10 DIY Gift Ideas

I posted some DIY gift ideas on my Instagram story (@niqjames) and wanted to share some more ideas and details. Homemade gifts are easy ways to show someone you love them and usually you can use repurposed items. Let me know if I missed something.

1) Cookies! Michaels usually has cute tins for super cheap. I’m a chocolate chip girl myself, but any cookie would be cute. Here’s the recipe I use as the base for my chocolate chip cookies. I’ll share my full recipe later ;) Colored tissue paper and ribbon will make your cookie tin, Tupperware, or grab bag even more festive.

2) I love giving whipped body butter as a present. My basic recipe is 70% by volume Shea butter and 30% coconut oil. I do 50/50 I’m using cocoa butter. Shea butter is easy to spice up with fragrance or essential oil. This website has a bunch of recipes to use. I love using old jars and cleaning them out and making a cute label.

3) Aromatherapy spray! Here’s my recipe I posted. You can customize the scent to the recipient.

4) I love making setting spray for my makeup people and dewy folks. This is the recipe I use as my base, I’ll post my own soon. It’s a great dupe for MAC fix plus.

5) Handmade cards are a super cute way to say I love you. You can get beautiful paper for the low at Michael’s. You can also get real fancy and make a scrapbook.

6) This isn’t entirely DIY, but I love buying vintage picture frames from the thrift store and getting a picture printed at the drugstore.

7) I’ve made some paintings with quotes before. You just paint the canvas a pretty background and paint the text on it. If you’re not comfortable with a paintbrush, you could use a paint marker or paint pen.

8) My bae loves the Trader Joe’s chocolate covered pretzels but they definitely changed their recipe recently (I see you 🧐) so I want to make a tin of these to give as an I love you. Chocolate covered anything is pretty simple but here’s a detailed recipe. I usually buy a big bar of the pound plus from Trader Joe’s.

9) Also, you can make cute jar of anything lol. Decorate it with a label and some ribbon and you’re good to go. I love making infused simple syrups (my favorite are mint and lavender), salted caramel, and Nutella. You could also do jam or a nut butter. The simple syrup is great for lemonade or coffee!

10) I also love to give out body butters. You can make a lot really quickly and easily. You can get creative with the molds if you don’t have one already. I’ve used cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. This recipe is great and simple and if you use it, it makes exactly one cupcake liner full.

Bonus: I’m excited to make these homemade dog treats for the dog lovers in my life and my own canine pal.
Bonus bonus: Especially if funds or time are running low (but even if not), acts of service coupons are a great option. You can hand write them or design it digitally and email or print. I love adding coupon specific language like a far off expiration date or “substitutions allowed” to make it cute and funny.

DIY Aromatherapy Spray Tutorial

Hey, y’all! I’m here with the first Nikki-Rosa blog post, just in time for the chaos of the holiday season. I love making these aromatherapy sprays as a tool for meditation, rest, or being grounded and present. It’s an easy treat for you or to give to someone you love and a simple tool for self-care. Stay tuned for more blog posts with DIY tutorials, simple recipes, reading suggestions, and more.

my signature sleep spray (it gets a lot of use, clearly lol)

Essential oils can be utilized in a variety of ways. One of my favorites methods to access the aromatherapy benefits of essential oils is to make a spray. I usually use it as a linen/pillow spray but you can also use it as a room, yoga mat, or body spray and more.

Ingredients

2 oz spray bottle

1 tablespoon of witch hazel

distilled water or rose water

12-60 total drops essential oil of choice (If you plan on using this spray on your face, use 12 drops. If you plan on using this spray on your body, use 24 drops. Otherwise, use up to 60 drops [5% dilution] based on your preferences. I use around 40. Here’s a handy conversion tool for calculating dilutions and converting drops into teaspoons and mL.)

Instructions

To assemble your spray, combine witch hazel and essential oil in the spray bottle, top with water, and shake to incorporate. Shake well before each use and throw away if it becomes discolored or smells funny. I use witch hazel as my preservative but you could also use vodka or a commercial preservative.

You can always use a single essential oil of your choice (I love geranium and frankincense alone) but here are some of my favorite combinations:

rest: lavender and ylang-ylang (chamomile is also awesome)

joy: lemongrass and grapefruit

focus: eucalyptus and peppermint

Happy making! <3