13 DIY Holiday Gifts You Can Make With Your Garden Herbs

If you are trying to think of creative DIY holiday gift ideas, your garden may be the last place you might think to look for inspiration. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn, however, that in your garden, you have all sorts of gift opportunities growing, especially if you have herbs. 

Some stellar DIY holiday gift ideas using plants from your herb garden include scented candles, infused oils and salts, and spice rubs. You can also make body scrubs, lip balms, artisanal soaps, bath bombs, and essential oils with some of your favorite fragrant herbs. Incense sticks and herbal teas will wow anyone who receives them.

There is no shortage of ways to use your herbs this holiday season, from using them in your favorite recipes to crafting lovely holiday gifts. If you want to give some homegrown gifts this holiday season, keep reading. Below is a list of 13 incredible DIY gift ideas you can make using herbs from your garden.

13 Holiday Gifts You Can Make With Herbs From Your Garden

1. Specialty Spice Rubs

One personal and easy gift you can make using herbs from your garden is to create spice rubs and signature herb blends using plants from your garden. The reason this gift is so personal is that you can take your spice blend in any direction you want.

You can use spicy pepper, soothing lavender, and everything in between. You can even opt for multiple flavors. Once you make your blend, take the time to bottle it and label it to give the rubs and blends an elevated and informative presentation.

2. Fragrant Foot Scrubs

Everyone’s feet get tired and beat up from walking in shoes all day, and a foot scrub is something almost everyone can benefit from. Foot scrubs, however, aren’t something most people buy for themselves. Use this as an excuse to make it so you can give it to others.

To make a foot scrub, you can use coarse salt, or sugar, and combine it with oil (coconut or olive oil works best). Next, fold in one of your favorite fragrant herbs like lavender or rosemary. This foot scrub will smell divine and look artisanal and organic.

3. Infused Cooking Oils

If you have friends who love cooking, then give them some ingredients they can cook with. One great item you can give culinary-inclined friends is herb-infused oil. Extra virgin olive oil tends to be most popular when infusing oil for cooking, but many types of oil are great for infusing.

You can use nearly any herb, or a combination of herbs, from your garden. Some herbs that work great include rosemary, oregano, thyme, and basil.

4. Artisanal Soaps

Making soap is a great DIY holiday gift. It’s also a fun and relatively easy crafting project to try. Scented soaps make things more exciting, and you can add natural fragrance using herbs from your garden.

Lavender is an obvious choice, as are mint and lemongrass. You can also use rosemary, which is perfectly festive as it has a pine smell like a Christmas tree. You can even add dried flowers from your garden to the soap to make it look more beautiful.

5. Homemade Essential Oils

Essential oils and oil diffusers are more popular than ever. While it’s easy to find all sorts of essential oils in stores or online, you can also make your own. Lavender, oregano, basil, peppermint, lemongrass, and rosemary are all herbs you can turn into essential oils. 

Once you have extracted the essence, you can fill small jars, label them, and give them as gifts during the holiday.

6. Candles

Candles are a fun DIY project to complete any time of year, especially during the holidays. If you want to make scented candles, you can use herbs from your garden to give the wax an added fragrance. You can even add entire sprigs of herbs in thicker candles to give them a homemade and artisanal look.

7. Herbal Salt

Oil isn’t the only common kitchen ingredient you can infuse with your herbs from your garden. You can also add herbs from your garden to salt. There are many types of salt to choose from, but gourmet flakey salts like fleur de sal or even sea salt work best. You can opt to add a single herb, or a blend, like “Italian” by mixing basil, oregano, and parsley.

8. Laundry Sachets

Laundry sachets are a great way to keep your dirty clothes from smelling. They can also help keep your seasonal wardrobes smelling fresh when stored away. While you can easily buy laundry sachets, it’s also possible to make lovely-smelling sachets using dried herbs.

The most common type of sachet using herbs is made with lavender. You can mix things up by doing a mixture of herbs from your garden, or stick with the classic lavender. These make great stocking stuffers, as they will make the entire stocking smell fantastic. 

9. Bath Bombs

If you’ve ever been curious about making bath bombs, use the holiday season as your excuse to give this DIY project a try. Bath bombs use common household items like baking soda and cornstarch, as well as citric acid. Making bath bombs is also a great way to use up your Epsom salts.

Simply fold in some dried herbs of your choice from your herb garden into your favorite bath bomb recipe. This will make your bath bombs even more fragrant, and it will give them an added personal touch.

10. Bottle Your Dry Herbs

If you want to keep things simple, you can dry and package your herbs. While this isn’t the most glamorous way to gift herbs from your garden this holiday, there are ways to elevate this present.

It’s all about presentation when bottling your herbs. You can print your own labels with a personalized design and even include a hand-written recipe card that uses the herbs as an ingredient. Try finding artisanal glass bottles to elevate the look and set them apart from store-bought varieties.

11. Herbal Tea

Many herbs in your herb garden make great tea once dried. All types of mint, chamomile, lavender, and even oregano and thyme make lovely teas. You can make tea by blending different dried herbs and packaging it as a loose-leaf tea.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can put the dried tea into individual tea sachets, making it easy for the recipient of the gift to make a cup of tea any time. It also makes this home-made gift look more professional, and is sure to impress.

12. Incense Sticks 

Making your own incense is a lot easier than you might think. You can make incense cones or incense sticks, and incorporate herbs from your garden into the incense mixture. Rosemary, lavender, peppermint, oregano, and other herbs are great when folded into incense. 

You can bundle up the essence sticks and present them in a package to a loved one. Homemade incense is already a cool gift, and incense using ingredients from your garden makes this DIY present even more amazing.

13. Lip Balm

It’s surprisingly easy to make your own lip balm. You can use various kinds of butter, like cocoa butter, or even beeswax as a base. Next, you add moisturizing oils, and then a fragrance. Instead of using essential oils or artificial fragrances, consider using fragrances made from the herbs in your garden.

Bottle up the lip balm with fresh herbs and add a label to it. This home-grown lip moisturizer is a truly unique stocking stuffer that everyone can use.

Final Notes On Holiday Gifts You Can Make Using Garden Herbs

The holidays are a season of giving, but it can add up. Instead of buying all your gifts, opt to give some homemade ones that utilize herbs from your garden. You can make tons of incredible and diverse items using herbs from your garden. Some fun ideas include incense sticks, bath bombs, lip balms, and body scrubs. If you have friends who love to cook, make a spice rub, infused oil, or infused salts. You can even incorporate herbs into DIY scented candles and handmade soap.

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