tips for Preserving Natural Body Care Products here. 

For recipes with a few more ingredients and steps (worth it!), check out: 

• Rosalee De La Foret's Recipe- Decadent Calendula Body Butter  
• Herbal Academy's Recipe- Wintertime Herbal Infused Whipped Body Butter 

3. Delicious Elderberry Syrup

As you may know if you've been a part of my community for a while, I LOVE elderberry syrup! I give it to my daughter daily throughout the winter months to keep her immune system strong (daycare, am I right?!). Yup, elderberries are highly antiviral and work wonders to keep the bugs at bay. Not only that, but this recipe is absolutely delicious. It's a great way to "wow" your friends and family, and give them a little taste (literally) of the glorious world of herbal medicine if they've been a bit hesitant to dive in. 

Check out my simple and tasty Elderberry Recipe to get the full medicinal benefits of elderberry, and get your hands on my tried and true recipe! 

4. Herbal Lip Balms

There's nothing like a smooth, moisturizing lip balm. The way it feels when it goes on, especially if you know it's chemical and toxin free is a real treat for anyone! Winter time is especially a season to keep those lips well hydrated and crack-free, so offering a hand-made version of this classic gift to those you love can be so rewarding (and practical!).  

For a nice herbal recipe, check out Rosalee De La Foret's Healing Marshmallow Root & Calendula Lip Balm

5. Sugar Body Scrubs 

If you want to create a luxurious spa experience for someone special, without breaking the bank, this is your winning gift my friend! It's so simple to create a divine body scrub infused with herbal allies that are healing and soothing to skin, which will leave your gift receiver with glowing skin and relaxing experince to go along with it.

Check out the Herbal Academy's Calendula Sugar Scrub to get inspired!

6. Mason Jar Recipes 

Ok, am I the only one who thinks ANYTHING in a mason jar is just the cutest thing ever?! This gift not only looks really cool, but is easy to assemble, and practical. Who doesn't want a recipe they can just add a few ingredients to and- BAM- you have cookies to enjoy? 

You can get creative with these and make soups, granola, hot chocolate with marshmallows, whatever works! 

Herbs that go really well in these gifts- cinnamon and ginger (helllloooo gingerbread cookies!), or savoury herbs and medicinal mushrooms for soup blends like turmeric, thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, astragalus or reishi slices. Again, get creative! 

Try these simple and easy to pull off Cookie in a Jar recipe ideas from the Herbal Academy. 

There you have it! Everything you need to create fun to receive (and super fun to make!) herbally inspired, hand-made gifts this holiday season. 

May your spark and joy of creation be inspired by reading these ideas. 

Happy herbal gift-making, lovely!

Bree xo