Easy, Beautiful Homemade Gifts for the Holiday | Part 3: Shea Cocoa Body Butter

This blog post is part 3 of the Easy, Beautiful Homemade Gifts for the Holiday series. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2 and subscribe for more homemaking and momming inspiration.

I am so lucky to have a close friend who gifted me some containers of her homemade shea butter mix. I loved the mix so much I was inspired to make my own and gift it for the holidays.

My mix is a combination of 1 part shea butter, 1 part coconut oil, 1 part almond oil, and 1 part cocoa butter. There was 1/2 cup of each in the bowls below. This combination made 3 small jars of the body butter mix.

I also added a teaspoon of orange oil for fragrance.

Making the Body Butter

1.Fill a double boiler with the appropriate amount of water. If you don’t have a double boiler use a large pot and a heat safe bowl (like I did). Fill the pot with water until it’s about 1/4 full. Bring the water to a gentle boil, then place your heat safe bowl into the pot. The bowl should be big enough to support itself in the pot and sit right above the water.

2. Add the coconut and almond oil and the shea and cocoa butter to the bowl. Let the mixture melt completely. Mix it well with a spoon. Then place it in the refrigerator to chill.

3. Once the mixture is chilled (it doesn’t need to be completely solid, but it should no longer be liquid), remove it from the refrigerator and add a teaspoon of your favorite essential oil for fragrance.