Better Gift Giving: Your Inspirational Curated Guide

Updated: February 11, 2024

Mom’s Curated Gift Giving Guide (for Inspiration)

In about July of each year I start thinking about the end-of-the-year holidays and my gift giving plans. Unfortunately, what often happens is all of a sudden it’s the middle of November and I’ve barely made a start on my holiday gifting list.

My procrastination isn’t limited to the holidays however. This happens for other gift giving occasions, too! All of a sudden the day is fast approaching and I am unprepared.

So, to inspire your gift giving and help you be more prepared than I, I thought I’d share with you some of the gifts that are on my Favorites to Give List. (Besides, this makes it easy for me to do my gift giving planning, too!)

[This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links I may earn a commission. This does not impact your price. For more information, please see our disclosure.]

Gift Giving Guide Categories

Gifts for the Essential Oil Lover

EO Ultrasonic Diffuser: My introduction to essential oils occurred when a friend gifted me with a bottle of Lavender essential oil and a diffuser. From that moment I was hooked! I have tried numerous diffusers over the years and so far this diffuser is my favorite—it has 7 “mood” lights and an intermittent setting which I always use. Pair this with a bottle or two of lovely aromatic essential oils such as Grapefruit, Frankincense, Black Spruce, or a handcrafted Seasonal Scent blend for a gift that can be used every day.

EO Passive Diffuser: The passive diffusion of essential oil is more subtle. Passive diffusers are perfect for personal spaces, like a desk or washroom. Consider these flower shaped passive diffusers from Plant Therapy (PT or Amazon) or Plant Therapy’s new Passive Diffuser Caps (PT or Amazon). For holiday gift giving include a few bottles of seasonal essential oils like Cardamom, Ginger, Clove, Siberian Fir, and Blood Orange.

Aromatics International and Plant Therapy both have a beautiful collection of sustainably crafted and organic essential oils. If you’re shopping on Amazon, check out the extensive selection of essential oils offered by Plant Therapy and Edens Garden. You can see my essential oil favorites on Amazon in this post.

Gifting the Tea Lover

Tea Basket: If gift baskets are up your gift giving alley, fill small jars with your favorite tea herbs like Chamomile, Peppermint, Rose petals, and Ginger root. Combine the teas with a small jar of ❤️Herbal Honey, a honey dipper, a tea scoop, and a tea infuser or tea strainer/basket.

For single herb inspiration check out the herbal offerings by my favorite organic herb suppliers:

• Elanen naturals (on Amazon) where all the products are Certified Organic
• Mountain Rose Herbs for hand-packaged wildcrafted and organic herbs and teas
• Starwest Botanicals for a wide range of organic and wildcrafted herbs, teas, and coffees
  • Also at Starwest Botanicals on Amazon, if you’re in a pinch
• Anthony’s Goods (on Amazon) for organic loose leaf herbs and flowers, powdered herbs, teas, and more
• FGOrganics (on Amazon) for organic edible flowers and teas

Of if you want to make a caffeinated tea gift basket, fill the jars with the four teas that come from Camellia sinensis (White, Green, Black, and Oolong). Starwest Botanicals (also on Amazon) and Mountain Rose Herbs have a lovely selection of blends and loose teas.

Glass Tea Kettle: Another option for the tea lover is a borosilicate glass tea kettle/carafe that can be used directly on the stove top to heat a kettleful of tea—I was hesitant at first, I must admit, but it works just fine and I use mine daily. I love watching the color of the water change as the herbs infuse into it. They’re wonderful for cold brew herbal tea, too.

Gifts for Your Partner

The Ultimate Fun Book for Couples. Need I say more? Okay, I will. This is a really fun book for any pair! We got this last year and have had a ball with all the activities.

Love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a beautifully illustrated and fun way to tell anyone special how much you love them!

Light Up Your Lives with these beautiful stain glass candle holders. They are heavy weight and absolutely beautiful in candlelight!

Pure Beeswax candles set the mood and have a soft honey aroma.

Silk Roses are not only beautiful and everlasting, they make an easy passive diffuser for your favorite romantic essential oil blend!

Fleece Throw blankets are light but cozy, perfect for snuggling up with your favorite person!

Be Mine essential oil blend from Edens Garden has a soft, warm, fruity aroma. This limited edition is a blend of Mandarin, Lavender, Damiana, and Vanilla CO2. I find the combination of Vanilla and Citrus creates an uplifting creamsicle-like aroma (like my Stress-Less blends!).

Sensual essential oil roll-on by Plant Therapy has a rich exotic, softly floral aroma. This pre-diluted roll-on can be used as a romantic perfume or massage oil.

Soothing Touch Massage Lotion has a nice glide. Leave it unscented or add a drop or two of your favorite skin-friendly essential oil or blend.

Gifts for the Traveler

EO Singles Travel Kit: When I travel I like to bring a few tiny bottles of multi-purpose essential oils with me (for travel I like droppers). My favorites travel essential oils are Lavender, Tea Tree, Lemon, Sweet Orange, Peppermint, and Black Spruce. Transfer 40 to 50 drops of the selected essential oils to the bottles, affix a label, and put them into a small carry case. Add a travel-sized ultrasonic diffuser to complete the gift set.

EO Blends for Travel: Another option is to include one or two prepared blends, such as Aromatics International’s Mountain Bandits for purifying the air in a hotel room or their Catching Zzz’s blend, because getting restful sleep while traveling can be difficult. Or try Plant Therapy’s Germ Fighter and Blissful Dreams essential oil blends—both available in Plant Therapy’s Amazon store, too.

Gifting the DIY-er

Self Care Skin Care Basket: Combine a few pretty serum dropper bottles with bottles of specialty skin care lipid oils from Renewalize for a beautiful DIY after-bath body oil gift basket. (See my Tropical Passion Facial Serum made with Renewalize lipid oils.)

Elderberry Syrup Basket: Elanen naturals offers a DIY elderberry syrup kit which contains a blend of dried organic Elderberries, Ginger root, Rosehips, Cinnamon, and Cardamom, along with a linen simmer bag to make clean up easy. Add a couple of swing top bottles and a small jar of local honey to complete this immune system supporting gift basket!

Culinary Spice Gift Boxes: For the person who enjoys puttering in the kitchen, creating delicious things to feed their family, Gustus Vitae offers some excellent gift giving ready spice sets featuring non-GMO artisanal herbs, spices, and blends. Thoughtfully packaged in a reusable tin, these kitchen spice gift sets are sure to please the home chef.

Aromatics International carries a wide variety of DIY Bundles that make perfect gifts! Not only do they make great gifts for the DIY-er, you can save 10% or more. Win-Win!

Gift Giving for the Bookworm

Books, of course! Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love to read. From non-fiction aromatherapy, herbalism, and skin care books to easy enjoyable fiction, you’ll find a wide range on Mom’s Library Favorites. These are a few titles to get you started:

• 200 Tips, Techniques & Recipes for Natural Beauty by Shannon Buck (Read Mom’s Book Review)
• The Aromatic Dog by Nayana Morag (Read Mom’s Book Review)
• Power of the Seed by Susan M Parker (Read Mom’s Book Review)
• Listening to Scent by Jennifer Peace Rhind (Read Mom’s Book Review)
• Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood (Read Mom’s Book Review)

Illuminate the Letters: Every good bookworm likes to read in bed. These are my favorite reading lights—compact, LED, USB charged, and dimmable. I have several of them and have gifted many!

Gifts for the Animal Lover and Their Pets

Doggie & Kitty Chews: Our dog Kiko and grandkitty Aspen love the chewy treats from Zesty Paws. They not only taste great (apparently), they support wellness naturally, so you can feel good about gifting a canister of these dog and cat treats.

Doggie Treats! These chicken treats from Blue Buffalo are apparently really delicious, because Kiko ❤️ them, whether they are heart or Xmas tree shaped!

Pet Greens: Botanical Interests has a grow-your-own Cat Lovers Collection of cat grass and catnip. Cat grass is also great for dogs! Cat grass can grow indoors all year round. I also like the cat collection from Survival Garden Seeds (on Amazon).

Pet Aromatherapy: When used appropriately and with the animal’s consent, aromatherapy can be a great tool. The books The Aromatic Dog and The Aromatic Cat can provide guidance and an introduction to using aromatics with pets.

Gifting the Shop-for-Myself-er

Sometimes despite all efforts to find just the right gift for someone on your list, a Gift Certificate or Gift Card is the way to go! Consider these options.

The Herbal Tea Lover:

Mountain Rose Herbs offers electronic gift certificates in amounts ranging from $25 to $500 and allows you to personalize the certificate with a special message to the recipient. From bulk herbs and spices, to tea making accessories, Mountain Rose Herbs offers quite a scope for a tea lover’s imagination.

The Avid Gardener:

Botanical Interests offers electronic gift certificates ranging from $10 to $100 and pre-packaged gift boxes. For over 25 years Botanical Interests has been supporting the organic gardener and providing non-GMO heirloom seeds for herbs, flowers, and fruits and other garden supplies. From kitchen gardener to elaborate outdoor gardener, they’ve got you covered.

The Essential Oil Enthusiast:

Plant Therapy offers $15, $25, $50 and $100 physical gift cards that are perfect for popping into a greeting card for friends, family, teachers, employees, and special co-workers. Plant Therapy’s Oily Rewards program makes that gift card even more valuable.

Aromatics International offers digital gift cards ranging from $10 to $1000. And with Aromatics’ Aromadrops Rewards Program, the actual value to the recipient is much more. That’s a lot of high quality aromatherapy!

The Amazon Shopper:

Amazon offers physical gift cards ranging from $10 to $2000 (Umm, wow!). Choose the card amount then add an occasion-specific greeting card to go with it. Sometimes simple is best. (But you could tuck it into a basket of Zucchini Muffins or a decorative box of Natural Potpourri, or include a promise to spend some quality time together.)

Giving the Gift of Time

Some of the most precious and memorable gifts are gifts of time.

Handcrafted Potpourri: A favorite family activity is wildcrafting pine cones and evergreen tips. With bags of both at hand, along with dried fruits and flowers, we craft boxes of natural potpourri, that we then give as gifts to friends and neighbors.

Candle Making: We also love making candles together. The sweet aroma of the melting beeswax is wonderful! And a flickering candle is soothing to watch, bringing about a meditative, contemplative energy. A lovely way to give the gift of time is making candles together. Use our Beeswax Candle Recipe or the candle making kit from Aromatics International (also available in a special Chai Spice Candle Bundle). Spend an hour or so with your loved one(s), sharing special time and crafting pure beeswax candles.

Have fun with your gifting! I’d love to hear about what you put together for your special people. Let us know in the comments below.