Save all of your empty jars from relishes, mayonnaise, etc. These can be decorated and filled with herbal teas, bath salts or scented body powders. Be sure to clean jars and lids very well with HOT soapy water; if you have a dishwasher, run them through it.

You can decorate the lids using a polymer based clay that bakes in your oven. Pick up between 2-4 shades of clay that will complement each other. Roll a small piece of each color into a log shape and twist the logs together. Squish the clay and twist a bit until you have a pretty pattern. Next, press a thin layer of this clay onto the entire outside of the jar lid, making sure not toget any clay on the inside of the lid or it will interfere with the grooves. Bake according to package directions for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and apply a coat of clear nail polish for a shiny finish.

Many craft and hardware stores carry fancy jars with corks or pretty lids, and I’ve seen a lot of them on sale for as little as one dollar each lately. This is a great option if you don’t have the time to sculpt lids, or if you don’t have any empty jars laying around!

Bath salts look great inside these jars, and they are so easy to make. As a base you can use either epsom salts, or coarse grade sea salt. Both are available at most supermarkets. They can be scented with either essential oils or scented oils, usually about 25 drops of oil per cup of salts. Add the oils and stir well. The salts may then be colored with a few drops of food coloring. I like to blend the colors in one tablespoon of water before mixing into the salts to get an even color. If you pour the colors directly on the salts, for example blue and red to make purple, some of the salts will be purple while others stay red or blue, which is also a very pretty effect! Let the salts dry for a few hours and fill your jars. A few of my favorite aroma therapy blends using essential oils are listed at the bottom of this page, that will work well for any of this month’s recipes.

Scented body powders are also very easy to make. Use cornstarch as a base and add ten drops or so to each cup of powder (if the scent isn’t strong enough, just add a little more). Add a few drops of food coloring and allow to dry for a few hours, then run through a sifter to break up any lumps that may have formed. When the jars are filled, tie some raffia or tulle ribbon around the neck for gift giving.

You can also add hand made tags describing what is inside the jars. Another great option is to fill a few jars with dried herbs, such as lavender, peppermint and chamomile. I like to give herb jars in a gift basket along with a book on herbs. You can find a small herbal guide at any health food store, and I even bought one at my local Rite-Aid!

Handmade soaps are one of my favorite gifts to give! Melt-and-pour glycerin soap blocks are available at most craft stores, and are quick and easy to use. Simply cut the soap into small chunks and heat in a microwave-safe glass dish on high for 20 seconds at first. If the soap has not melted yet, reheat for five seconds at a time until melted. Add food coloring and essential oils (or scented!) and pour into soap or candy molds. Let cool for about 2 hours and pop out of the molds. Wrap them up in plastic wrap and tie a raffia bow around the middle.

Dried flowers are a pretty addition to glycerine soaps! Just fill the molds halfway and let set for about 5 minutes. Add dried flowers (or any leftover plastic spiders and bats from Halloween) and let soaps cool for and hour or two and fill the rest of the way with more soap. You can also stir some glitter into the soap!

These are a few of my favorite aroma therapy blends that will smell great in any of the above recipes:

Relaxation : Lavender and Lemon essential oils
Invigorating : Eucalyptus and Rosemary Essential oils
Love : Rose, Geranium and Ylang Ylang essential oils