Thrifty Thursday...

Here's a gift I put together for a friend of my daughter, who was turning 11.

It's a tinted bubble bath in a recycled prettily shaped bottle, a home made solid perfume, and a spray bottle of home made Sweet Dreams Spray. Labelled with luggage tags, and presented in a recycled box, it was declared the pick of all the gifts at the birthday party.

Cost...almost nil.

To replicate this gift you need:

*A spray bottle decorated with stickers or decoupage or even lace and ribbon

*A small container with a lid eg. old lip balm or an old recycled face powder compact.

*Any kind of prettily shaped bottle with a lid. Again a recycled bottle from your pantry would suffice if decorated with lace and ribbon.

*A bottle of inexpensive hand wash or bubble bath.

*Fragrant oils

*Petroleum Jelly or Beeswax pellets

*Almond or Olive oil

*A container, box or basket for presentation

*Shredded paper for lining the box
*Cardboard Luggage Tags... available at Stationers

To make the bubble bath:

Pour enough handwash or bubble bath into your pretty bottle to almost fill. Tint with a tiny amount of food colouring. Add your chosen fragrance oil and seal firmly.

To make the solid perfume:

Melt about a tablespoon of Vaseline or Beeswax pellets and an equal amount of olive or almond oil together in your microwave in a small jug. Add your fragrance oil and mix well. I used about 20 drops of Frangipani Oil marketed for use in oil burners. Carefully pour this into your clean, recycled lip balm container or compact. Leave for about 20 minutes to cool and become solid. Label 'Solid Perfume...Special Blend for "name"'

To make the Sweet Dreams Spray:

Fill your spray bottle with water that has been boiled and allowed to cool. Add about 15mls of fragrance or essential oil, such as Rose Geranium or Lavender. I used Green Apple scent as it's so fresh. Label 'Sweet Dreams Spray...Special Blend for "name"'.

Line your box with your shredded paper, nestle your gifts in there attractively, and wait for compliments!