Gifts For Gardeners
Recipes for a fabulous Gardener’s Soap, Pampering Hand Cream as well as suggestions for a Gardener’s Gift Basket.

Gardener’s Soap

This is a soap that balances exfoliants like pumice, loofah and lemon or orange peel powder with rich oils and butters to pamper and soothe the skin.

1 lb Basic Soap Noodles
½ c whole milk infused with chamomile (see directions below for infusion)
1 oz shea butter
1 oz cocoa butter
1oz avocado oil
1 tsp pumice powder
1 tsp lemon or orange peel powder
1tsp ground or shredded loofah
(You can either run your loofah through a coffee grinder or just pull off small strands of the loofah.)
1 tsp vitamin e
2 tsp aloe vera liquid (make sure you use the liquid, not the gel)
1-2 tsp of the lemon~herb eo blend (see recipe below)

Warm up your oven (200 degrees), Fry Daddy (warm), or crock pot (low). While they are warming, melt the butters with the avocado oil. After the butters are fully melted, add the soap shreds, milk and butters and oil to the crock pot, Fry Daddy or oven safe container. Let them melt for 1 hour and then give them a good but gentle stir. If they are too dry (you’ll see lots of shreds and it will not be starting to look creamy. It will look kinda chunky.) then add another ¼ c of milk and let them melt for another ½ hour. If the soap looks very smooth with no visible shreds, then it is finished.
After the shreds are fully melted, remove from the oven or turn off the heat and stir in the aloe vera liquid and vitamin e. After that, stir in half of the herbs and eo blend. After they are fully incorporated, stir in the remaining herbs and eo blend. If you do it this way, it will help the ingredients to be more evenly distributed through the soap.
At this point you can scoop it into a mold. This will be a fairly thick mixture. So, if you are wanting to put it into a more detailed mold, put in a small amount of soap at a time and press the soap into the details of the mold. It is kind of like spackling a hole in the wall. You want to fill the spaces so there are very few air pockets. It helps to use a rubber spatula that has been coated with oil.

To do the infusion…put 2 tbsp of chamomile flowers into a muslin bag and then tie up the bag. Heat the milk in a glass measuring cup in the microwave until it starts to steam and it reaches a very slight boil. Submerse the muslin bag in the milk and let it steep until the milk has cooled.

-Lemon~Herb EO Blend

½ tsp each of
Moroccan Rosemary EO
Red Thyme EO
clary sage EO
1 tsp lemongrass EO
2 tsp lemon eo

Pampering Hand Cream
If you are like me, I wear gardening gloves for awhile, but then the gloves either to too hot or too cumbersome to keep on. Plus, to be honest, I just love the feel of the cool, moist, soil in my hands on a hot day.
However, it does take its toll on my hands.
This is a wonderfully rich cream that has infused oils and aloe vera . Perfect for softening the effects of a day working in the garden. It’s also really great for helping the bad case of “Summer Sandal Feet” that I get too.

You will need:

A stick blender

1 cup distilled water
½ c aloe vera liquid
2 T of hemp, jojoba & avocado oils that have been infused with lavender and chamomile (see directions below)
1 T mango butter
1T cocoa butter

3 T liquid glycerin
1 tsp vitamin e
2 T stearic acid
8 tsp emulsifying wax
1/2 tsp citric acid
1/2 to 3/4 tsp fragrance
8-16 drops liquid colorant
the appropriate amount of your favorite preservative.

Combine everything except color and fragrance in a *sterilized glass bowl. Heat in the microwave until all the ingredients are melted (about 5 minutes depending on your microwave). It will look milky when it has melted completely. Do not heat to boiling.
Stir it well to make sure all the ingredients have melted. If there are any un-melted ingredients, microwave for another minute or so until melted.
Blend with a stick blender for 2 minutes and then hand stir for one minute. Stick blend again for 1 minute and then hand stir for another minute. Add fragrance and color if desired.
Let it sit for 30 minutes. Stick blend for 1 minute and then pour into *Sterile jars.
After it has cooled completely (about 30 more minutes) put lids on the jars.

To infuse the oil….heat your oven to 200 degrees. Put 1 tablespoon each of lavender and chamomile flowers into a muslin bag and then tie up the bag. Place in a sterile glass jar. Acanning jar is perfect for this. Pour 3 tablespoons each of jojoba, hemp and avocado oil over the muslin bag with the flowers in it. Put the jar in the oven and leave it for 3 hours. Turn the oven off and take the jar out. Take a knife or spoon and press on the bag several times. Stir the mixture. Let the oil sit at least 24 hours more before using.

* When making lotion it is very important to have all your equipment and jars sterile. Most dishwashers are hot enough to do the job, but if you don’t have a dishwasher or if you are in doubt, sterilize with boiling water or a water/bleach solution.

Gardener’s Gift Basket

Here are some ideas for a themed basket perfect for the gardener in you life.
Items to include:

~Gardener’s Soap
~Pampering Hand Cream
~Bug-Away lotion bar
~water crystals Whether you live in a dry climate and need to conserve water or are just desirous to be careful with such a precious resource, they are a wonderful solution.
~A packet or two of seeds are also a must. If your basket has a certain scent theme, then seeds from that plant are a nice touch. For instance, if you have a lavender theme going, put in lavender seeds. If the theme is lemon~citrus, include lemon thyme seeds.
~gardening tools
~gardening gloves
~For the container, choose a nice decorative flower pot. It looks pretty and is also practical.
~Or, you can get a stepping stone mold and place the items in that. That would be a really cool gift to get!