Homemade Holiday Gifts

7 days until Christmas and I have a lot of shopping to do.  Please don't tell me if you are one of those people who have all their shopping done and wrapped by October.  I am not, nor will I ever be one of those people.  I have the hardest time buying gifts for certain people.  You know the ones, teachers, bus drivers, children's librarians etc.  What is the right gift for these people?  I don't want to get too personal but I don't want to make it too much of a work related gift either. 

I happened to be browsing one of my favorite blogs, One TIPsy Chick, the other day, like I always do (you should check it out, she's got lots and lots of great tips) and she had a tutorial on making a Candy Cane Sugar Scrub. It looked easy enough and it sounded awesome.  It just so happened this was the same day I was trying out my Peppermint Chocolate Sauce recipe so I decided to pair the two things up, give them some cute little labels and ribbon and call them gifts!  Who doesn't like to pamper their skin with a little scrub?  And let's be honest, who in the world doesn't need want chocolate in their life?!

I did change up the sugar scrub a little bit by using baby oil.  One TIPsy Chick uses sunflower oil.  So try out both and let me know which you prefer.  I thought about Coconut Oil since it's so good for your skin anyway, but in the end I went with baby oil and decided to save the coconut oil to make popcorn later something super healthy!

 PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE SAUCE RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C water
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 drops peppermint extract

Directions:
Place cocoa powder & sugar in a sauce pan.  Whisk it together.  Add water & salt and place over medium heat, whisking very frequently.
Bring to a boil, while whisking, continue to boil about 4 minutes until it begins to thicken (Note, it will thicken more upon cooling so don't be alarmed if it is still a bit thin).
Remove from heat & add in extracts.  Stir well to distribute flavor evenly.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

CANDY CANE SUGAR SCRUB

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/4 C baby oil
• 2-3 drops peppermint oil
• 2 candy canes, crushed

DIRECTIONS:

• Crush candy canes by placing in food processor OR by placing in a plastic bag and whacking with a mallet until crushed into fine crumbs.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl stir together sugar & oils.  Mixture should be moist and not too crumbly. Add additional oil as needed to get proper consistency.  
• Once desired consistency is achieved, stir in candy cane crumbs.  Store in an airtight container.

Once these have been created, use a cute ribbon and tie on a candy cane.  Make a nice label and voila, Christmas gifts!