{Give Great Gifts} Make Your Own Reed Diffuser

This week in the {Give Great Gifts} series, I am focusing on some wonderful ideas you can make for under $10. You heard that right- Under $10! Today’s gift is perfect for grandmas, office mates, neighbors, teachers, friends- just about anyone who enjoys some nice fragrance! I’m showing How to Make Your Own Reed Diffuser!

You’ll need:

-Small oil bottle or jar you have around the house (one pictured is $2.50 from Walmart)

-BBQ skewers ($2, hardware, grocery or discount store) *i know, you’re thinking do those really work? Yes! Because they are designed to be soaked before bbq sessions, they are really absorbent and make for perfect scent carriers! You can cut off the sharp tips if you’d like*

-Essential oil (you will only need 1-2 tablespoons full) (starting at $4 for 2-4 ounces- or use some you already have around the house. If you’re buying the oil just for diffusers, you could make MANY diffusers from one oil bottle). Price per tablespoon $.50 or less.

-Baby oil          (Do not use baby oil for reselling these- use a professional grade scent carrier oil. While it works wonderfully in the home, I don’t know that it will give you the absolute best results- this is for gift/non-resale use only).

You will likely already have a lot of these items on hand, so the price per diffuser could be almost nothing! If you are looking for a great oil source, I use BrambleBerry- but your health food store will also have a great, affordable selection.

First, lay out all of your items. I picked a lovely lemon verbena scent- it’s awesome. I like light, clean scents like citrus- but you could pick a fir or pine scent to perfectly accent the holiday season.

First, pour the baby oil in the jar. I ran out of baby oil when the jar was 1/4 full- but fill it up a little over 1/2 full.

Next, drop in a tablespoon of essential oil. Let it sit for a minute, and then see if the scent is strong enough. If not, add a little more, a few drops at a time. It is much easier to slowly add more drops of oil than have to dilute the oil if the scent is WAY too strong!

Finally, drop in the wood skewers! I let them soak for about 1/2 hour, and then take them out and put them in the other way.

You can dress up your diffuser any way you’d like- etch the glass, make a vinyl decal- anything! The bottle I bought same with a glass stopper which would make it perfect for gift giving (and transporting). I found it in the kitchen section of Walmart for under $3!

Please keep checking in on the Sweet C’s Blog until Christmas for more fun- the Give Great Gifts series has some awesome crafts, shopping guides and guest posts still to come! Sign up to follow Sweet C’s via google friend connect, or through my RSS feeds!

If you have an Etsy shop, I’d love for you to come and post your gift ideas on the Sweet C’s Facebook page until Christmas!

What are some of YOUR favorite under $10 gifts?