I love making things- be it a cute DIY project, natural beauty recipes, a cleaning product, or even a decorative printable. And I know there are lots of other DIY-ers out there who agree with me! So this holiday season, I thought I would share some awesome homemade gifts that people ACTUALLY want.

I’ve given out almost every single thing on the list as a gift, and with great responses to all! In fact I have yet to give #1 to a person and NOT have them ask me to make them more.

So, here are my favorite 15 awesome gifts you can make:

1. Aloe Vera Moisturizer

This is one of my favorite homemade gifts. Regardless of gender, everyone needs a good quality moisturizer in the winter. This aloe vera moisturizer is so gentle, and yet so moisturizing, that it works with most skin types.

As I mentioned above, every SINGLE person I have given this to as a gift has asked me for more. So I thought it makes sense to start the list with my favorite. I always have plenty of aloe on hand to make this in the winter!

supplies you’ll need

2. Peppermint Body Butter

This peppermint body butter makes a perfect Christmas gift. It’s festive, cute, all natural, and amazingly moisturizing. The pink stripe is actually made without any food dye and the recipe is without any artificial additives. It’s so natural you could eat it and be fine- but I wouldn’t recommend it, even if it smells amazing.

supplies you’ll need

3. Gingerbread Candles

Nothing says Christmas more than gingerbread! I love the smell so much, I knew I had to replicate it for an awesome holiday candle. Candle making may sound intimidating, but trust me, it’s easy! The custom blend of scents smells like freshly baked gingerbread, and is sure to get anyone in the holiday mood.

supplies you’ll need

4. Custom Sign

I love making custom signs! This DIY may be a little more difficult if you aren’t a crafty person, but it is definitely doable. These make such a great gift because they are completely customized. Plus once you figure out this method you can use it to make all kinds of homemade decor for yourself and others.

supplies you’ll need

5. Mint Chocolate M&M’s Fudge

I made this awesome mint chocolate fudge recipe and it is SUPER delicious. It makes a great gift that you can make in bulk for friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Lars became the hero of his office when he brought this fudge in last year. The mint chocolate flavor is perfect for Christmas, and the fudge is actually cute to boot.

supplies you’ll need

6. Laundry Detergent Tabs

These laundry detergent tabs are awesome! They are completely green and natural, and they’re easy and inexpensive to make. They make a great gift for someone you know loves to live a natural lifestyle. Who doesn’t love clean clothes, right?

supplies you’ll need

7. Cocoa Butter Body Lotion

Can you tell how much I love giving natural beauty products for gifts? They always get an amazing response. This cocoa butter body lotion is so deeply moisturizing. It feels so luxurious and expensive. It will make your giftees feel like a million bucks while only costing you a few!

supplies you’ll need

8. Homemade Lip Balm

Everyone uses lip balm, right? This homemade lip balm makes a perfect gift. I gave someone a tube once, and they told me it was “better than Bert’s.” So that’s a pretty great endorsement! It’s an easy gift to make for stocking stuffers, or as part of a gift basket, or when you just want to give someone something small.

supplies you’ll need

9. DIY No Sew Reuseable Duster

Everyone has to dust. But who likes buying disposable duster heads? They’re so costly and wasteful. This DIY washable duster head requires no sewing, and works like a charm. Since they are so easy and inexpensive to make, they make a really great gift.

supplies you’ll need

10. Green Tea Scrub

Green tea is amazing for your skin. This awesome green tea scrub is so healthy, and it smells amazing. Anyone would love to get it as a gift. This one has been highly requested by friends and family. It makes your skin feel fresh and moisturized.

supplies you’ll need

11. Etched Soap Dispenser

A cute dish soap dispenser next to the sink really makes it look better. You would never notice how big a difference it makes until you replace a plastic bottle with this adorable etched soap dispenser. That’s why it makes such a great gift- everyone uses dish soap, or hand soap.

supplies you’ll need

12. Aloe Vera Face Wash

This aloe vera face wash makes a great gift alone or with my aloe vera moisturizer. It’s one of the more popular posts on my site, and people really seem to love it! I used it exclusively for over 2 years, but I’ve since added a few more products to my rotation. It’s a great gift for the natural beauty maven you know!

supplies you’ll need

13. Peanut Butter Cookies

Everyone loves cookies. These peanut butter cookies are so easy to make with only 3 ingredients, and they are gluten free! They are a great gift that you can make in bulk to give to lots of people, or for just one person. Or for yourself. Because you might not want to share these awesome cookies!

supplies you’ll need

14. Essential Oil Kit

Essential oils are awesome because they can be used in so many ways. If you make a kit by putting together a few classic oils, and maybe even a diffuser, it makes a great gift. You could even do seasonal ones, like a christmas themed kit with cinnamon, ginger, and pine.

supplies you’ll need

15. Homemade Shower Soothers

The height of gift-giving season is also the height of cold season. These DIY Shower Soothers are a perfect gift that someone can use when they’re sick, or just for a relaxing shower that smells great. You can package them in a mason jar- which would look adorable! Who wouldn’t love that?

supplies you’ll need

The post 15 Awesome Homemade Gifts that People Actually Want appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

It’s so easy to overlook cleaning your carpets. Vacuuming feels like enough most of the time, right? But they really do need a good cleaning regularly to keep them nice and fresh and make sure there isn’t anything unpleasant lurking in there. After all, carpets are great places for mold and pests to hide. And those are two things I really try to avoid in my home. So this super easy two-ingredient carpet cleaner takes 5 minutes to make and costs less than fifty cents!

Did I mention it is also all natural and green? You can avoid all the synthetic chemicals in store bought carpet cleaners. I generally believe simple is better, and this cleaner definitely lives up to that principle. That’s why I love green cleaning so much!

This carpet cleaner is great to use for regular cleaning and deodorizing, but it isn’t a spot stain remover. It will prevent and treat icky odors and mold from permeating your carpet, so it definitely has its purpose and is extremely useful. If you do want a spot stain remover, head on over and read this post about removing carpet stains.

This recipe has only two super simple AND effective ingredients:

• Baking soda: gets rid of funky and unpleasant smells, gentle, non-toxic, and natural.
• Borax: kills and prevents mold and pests, disinfectant

And it couldn’t be easier to make.

*As with any new cleaning product, it’s always good to spot test the cleaner before you do this to make sure it doesn’t affect the fabric.

I got this adorable carpet at home goods, and I use it in my office. It gets a lot of trampling day to day, especially from my dog Biscuit. So after almost 3 months of use, I figured it was about time for a good cleaning. I sprinkled the carpet cleaner all over and it worked like a charm!

All right- this is the before photo.. just a little bit of yellowing and unfreshness, but not tons.

Before

And this is the after picture! I will admit I left the homemade carpet cleaner on overnight because I can be a bit lazy… but it worked its charm. I used it on only half the carpet and did a smell test… and it definitely helped remove some of the smell!

After

I told you it was easy!

My carpet feels much fresher now. Yay for homemade cleaners!

Let me know how making your own homemade carpet cleaner goes for you.

supplies used in this post

The post Homemade Carpet Cleaner and Deodorizer appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

Hairspray is just one of those basic beauty staples. It is very versatile, and necessary for a lot of styles. Unfortunately, store-bought hairsprays can be toxic to health and the environment. Not only do they contain many of the 13 worst ingredients to avoid (most notably DBP and DEP, formaldehyde, and fragrance) they also often come in aerosol containers.

These aerosol containers use a secondary set of chemicals called propellants to get their contents out in a misted form. Much of the time those chemicals include Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which are linked to cancer and can cause headache and lightheadedness. They also build up when used indoors.

So, why not make your own? It’s safe and easy, and it works well! It will also save you money. It cost me 64 cents to make one batch of this hairspray. One batch was a huge amount that, if it doesn’t expire, will last me for years. I also don’t use hairspray very often, so if you use it every day it obviously won’t last as long. Still, you can’t beat that price.

I found the original recipe from Wellness Mama, but I made a few changes. Here is how you make the hairspray:

The spray bottle I had on hand was quite small, so I stored the rest of the mixture in a glass bottle.

So- I decided to put the hairspray to the test by curling my hair. I’m not very good at curling my hair. Ok- I’m bad at curling it. I saw a pin on pinterest that said you should put your hair in a high ponytail and curl random sections (obviously this will only work with long hair). Since I am so terrible at curling my hair I figured it was worth a try- because if it looked terrible I wouldn’t have to post pictures anyways. And it would still tell me how good of a hold the hairspray has.

So I tried the method. I was very skeptical. But somehow, even with my lack of hair curling skills, it worked!

Was it the amazing hairspray, or the method? I like to think it was both.

My hair has curls! They lasted! They aren’t crunchy! It’s like magic.

Seriously, this hairspray is great. It doesn’t have the yucky “hairspray” smell I’ve gotten used to over the years (must be those VOCs…). It smells like grapefruit! And it has a nice amount of hold without being sticky or very crunchy. This picture was taken about an hour after curling my hair. The curls held up nicely.

I give this hairspray an A+. Usually when I try to curl my hair the curls are gone in a few hours, but with this homemade hairspray they lasted!

The pinterest ponytail method- it works!

Try making it and let me know how it goes for you! 

Visit Pins and Procrastination’s profile on Pinterest.

The post How to Make Natural Homemade Hairspray appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.