Welcome to the 2017 Humblebee & Me Holiday Gift Guide! I’ve been having so much fun sharing recipes from our two 2017 holiday themes—Snowflake and Vanilla Spice—for the last couple months, and I’m excited to present them all here in all their glittery, fragrant glory, along with some other favourites that I think would make for lovely stocking stuffers and a great homemade Christmas. Enjoy!
Snowflake Projects
Snowflake Moon Drops
I’m having a bit of a love affair with fancy white powders. Mostly micas and glitters—irredescent ones that colour shift are my favourite right now. When I visited New York in October I placed a pre-emptive TKB Trading order and scooped up sample sized baggies of all...
Snowflake Bath Bombs
I am so in love with these Snowflake Bath Bombs that I just might not give any of them away. The fizz away enthusiastically, releasing a rich, creamy lather and leaving bathwater feeling cushiony and rich and incredibly lovely. On the night of our first big snowfall...
Snowflake Shampoo Bar
I'm so excited to share this with you; it's something I've been working on for almost a year! This particular recipe has been in testing and tweaking since July. I've had a lot of requests for a surfactant-powered shampoo bar (as opposed to a soap based one), and I...
Snowflake Emulsified Scrub Nuggets
This snowflake theme has images of pearly white things and glitter dancing in my brain, so sugar scrub nuggets—with lovely bits of sparkly sugar—were an absolute must. These adorable little nuggets are brilliant for gifting—pop 'em in a cute cellophane bag with a nice...
Snowflake Body Lotion
This decadent, whippy lotion is in perfect keeping with our snowflake theme; it’s light and fluffy, but with the most wonderful rich, creamy consistency that feels incredibly luxurious. The scent is softly herbal, and even though it's really thick it's delightfully...
Snowflake Face Mask Mix
I’m a huge fan and advocate of clay face masks—I love the pampering factor, how they gently exfoliate, and how they help clear out my pores, leaving my face refreshed and invigorated. For all the praise I heap on them, though, it’s been a hard thing to get my...
Snowflake Christmas Soap
Welcome to the second soap (and the second theme) of the 2017 Christmas DIY-ing season! These beautiful bars have a striking pale blue corner that contrasts the creamy white majority, and the whole lot is topped with a double glitter topping. These aren’t beginner...
Vanilla Spice Projects
Vanilla Spice Whipped Body Butter
If you've ever wanted to schmear yourself in spiced vanilla frosting and have it render your skin soft and glowy instead of sticky and covered in lint, I've got good news for you—Vanilla Spice Whipped Body Butter. Awww, yeah. This stunning butter smells divine and has...
Vanilla Spice Conditioner Bar
When I was in university I had the most wonderful roommate in second year. Harriet and I started as roomies and are still fast friends to this day. There were many things that made us fantastic roommates, including our shared appreciation of pizza nights, clean door...
Vanilla Spice Vegan Lip Balm
Most of the vegan lip balms I've tried share the characteristic of being quite glassy and thin—they lack that rich creaminess of beeswax lip balms. With a beeswax lip balm you can really schmear it on and it'll stay there and lock in moisture for ages (especially this...
Vanilla Spice Hand Wash
I'm a bit hooked on making hand washes these days. They're fun and easy, and something I'll likely end up using 10–20 times (or more!) in a day, depending on what that day looks like. So, unlike something like lip balm or lotion, which tends to take a while to use up,...
Vanilla Spice Body Butter Bar
It has been far too long since I've made a body butter bar, and this year's Vanilla Spice theme was absolutely begging to be body-butter-barred. I also wanted to play a bit more with some silky, lightweight cetyl alcohol to create a luxxy body bar that was a bit...
Vanilla Spice Christmas Soap
Welcome to the start of the 2017 Christmas DIY season! As usual we're kicking off with soaps so they've got plenty of time to age while we round off our gift sets with other goodies like lotions, lip balms, body butters, and other varieties of pampering goodness. The...
Other Awesome Gift Worthy Projects
Chamomile Winter Hand Butter
When I was a kid I had the most absurdly dry hands—the kind of dry that hurts. I can remember having hands so dry that lotion stung, and they'd crack and bleed. I think I was about twelve or thirteen when I realized I was sick of having sore lizard hands and it was in...
Ultra Rich Meadowfoam Body Cream
It's officially that time of year again—the time of year when my skin practically screams for lotion after I climb out of a bath or shower. When I'm slathering it all over there never seems to be enough lotion in my (usually sizeable) stash, so I decided to be sort-of...
Pumpkin Spice Foaming Hand Wash
As I was making this I was definitely thinking "it's far too early for anything pumpkin spiced, isn't it?", but a quick glance at the calendar (and the weather forecast) set me right. Canadian Thanksgiving is next weekend (!), Starbucks has had their infamous latte...
Minty Forest Soap
Soaps starring cedarwood and mint seem to be perennially popular; I think I see a few at every farmer's market and craft fair I attend. And honestly, it's not hard to see why! The scent combination is fantastic—soft, sweet cedarwood pairs beautifully with bright,...
Forest Facial Lotion
In the last week I've been on some utterly stunning hikes, really soaking up how beautiful Canada is and squeezing the last drops of good weather out of our waning summer. I love a lot of things about the mountains—their beauty, the solitude, the babbling brooks and...
Forest Cleansing Balm
I'm happy to report that Danny has been loving the Forest Facial Cleanser I made him (I'm loving it, too!), so I thought I'd extend the collection. And guys—this is the best cleansing balm I've ever made. It has the most amazing creamy consistency, beautiful rinse...
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Vegan Lip Balm
If you have ever dreamed of living in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, or figure the best superpower ever would be the ability to eat as much chocolate as possible without it having any calories, I think this lip balm is for you. Decadent, super-fragrant cocoa butter...
Silky Camellia Hair Serum
This Silky Camellia Hair Serum is a wonderful combination of a leave-in hair conditioner and an oil serum. It helps reduce frizz, add shine, prevent breakage, and even provides a touch of heat protection along with making your hair smell pretty. A drop or two is more...
Forest Facial Cleanser
I dreamt up this cleanser for my friend and super-awesome yoga instructor Danny. He's pretty much the sole reason I've been able to start running again, so when he mentioned he'd be interested in trying some of the things I make, I was on it (I definitely prefer to...
Plantain Chamomile Ointment
Plantain (Plantago major—not the banana-like fruit!) is one of my favourite herbs, but not for the reasons you might think. I like it because I see it everywhere, growing in alleys and public parks, and I just think it's a fun thing to see something so useful thriving...
Ginger Silk Summer Lotion
I've been experimenting recently with lighter lotions that are suitable for pump bottles and summery weather, and I am loving the results of these experiments. My first experiment was my Lemon Chiffon Body and Hand Lotion, and I was honestly surprised by just how much...
Solid Olive Primrose Facial Serum
This silky smooth, light-as-a-feather solid facial serum is really neat. It has all the satiny, lightweight loveliness of a liquid serum, but it's easier to transport (no leaks!), and application is even easier thanks to the elimination of the dropper bottle....
Airbrushing Primer Stick
This silky Airbrushing Primer Stick is basically a fantastic hybrid of primer, stick foundation, and my airbrushing powder. It helps control oil, blur imperfections, even out your skin tone, mattify your complexion, and keep your makeup on longer—all awesome things,...
Conditioning Beard Balm
A couple weeks ago I was having a patio chat with my friend Dallas, who was dithering over what to do with his facial hair. It was at the scruffy hipster beard stage, and he was considering sporting mutton chops, or perhaps a sturdy 'stache. In his beard researching...
Heavenly Cocoa Lotion
This divine, lightweight, Heavenly Cocoa Lotion went straight into my purse, and that is high praise. Jasper requested a "simple yet effective facial moisturiser. Something a little bit like the LUSH Celestial Moisturiser... I worked for the company a while back as a...
Grapefruit Deep Cleansing Oil
I've lost track of the number of requests for a cleansing oil I've received over the last little while. Danielle, Christine, and Shelley all sent some in, and then there's been a bunch in the comments on various posts and videos, so I figured I should pull this one...
Angela’s Calendula Eye Balm
Last autumn Angela wrote in asking for a DIY version of an expensive calendula-infused eye balm she was using in Portugal. The ingredient list was beautiful, and as usual, the price tag was a touch shocking. So, with her enthusiasm for the product I took that...
I love these lists! They put all the awesome stuff in one place!!! I adore the snowflake stash this year! Although I love the name of last year stuff too!!! Winter Wonderland.
But, are my eyes whacko? Did you post the same stuff twice?
Whoops, looks like I hit the “duplicate” button by accident—doh! Thanks 🙂
Marie,
All the very best for a wonderfully Happy New Year. A quick thank you for all the beautiful things you make and the enthusiasm you infuse into my DIY projects through your blog. I have your book and my goal this year is to tackle homemade lipsticks. Looking forward to updating you with my progress in December 2018. I wanted to let you know that most of my handmade bath and body gifts to friends and family in 2017 have been directly or indirectly inspired from your site and I do appreciate both your effort and generosity in providing this to us. I am the kind of DIY’er who enjoys understanding and learning the why behind the what and it is so great because you do give that extra detail to your readers. I also love that you always include the “to use” sentence in your recipes. It is very helpful to folks like me.
I love this list – Do you have pictures to share on how you wrap or package your creations to gift to others? I’ve pretty much gone with the containers I’ve put things into with gift tags to include ingredients and either ribbon or a small gift bag and am hoping to peek a little into your world and glean other ideas.
Again – wishing you a happy 2018. I am waiting for the post on the solid shampoo bar for colored hair whenever you are ready 🙂 – that will definitely be going to the top of my Christmas gifting list whenever that comes out. Thank you again for all that you do.
Thanks so much, Bev! I’m so thrilled you are having so much fun creating and feel honoured that my website can be a part of your creative process 🙂 I’m afraid I am no Martha Stuart in the gift wrapping department and you do not want to take wrapping advice from me! I am usually just slapping wrapping paper and a sticky-backed bow on anything I gift, DIYs included, or getting lazy and putting it all in a gift bag with some tissue 😛