Cut flowers are a lovely Mother’s Day staple. But for gardening or homesteading mamas, something thick and creamy may be a better choice! For those of us a few months in to planting and weeding garden beds and wildflower meadows, we’ve probably got hands that are showing the proof of our labor in addition to the first blooms. Well, I do anyway!
Enter Homesteader Hand Cream.
The kids and I made today’s recipe as part of our ☃️12 Days of Crunchy Christmas Crafts🎄 challenge this past year and my hands fell head over . . . palms for the stuff. Well, I’ve long since ran out of my miracle balm and was preparing to make myself a fresh jar for the growing season when I had the idea to whip up a giant batch of the stuff to gift to each of the moms in my gardening club for Mother’s Day! And of course, I wanted to share the love with all of my long-distance gardening friends on the blog as well, including the little gift tags I made as a fun freebie for you!
I hope you, your hands, and all the green-thumb mamas’ hands in your life enjoy this recipe!
Oh, Mama! Homesteader Hand Cream
DIY Mother’s Day Gift for Green-Thumb Moms!
DIFFICULTY: Easier than making Mac n’ Cheese!
MESS METER: minimal
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- shea butter
- beeswax pastilles/pellets
- almond oil
- cocoa butter (optional)
- essential oils (we recommend lavender, peppermint, chamomile, or all three!)
- small, stainless steel bowl
- cooking pot
- rubber spatula
- recycled jars (we used jam and caper jars)
TIME NEEDED: 20 minutes
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars; such an easy process and saves big time cash! Best of all, the stuff is amazing. My hands haven’t been this happy in a LONG time. I’m making this from now on.)
1.) Measure out all ingredients other than essential oils into a small, stainless steel bowl.
We doubled this recipe we found online and played around with the amounts and scents.
Our adjusted recipe:
- 1/2 cup shea butter
- 1/4 cup sweet almond oil
- 2 tablespoons beeswax pastilles
- optional: 1 tablespoon cocoa butter or a few cocoa butter chips (makes the cream extra emollient and thick)
- about 40 drops essential oil of choice (we used lavender, peppermint, and chamomile for this Mother’s Day blend)
2.) Gently melt together, leaving out the essential oils.
Put a small amount of water into the pot and turn onto low heat. Place the stainless steel bowl of ingredients to float on top of the water, or if it sinks, that’s fine too. Melt together, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula.
*NOTE: As you see above, the shea block will take the longest to melt. To speed things up, you can cut it into pieces.
3.) Remove from heat. Stir in essential oils to your liking. Then, pour into a clean jar.
*We used lavender, peppermint, and chamomile for the Mother’s Day blend.
*Will set to thick and creamy at room temperature in a few hours’ time.
4.) Print out our free little gift tags, cut, punch, tie with a bit of ribbon or twine, and done!
Want MORE for Mother’s Day?
Here’s a previous post with a few of our family’s favorite ways to celebrate moms!
🌷Mother’s Day Delights & Homestead Happenings!🌱
Thanks for popping in today! Happy Mother’s Day to the women who help make the world a bright and beautiful place!
Love, ~Candace Arden
