Christmas is around the corner and some of us are panicking about last minute gifts. Sometimes we don’t have the time to get gifts. Sometimes we don’t want to go shopping because we don’t like the crowds elbowing around the mall, all looking for a good deal. Sometimes we simply don’t have a clue what to get!

I’ll tell what is a good deal and a great idea for a wonderful homemade gift…and I can assure you, the person who gets it will love it!  HOMEMADE BODY BUTTER. All natural and personalized the way you want it.

I bet that 99% of those ingredients are already in your kitchen and most of you have all the equipment to start making it right away.

I have been making my own lotions for over four years.  The body butter I’ll show you how to make here, is one of the easiest things to do.

It could be easily personalized, for example if you don’t like coffee, add green tea instead, or if you want to make it for a new mom as a baby lotion, then simply use a few drops of an essential oil that is safe on the baby’s body – for example, chamomile or lavender. If you would like it to be a gift for a pregnant mom, then adding some cocoa and shea butter will help her prevent stretch marks and itching…and make her feel wonderful in general!

So here are the ingredients:

1/3 cup of organic coconut oil

½ tablespoon of raw honey

2 tablespoons of freshly brewed coffee (or green tea)

1 tablespoon of grated/cut into small pieces shea or cocoa butter or combination of both (could be easily removed from the list if you don’t have it) 

The thing is that in this recipe the quantity of each ingredient is really not that important (except the coffee/tea – too much of those and it will not combine well).

What you do is you whip the coconut oil until the consistency resembles whipped cream or regular body lotion. It might take some time, and don’t panic if it doesn’t want to whip. It all depends on the temperature of the environment you’re in and the consistency of the coconut oil itself. The melting point of coconut oil is generally quoted to be about 76 degrees F (24 C). If the temperature is above 76 degrees, the oil will become liquid. If the temperature is below 76 degrees, it will become solid.

Here is an example of coconut oil being too liquidy to whip:

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-1

You want it to be somehow in the middle – not melted, but not very solid.

If its too warm then put the whole mixing bowl with the coconut oil inside to the fridge for about 10 minutes. After that period, take it out and whip it on high speed…

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-2 

…until it thickens and remains the consistency of a thick lotion.

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-3

Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip it a little more.

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-4

Then add honey:

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-5

If you have essential oils or liquid vitamin E then you can add several drops of each as well.  Add melted over a double bath and chilled shea butter/cocoa butter or a mix of both:

 homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-9

 homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-10

Add cold coffee:

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-6

the picture shows 1/4 cup but 2 Tbsp will be plenty

Mix it on LOW until the coffee is not splashing all over the bowl and it looks like this: 

homemade coconut oil coffee body butter-7

Now, using a clean spoon, transfer the body butter to a glass jar previously rinsed in hot water.

You’re done!

The best way to store the body butter is to keep it in the fridge. The lotion will harden just like butter does, but if you take it with you in to the bathroom it will soften while you’re talking a shower or a bath. I personally don’t mind the hard consistency. It melts immediately after touching the skin so it is super easy to apply and it absorbs fast, leaving skin nice and soft… and you smell like coffee 🙂 .

To make this lotion last long, never use dirty fingers or anything that is not clean to scoop it out. A clean spoon works just fine. The lotion does not have any preservatives so it is very important to keep the bacteria out of the jar. It will last very long if you store it in a cold place and do not dig inside with your fingers or anything previously not cleaned.

This lotion is wonderful for the entire body – it can be use as face cream or eye cream.

Wrap the lotion up in a nice bag, or print nice label with the ingredient list on it, and just watch how much joy this gift brings.

whipped coconut oil honey body butter-9-4 

Merry Christmas to you all!!! 

This is an original post to World Moms Blog from our writer Ewa Samples “Mom Photographer” from California.  

The photographs used in this post are attributed to the author.

Ewa Samples

Ewa was born, and raised in Poland. She graduated University with a master's degree in Mass-Media Education. This daring mom hitchhiked from Berlin, Germany through Switzerland and France to Barcelona, Spain and back again! She left Poland to become an Au Pair in California and looked after twins of gay parents for almost 2 years. There, she met her future husband through Couch Surfing, an international non-profit network that connects travelers with locals. Today she enjoys her life one picture at a time. She runs a photography business in sunny California and document her daughters life one picture at a time. You can find this artistic mom on her blog, Ewa Samples Photography, on Twitter @EwaSamples or on Facebook!

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