It’s that time of year again, school is coming to an end and Summer is almost here! I love to get crafty with my teacher and staff gifts, and this year I’m inspired by all the luscious strawberries I see in the grocery stores and market stands. Enter freeze-dried Strawberries from Trader Joe’s!
You can’t really make gifts with any shelf life using fresh strawberries, so how amazing is it to use already preserved, freeze-dried fruit! You can add color and yumminess without any toxic chemicals. Winning!
Freeze Dried Strawberries and Lime Essential Oil make the perfect, Summer-worthy scent combination. Seriously, trust me on this. While I was making these goodies, I wanted to eat them up! And, actually I could have, since they are all natural. Wink wink. Plus, you can get the kids involved in this fun and yummy DIY. Your teachers will feel pampered and appreciated, and will love that your kids helped make their gifts!
Make sure to use high quality essential oils! I stand behind the quality of Young Living, and those are the only oils I use for my family. Never buy oils on Amazon! They are notorious for selling fake Young Living oils. To order Young Living Oils, please go through a distributor, like me! You are not only getting the best oils, but you are supporting a fellow mama friend. Learn more about getting started here.
Strawberry Lime Bath Bombs
Combine in large bowl
1/2 cup epsom salt (fine) I blend mine for a second if they are coarse.
1/2 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup blended, fine freeze-dried Strawberries
In a separate bowl, mix together
1 tsp distilled water
2 tsp jojoba, sweet almond, or oil of your choice
10-15 drops Lime Essential Oil (Young Living brand)
Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix together until you have the consistency of wet sand. Then, add 1/2 cup citric acid to your mix and stir. Pack into molds. Pack fuller then you think you need to. You want to make sure they are going to stick together. I use stainless steel bath bomb molds. The aluminum ones tend to dent easily, and sometimes you need to tap the mold to loosen the bomb from sticking to the sides.
You can leave them out to dry, but I’ve found in the humidity of San Diego weather, the bombs can react with the water in the air. I like to pop them directly into shrink wrap bags, twist tie the top, and use a heat tool to shrink wrap.
Be sure to make extra of these because the kids LOVE them!!! Plus, they are quite pricey if you buy them at the stores…hellooo Lush, amIright?!
Strawberry Lime Lip Balm
Combine in double boiler until melted
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 TBSP beeswax pastilles
2 TBSP Castor Oil (omit if using lip balm tubes instead of pots)
2 TBSP blended to super fine freeze-dried strawberries
When melted, strain several times through a fine mesh strainer until most of large strawberries pieces and seeds are gone. You may need to add back to the heat to keep it liquid because this mix hardens quickly!
Allow to cool somewhat, but not harden and add
3 drops Vitamin E
10-15 drops Lime Essential Oil
Pour into lip balm pots like these smaller pots or these larger ones. I’ve used both and really like them. The strawberry “dust” may settle in the bottom of the pot (or tube), but don’t worry! The flavor is still there, and it makes for a lovely “ombre” appearance.
Strawberry Lime Sugar Scrub
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Freeze-Dried Strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil (firm)
4 drops Lime Essential Oil
2 drops Vitamin E (extends life of scrub)
Directions:
1. In a gallon ziplock bag, crush strawberries using a rolling pin. This is a great task for the kids!
2. Add coconut oil and sugar to stand mixer with whip attachment. (or to a bowl, if you are using a hand mixer) The kids love to add the ingredients to the bowl!
3. Add Lime Essential Oil and whip until you have the desired texture
4. Fold in the strawberries until mixed completely. Put your kids to work here!
5. Scoop into mason jar, label and decorate for gift giving
Tips, Recommendations, Decoration Ideas!
If you are planning to give these as gifts, I recommend doing larger batches. You can get about 6-8 medium bath bombs from one batch. For the lip balm, it goes a long way! Just in case do a double or triple batch. If you have extra, no biggie. For the sugar scrub, if I need 10 Teacher gifts, I’ll make about 8-9 batches, and put them in these 4 oz mason jars. Plus, the mixer whips better with more material in the bowl.
I got the freeze-dried Strawberries at Trader Joe’s, where I noticed they have an assortment of freeze dried fruit. Think of all the amazing Sugar Scrub possibilities – Raspberry & Lemon Essential Oil, Blueberry & Lavender Essential Oil, Mango & Orange Essential Oil. So fun!! You can also get pretty much all the supplies (except Essential Oils!) at Trader Joe’s, including Vitamin E, just watch out for ladies like this. Ha!
To decorate, get some round labels from Amazon, like these for the sugar scrubs and some tulle or ribbon to tie around the jar. You can have the kids decorate and sign their name on the labels. For the smaller lip balm pots I use 1 inch round labels, for the slightly larger pots I use 1.5 inch round labels. You can find a ton of options on Amazon.
Now you have some lovely gifts for Teachers and Staff, handmade with love. Just don’t forget to make a little extra for yourself!! You’ll be glad you did.
