This Christmas Dollar Tree Spa Gift Basket is THE BOMB!

Making a Dollar Tree Christmas gift basket from start to finish, including all the peppermint spa goodies that go inside is easier than you may think.

We’ll be making a peppermint bath bomb, peppermint soap and peppermint sugar scrub. Plus, lots of cute ways to package all these up with some Dollar Tree finds.

I did a video sharing the tutorials, and all the recipes for the peppermint spa products are below in case you are wanting to make these for yourself.

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// gift basket container

Let’s start by designing the container that will hold all the homemade spa gifts.

I loved the shape of this sleigh basket, but not the color. We are going to start by giving this a coat of flat white paint. Then I drew some lines with a pencil along all the sides.

I want the edges to look like they are slightly rusted or aged, so I am adding a little watered down gold paint on edges and sides.

I also added a little black paint onto the areas that I had marked with a pencil. When you are done painting, add a clear coat to secure all that paint in, so it won’t get scratched up.

I’ve been loving the Dollar Tree garland ties for making custom sized garland for my crafts. I just looped a piece in a circle and added some berries and a bell.

Then I attached this wreath to the sleigh with some E6000 and a little hot glue. I don’t always mention this, but this combo is what I usually do when I want a little extra hold.

Now, for a cozy little spot to lay all our spa goodies, I’m going to line the sleigh container with a soft microfiber cloth. This is soft on both sides and a pretty bright white. You could use this its intended purpose to dry your car, but it’s so soft it could be used for a bath, for cleaning, and it even reminds me of those makeup eraser cloths. 

// DIY snowman mason jar

We’re going to work on a container for some peppermint sugar scrub. I’m taking a mason jar that I painted white and decorating it to look like a snowman. I cut a strip of red felt from Dollar Tree to make his scarf.

You can find yarn at Dollar Tree in a few different colors that they seem to switch around based on season. But they usually have the white and black year round. I cut a few pieces and attached them to one end of the scarf. The other end is hidden, so we only need the tassels for one side.

Every snowman needs some buttons, so I used some black buttons I had and attached those to the middle of the mason jar.

Next, I wrapped a piece of floral foam with some black felt. Then I painted the lid of the mason jar black. I cut a piece of ribbon to attach this to the hat. And then I glued the top of the hat to the mason jar lid. 

// peppermint body scrub

It’s so easy to make a peppermint sugar scrub! These body scrubs are so expensive to buy, so it is so nice to be able to make your own with things you probably already have around the house. You could use whatever type of dried leaves or essential oils you want, but I am going with a peppermint theme in this Christmas gift basket. Here are the ingredients you will need.

ingredients

• 1 cup Organic Sugar

• 1/2 cup Almond Oil (or Walnut Oil)

• Dried Peppermint Leaves (or leaf of your choice, like dried lavender)

• 10 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (or lavender oil, etc.)
  

directions

1. Take 1 cup organic sugar, ½ cup almond oil, dried peppermint and 10 drops of essential oil and mix everything together.

2. You can adjust the ratios based on if you like more of a dry scrub of more oil in there. Add more sugar for a dryer scrub. Add oil for oily scrub.

3. Place the scrub in that snowman jar and we have the first homemade item for this cute spa gift basket.

// peppermint soap

Now we are going to make peppermint soap. I know soap making can sound scary if you’ve never done it before, but once you see how easy it is, you may never buy soap again. These are so pretty with that pop of green and they smell really nice. Not too strong of a scent, just a hint of peppermint to make them festive for the season.

ingredients

• Clear Glycerin Soap OR Goat’s Milk Soap Base

• Dried Peppermint Leaves (or leaf of your choice)
  

directions

1. You will need a silicone soap mold, soap base, dried flowers and a heatproof bowl.

2. First place the dried flowers in the soap mold. If you want a stronger scent, you could add a few drops of essential oil.

3. Then you will melt the soap base in the microwave. It took about 1 minute on high power for mine to melt into a liquid. I just kind of eyeball how much I will need to fill my silicone molds and melt a little extra, if needed.

4. It only takes about an hour for these to solidify, but I did leave mine overnight to be sure they were nice and hard.

5. They came out of the soap mold really easily.

I used some white tissue paper, which you can find at Dollar Tree and wrapped the soap up like a present. 

I added a strip of red felt and then put a little garland on the top. I’m trying to keep with the red and white peppermint theme for all these DIYs and this one fits in perfectly.

// cupcake bath bombs

Makes about 6-8 cupcake bath bombs

CAKE INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup baking soda

• 1/2 cup citric acid

• 1/2 cup corn starch

• 1/2 cup epsom salts

• 3 tablespoons almond oil

• 1-2 teaspoons water

• Essential oil of your choice
  
  

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons meringue powder

• 6 tablespoons warm water

• 1 lb powdered sugar

• Cupcake topper

You will also need a muffin pan, glass bowls for mixing, a mixer, piping tips, and muffin liners.

1. Measure the ingredients

Start by mixing together the baking soda, citric acid, corn starch and epsom salts into a large glass bowl to create the cupcake base.

In a separate small bowl, combine the almond oil, water, essential oil (or you could use vanilla). The wet ingredient won’t mix perfectly, but don’t worry, once you put them with the dry ingredients it will all blend together.

2. Combine the wet and dry ingredients

Add the wet ingredients about 1 tablespoon at a time to the dry ingredients. If you go too fast the ingredients will react and bubble up. It will be like crumbly sand and when you can squeeze it into a ball and it holds together, it is just right.


3. Put mixture into cupcake pan

Pack the bath bomb mixture into each of the cups of the muffin pan. Let them sit 15 minutes and then flip over the pan to get them out. If they won’t come out, use a knife to gently lift them out. I put mine into the cupcake liners and let them dry overnight. 


4. Make the frosting

In a mixing bowl, blend together the meringue powder and warm water until it’s frothy. Add the powdered sugar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. If the frosting is too stiff, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it’s a consistency you can easily pipe onto the cupcake bath bombs.

You can add a few sprinkles, but not too many, because you don’t want to stain your friends bathtub! Just a few to add a little color. Let the frosting dry for a few hours.

5. Wrap the cupcake

I cut a bit of tissue paper and used my zig zag scissors to add some texture to the edges of the tissue paper. A little ribbon and this is ready to go in the gift basket.

// the extras

I found so many cute Christmas socks at Dollar Tree. They also had loofahs, if you wanted to add one of those.

I found this candle in the dollar spot at Target and it was $3. I liked that it had a really pretty herringbone pattern. Dollar Tree has lots of candle options too.

Another idea would be to tie a cinnamon stick or two to the candle or any of the other items.

You guys, my birthday is this week, so I’m gonna be honest and say that I’m not giving THIS bomb basket away, it’s a little gift that I’m going to enjoy for myself.

But hopefully it’s a gift for you too, because now you know how to put one together as a low cost gift for a friend. 

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