Sometimes in the busy, hectic world we live in, it is easy to lose site of the simple joy of connection to the earth. We can gain so much from working with plants, creating our own herbal vinegars, making our own herbal oils, and other simple delights. This holiday season, I’m striving to make simple baskets of homemade herbal ingredients that reflect a growing understanding that it’s not “what’s in the gift, but how it’s created” that counts!

Time and again, I’ve seen wonderful presents that left me wanting something with less chemical ingredients, many of whose names, I couldn’t even pronounce! Since we have our largest organ on the outside of our body, it just makes sense to me to make homemade remedies that are less chemical and more natural to our body’s largest organ. Afterall, the less we invade our bodies, the less toxicity we have to contend with. Here are some ideas to try for your natural holiday gift-giving season:

For a natural aromatic herb, you can’t beat cinnamon! Try adding it to olive, almond, or coconut oils, to make a warming skin moisturizer. (Be careful not to overdo it as it can be irritating in doses that are too large.) Additionally, you can use myrrh or frankincense essential oils ( more costly, but oh so worth the price) to add anti-bacterial properties to the oil. Another good oil to consider is lavendar. Naturally a very well-known oil for relaxing and restoring the skin to healthiness, it is a great one to add to make soothing massage oils, or when added to salves or balms, it can be especially good at relieving cracked skin that winter weather often brings.

Speaking of lavendar, how about using dried lavendar to make herb teas? You can combine it with other herbs such as lemon balm, mint, sage, and chamomile, to make a wonderful home-made tea mixture that can be a restful, restorative in the craziness of the winter hectic season. It can even help friends and family to relax and unwind before going to bed, so they can sleep better and easier.

Another herb I enjoy this time of year is burdock. Known for it’s nourishing properties to the liver, this herb is a great way to support the liver and build and tonify the immune system against the “bugs” of indoor winter life! Try adding it to tea blends, as it’s natural nutty flavor, will add a great earthiness to homemade tea remedies. You can also supplement this with milk thistle, sage leaves, and cinnamon or clove oil, and you have a great immune enhancing tea blend for the cold and flu season.

This is just a beginning list; I could go on and on….What ideas have you tried recently?