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Holy shit balls! This week we have a special guest (Katie’s mom, Joy) and Katie is on pain medication so shit goes off the rails right away. Poor Sharon barely kept this episode under control. She really deserves some sort of award for dealing with Katie and her mom together, let along managing Katie on opiates. Even after editing this one, we are unsure of where things went or everything that was covered so we are just going to do our best to post some links about the homemade gifts that The Gals mentioned.

Homeopathic/bed and bath sort of gifts (you know, self care stuff) are often a big hit so here are some of our favorite recipes and links.

Katie’s Bath Salt Recipe

3 Cups Epsom Salt (easily found in the first aide section of any department store)

1 Cup Baking Soda (buy the store brand for this use… no sense paying name brand prices)

25-50 Drops of favorite essential oil; you can’t go wrong with Lavender. We also like a blend of Lavender and Ylang ylang or Myrrh and Ylang ylang (can order essential oils on line, use good quality oils, Aura Cacia is Katie’s favorite brand, which can be purchased at any Fred Meyer in the nutrition center or most health food stores).

2-5 Drops food coloring (we like purple for lavender, can use a little more if you want a darker color but don’t go crazy… use scent appropriate colors).

Put salt and baking soda in a gallon ziplock bag, seal and shake to blend (can use bowl and spoon for this but make sure it is a glass or metal bowl and a metal spoon to stir, the oils will soak into plastic). Open bag and add essential oil/s and food coloring; seal bag and gently shake and move bag around until oils and color are evenly distributed in the salt mixture.

You can package these in pretty containers/jars, or decorate simple mason jars.

Just for fun, here is an aroma therapy chart so you know what oils are used for and can come up with some great scents for you homeopathic gifts.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/essential-oil-chart.html

These bath salts would go great with some homemade sugar scrub. Here is a link with several recipes for sugar scrubs and some pretty cute packaging ideas. http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/sugar-scrub/.

Here is a link to Sharon’s favorite soap recipe resource (which has lots of information and links to other great recipe sites too) http://www.soaprecipes101.com/homemade-soap-recipes/.

The Gals really want you to remember the golden rules of homemade gift giving! They are important and you don’t want to be that asshole who gives sucky, thoughtless gifts all the time!

Two Artsy Gals Non-Sucky Homemade Gift Giving Rules

5. Know the person you are giving the gift to! Take the time to find out what they like if you don’t know. Remember, giving gifts isn’t about what you like! It is about making someone else happy by giving them something they like and enjoy!
6. Put some thought into it! Don’t just throw together some shit last minute. Those gifts ALWAYS look like exactly what they are… a shitty last minute idea. They say you don’t care.
7. Know sizes! If you are sewing or knitting/crocheting a wearable item, be sure of sizes. Few things feel more crummy than to get an awesome handmade gift that doesn’t fit (and can’t be exchanged).
8. Don’t choose December 1^st to learn a new hobby/how to do something you intend on making and giving as a gift! That is just crazy! You will end up throwing together a shitty last minute panic gift. And that totally sucks.
9. Give yourself plenty of time! No matter how many homemade gifts you plan on making, be sure to give yourself enough time to make them. Most sane people start making gifts in September (or earlier… but too much earlier starts calling sanity into question again). The point is, giving gifts is a joyful experience; don’t make it a hectic and upsetting chore by not allowing yourself enough time to complete them.

Whether you decide to sew/knit your gifts, bake your gifts, make lovely spa goods, frame family photos, paint a masterpiece, or put together a basket of teas and jams (or make any other sort of gift basket), just remember the rules and you will do great!

If you have any great DYI ideas, or any entertaining DYI gift disaster stories tell us about them! And send pictures too! You can do that by emailing us at twoartsygals@gmail.com. Next week The Gals will be back (sober and sans special guest) to talk about holiday décor and how to make it awesome and unique. Until next time… make some cool shit, yo!