A Very Homemade Christmas

I’m sure many will soon notice or have already noticed that my choice of gifts to distribute this year are not the typical sweaters and dvds. In light of the recent economic slump and the need for me to lose myself in some mindless crafting (to get my mind off of school, teaching, and the like), I decided to make some gifts instead. Although I enjoy the holidays for the opportunity to spend some quality time with family and friends over good food and conversation, it seems the real spirit of the holiday season gets caught up in the rush. Maybe it’s the midnight door-buster rush of rude people fighting over an ugly sweater that tramples my holiday mood. Or it could be that we’re just too busy. But back some years ago, people used to bake, make, and craft their way into the holidays- An idea that I thought I would embrace this year. So, after a few trips to the farmer’s market, hardware store, drugstore, and craft store- and some careful planning- I was ready to begin!

The Jam Experiment

This was my first attempt of making jam. After finding some amazing pluots (a delicious hybrid fruit of plums and apricots) at a local farmer’s market in San Francisco, I did some research online to educate myself on the art of jam making. I barely had a stockpot large enough to accommodate the jars during the sealing process, but the overall experience was rather simple. I was delighted to hear the "pop!" sound of each and every lid as it sealed its contents. I tried the finished product a few days later, and it turned out better than I expected.




Potpourri Pie Warmers

Okay- so I can’t take credit for this idea, per se- but I did improve upon the original. When my sister and I went to a fall-themed art and crafts show in Danville, we stumbled upon these darling little pies, made from little terracotta pot dishes, potpourri, and ribbon. When you’re baking or using the stovetop, you simply place the pie on the warm surface and the potpourri fragrance fills the air, just like an essential oil warmer. I almost bought one- but then I thought- twenty dollars for one of these? I could easily make them for less than half that cost. So that’s what I did. I made three different varieties: Pumpkin Pie, Apple Spice, and Cranberry Orange. They turned out great and all the extra supply I needed for this project was a glue gun.




Soy Wax Candles

Candles were the first things that I thought of when I initially planned to make gifts this year. During my online research on how to make these, I was directed to soy for a number of reasons. I learned that it not only burns cleaner and longer than traditional parafin waxes, but it was an ideal wax for the novice candle maker (apparently the ideal pouring temperature for most wax is a difficult thing to gauge, but this wasn’t an issue with the soy wax). This was also an easy craft to make. All you have to do is melt the wax to a certain degree, add the fragrance oil and the colorant, and then pour the liquid into containers. I tried burning one and they definitely last quite a long time. I made five different scents: Amber, Cranberry, Gardenia Lily, Hazelnut Crème, and Pear. My favorite scents was the pear- very sweet and juicy.





Lip Balm

My sister has made lip balm in the past and raved over the result, so I figured that I would try it for myself. This project was relatively easy, since you simply melt down all the ingredients and pour the liquid into containers to set. But my final product ended up a little firmer that I was anticipating, more like a candle than a malleable balm. It was an easy fix though- just melt the concoction back down into a liquid, add more oils, and pour again. On the other hand, the Pyrex bowl that I used to prepare this was another story. I was very glad that I bought it specifically for this purpose, as the waxy, oily mixture was very difficult to clean. I made two different varieties: Peppermint and Vanilla.




Bath Bombs

I found a recipe online for these and thought that I’d give it a try. The recipe itself sounded a little daunting, with all the different ingredients and specific ratios to follow, but I managed (after a few trial and error attempts). I couldn’t find the citric acid anywhere- one of the main ingredients- so I had to order it online by the pound. And when you mix the dry and wet ingredients, you have to be especially mindful of the consistency, or else the final product would either crush back into powder or start to swell and fizz slightly. When the consistency is just right, you end up with bombs that resemble the real thing from Lush! (an awesome store that sells all natural bath and beauty products). Looking back, I would rate this project as an intermediate crafting effort.