Christmas Gifts Planning: Attempting Home Made Gifts

I read a post from Lee Ann at Frugal Living in Gtown about Getting Ready for Christmas and it got me motivated to start planning for some home made Christmas Gifts.  I've been wanting to do this for years.  I'm not a very crafty person.  But I've really wanted to try making my own lotion for a while now for personal use anyways.

This morning, I decided to revisit the idea of making some of my own lotion and other beauty products for myself and to hand out as gifts for Christmas.  Whenver I've wanted to do this in the past, the cost has always stopped me.  I don't have any of the oils or butters on hand that are needed.  But after spending 2 hours finding recipes and comparing prices, I figured I've wasted enough time researching and needed to actually try making the recipes.

I plan to make:

• peppermint lip balm
• body lotion
• peppermint sugar scrub
• lotion bars

The only essential oil I bought was peppermint.  I don't really like scented lotion but for gifts I might do everything peppermint or I might buy some vanilla or another scent later to try a couple different types.

I tried to find recipes that used similar ingredients so I wasn't buying so much but it was still pricey.  At Amazon I bought: 

• 25 clear lip balm tubes - $4.01
• 16 ounce sweet almond oil - $10.69
• White Beeswax pellets $23.99 (I thought I ordered the 1 lb bag, but looks like I ordered the 2 lb. bag.  I guess I should have reviewed my order better. Oh well, hopefully these recipes work out good.)
• 16 ounce organic Shea butter - $12.48
• .5 ounce peppermint essential oil - $5.70
• 1 qt. coconut oil - $11.95

Total  $68.82 with free shipping.  I signed up for an Amazon store card and received $40 off my total.  So out of pocket I spent - $28.82.

From Mountain Rose Herbs, I ordered:

• 16 oz. Aloe Vera Gel $5.50
• 8 - 4 oz. plastic bottles for the lotion $5.60
• 8 - 2 oz tins for the sugar scrubs $5.60
• 4 oz. glass dropper - $.60
• 1/2 oz. glass dropper - $.50

Total - $17.80 + $10.08 shipping

So out of pocket I've spent - $56.70. I'm going to try a small batch of each of these recipes to see how well they turn out and if they turn out really good.  I'll be making more to use as gifts for:

• mom
• mother in law
• 2 nieces
• 2 grandmas
• Best friend and her daughter
• extra lip balm will be used as stocking stuffers for the girls