Homemade Mother’s Day Gifts : Guess What I’m Giving My Mom?

crunched by Crunchy Betty on May 4, 2011
filed under Natural Beauty Recipes, Skin

This is my mother. Pretty, huh?

My mom is pretty awesome.

See, she’s one of those people that’s really hard to buy for. She has just about everything she wants at this point. That’s what happens when you live (something)-ish years, and live it well.

What makes her pretty awesome, though, is that she always asks for homemade gifts. She’s very contented and pleased with something I put in a jar.

I’m willing to bet most of your mothers are like that, too. You just don’t know it yet.

So, today, I’m going to share what I made my mom for Mother’s Day.

We were at a natural foods store the other day and she asked me if I could help her find a good, clean, scented body spray. I told her to hush her mouth. And then I sneakily planned the gift.

Here’s her body spray recipe along with a few other scent combination ideas.

After that, you’ll find awesome crunchy gift ideas from here and around the ‘net that your moms will LOVE, because they came from your hands and your heart. (They’d also be excellent projects for you to work on with your kids to give their grandmothers. Now how adorable is THAT?)

Lightly Fragrant, Personalized Body Spray Recipe

First, here’s the base recipe:

Base Body Spray Recipe

1 c. distilled water
2 Tbsp. quality vodka (at least 80-proof) or witch hazel
20-30 drops essential oils
2 tsp vegetable glycerin (optional, but helps the scent stay)

Combine everything in a small spray bottle and shake well. Shake well before using, too.

Personalizing Your Essential Oils

Do you know your mom?

Like, really know her?

Because there are two things to keep in mind while doing this: What kind of scents she prefers, and what her personality is like.

Here’s the best part about this spray: Not only is it refreshing, light, and fragrant, but it’s also aromatherpeutic. So you can help her in a couple of different ways.

For my mother, I know she likes fresh and lightly woodsy scents, and she’s also intellectual and creative. So I chose essential oils that she’d both love to smell and would kick-start her brain.

Palmarosa, ginger, and bergamot essential oils make this body spray smart and fresh.

Crunchy Mother’s Mind-Opening Blend

10 drops palmarosa essential oil (grassy and floral with a light citrusy note – good for creativity and lifting mind fog)
10 drops bergamot essential oil (fresh, woodsy, and slightly minty – good for concentration and clarity)
5 drops ginger essential oil (warm and spicy – good for memory retention and relieving stress and anxiety)

Here’s another great blend.

Simple Stress-Relieving Spring Blend

10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops pink grapefruit essential oil

In aromatherapy terms, that blend would be perfect for relieving stress, both energizing and relaxing, and it would be great for moms who have migraines.

Romantically Deep Blend

10 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
5 drops cinnamon essential oil
5 drops sweet orange essential oil

That one’s for the moms who are on the romantic side. Think: Danielle Steele. If your mother has ever indulged in tawdry romance books, she’d probably love this one.

Some of the best places to find information about aromatherapy, essential oils, and blending ideas:

Aromatherapy Chart from Green Pergola (it’s a PDF that I love to refer to often)
Lengthy List of EOs and their uses from Natural Holistic Health
A fantastically thorough series on learning how to blend aromatherapy oils from Aromaweb

Caution: Once you start blending essential oils, you probably won’t ever stop. It’s addictive. Gratifying. In an obsessive kind of way.

And, of course, this body spray recipe isn’t only good as a gift – but it’s great for you too. Even if you don’t make it for your mom, be sure to bookmark it for yourself!

More Great Crunchy Homemade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas!

From Crunchy Betty

3 Simple Homemade Lip Balms
Simple Handcrafted Cards – From the beautiful Lori at In Pursuit of Martha Points
Fragrant, Nourishing Body Oils
Luxurious Dusting Powder

8 More Homemade Gift Ideas from Around the Internet

Frugal and Homemade Mother’s Day Gifts – including easy sugar scrub and bath salts – at Keeper of the Home
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread – from Bridezilla Bakes
Simple Lavender Salve – from Delighting in the Days
Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam – from SimpleOrganic (I would LOVE this as a gift, people – get on that)
How to Make Container Candles (and then How to Make Pressed Wildflower Containers) – from Chickens in the Road
Handmade Salt Pouches for the Bath – from The Mother Huddle (adorable idea if you can sew!)
No-Sew Fleece Tie Blankets – from Getting Crafty (my sister made me one of these for Christmas two years ago, and it’s my favorite gift ever)
Rose and Geranium Bath Bombs – from Mountain Rose Blog

Or, you could always order her a Detoxifying Facial Scrub/Mask from Crunchy Betty – and tell her it’ll be in the mail soon!

Want to Share Your Own Homemade Gift Ideas?

Do it right here in the comments. Feel free to post a link to your own tutorials/ideas – or your favorite ones from around the internet.

(I’d also like to know what you’re planning on doing for your mother this year. It’s never too early to start getting ideas for NEXT year!)

Would you like $10 to spend on natural products? Vitacost now has a Refer a Friend program - and if you use this link right here to register and then order, both you and I will receive $10 to spend at Vitacost.

Right now, my favorite things at Vitacost are the Carlson Cod Liver Oil 1000-mg soft gels, the Aura Cacia argan oil, and YS Eco Bee Farms raw honey. (Although there is so, so much more goodness at Vitacost. So. Much. More.)

Not to mention, they have the best prices on essential oils I've seen on the internet. Click here to register and check it out.

http://abundanceonadime.blogspot.com Karen @ Abundance on a Dime

Leslie, you must have read my mind. I was just thinking the other day that I wanted to make a refreshing body spray for summer – and here you are with the recipe! My mom passed away several years ago so I won’t be able to share it with her, but I suspect I’ll be making this for several women in my life. Thanks Great roundup of links, too!
http://themotherklucker.wordpress.com/ Jenny

My mom recently started taking her lunch to work, so I bought her a cute insulated lunch bag with some accessories from Pampered Chef. I’m also going to make her homemade apple butter. I should make her some more of the body oil I made her for Christmas, as she LOVED it! Perhaps I’ll add this to the list, as they’d go together perfectly! Thanks for the recipe!
http://womensbiz.wordpress.com Beverly

Isn’t it awesome what we can do for gifts if we just stop and think about what the person likes or enjoys!
http://www.makeitbakeitbuyitfakeit.blogspot.com Stephanie

I LOVE this idea! I just hope I can get the little spray bottles locally (and in time to mail- both moms are far away). Hey… this means I get to buy more essential oils too (yea)!

This is what I did for them last year…
Money Can’t Buy You Love

http://themotherklucker.wordpress.com/ Jenny

Love that blog post, Stephanie! When I was little, I used to “make” my mom breakfast in bed…which usually consisted of her favorite cereal or peanut butter toast. To this day, she still says those were the best Mothers’ Days ever!

http://www.makeitbakeitbuyitfakeit.blogspot.com Stephanie

Thanks Jenny! You know, my sis and I used to do the same thing when we were kids. I think we made her cinnamon-toast. Moms can be so awesome, the way they make our little efforts seem like the most fabulous things in the whole wide world!

http://toxicbeautyblog.com/health/the-thyodine-effect/ Robin @ Toxic Beauty Blog

Hi “ms. crunchy!”,

It’s been a while since I visited, but I chose a great to day to stop by! Fabulous post on making Mother’s Day gifts. Speaking of gifts, you really have one when it comes to homemade beauty. I love your natural body spray recipes. I am going to try them out for myself!

And using vodka as a preservative is a wonderful idea.

Cheers and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!

-Robin @ toxicbeautyblog.com
Mom

Mmmmmm…..it smells so good! Thank you!

Just sprayed a little on my wrists for starters this evening. Have to keep sniffing my wrists….they smell so good!

Seriously love it!!! Happy Mother’s Day to me!
Erin R

I know this is an old post but is just came across it today! As i was spraying my self this morning with my Bath and Body Works spray, i wonders if you could make your own spray. And of course you had a post on one! perfect timing! I just need spare $$ to start getting supplies to make all the crunchy goodnes you post about.