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Herbal gift ideas are thoughtful, natural, useful, and attractive. We’ve put together a list of 20 herbal gift ideas for everyone, from useful gifts for herbalists to natural DIY self-care gifts for women. Browse our selection of herbal gifts to buy or if DIY is more your style, we’ve also got a healthy mix of easy homemade herbal gifts on the list, too.
Herbal Gifts to Buy
Sure, everyone likes a handmade gift, but not everyone has the time or the skill to make something extra special. Buying a handmade herbal holiday gift is just as thoughtful as making it yourself, and it’s a great way to support artisan makers and small businesses.
Best Herbal Gift Ideas
For every herbalist or lover of tea, this custom tea box is a lovely gift idea. Handcrafted from reclaimed wood, this cute box has brass feet, hinges, and clasp. You can choose a pattern the seller already has or submit your own for engraving. You can also add text to the outside and inside of the box.
Not strictly herbal, but a lovely gift for people with a spiritual nature or who believe in the healing properties of crystals and gemstones. This Feng Shui chakra tree of life is stunningly handcrafted and features a variety of semi-precious stones ranging from amethyst and citrine to soldalite and aquamarine.
The copper wire-wrapped tree sits on an authentic polished agate slice. Each gem represents a positive property, from creativity and wisdom to prosperity and tranquillity.
We also like that a portion of every sale of this tree of life is donated to the Make A Wish Foundation.
his indoor herb garden is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to cook fresh food or who makes their own herbal remedies. It’s a beautiful way to bring nature into your home, while also providing fresh ingredients for all of your favorite recipes and remedies.
Growing these delicious herbs couldn’t be easier with this kit. The detailed care instructions help even novice herbalists or gardeners keep their herbs healthy, so there's always plenty of leaves available when you need them most. It has a cute, rustic design and is made from reclaimed wood, so counts as an eco-friendly gift, too. It's roomy enough to keep the three pre-planted herbs - rosemary, thyme, and sage - alive and growing well but it slim enough to perch on the kitchen window sill.
We've found the perfect all-natural self-care gift box. This handcrafted organic self-care hamper is filled with handmade, eco-friendly gifts that are sure to make anyone feel pampered. Plus, it comes in an adorable recyclable Kraft paperboard box that can be reused or recycled after use.
It includes two handmade soaps from our current inventory, a handcrafted lotion bar, 2 oz body mist spray bottle, lip balm stick tube (natural), sisal soap bag (made of 100% cotton), two random organic teas (you can request caffeine free), three raw clover honey sticks, a compostable bamboo spoon and a 5x7 cotton storage bag. This is a great gift basket for a friend or loved one whom you know needs to take a little time out for some self-love. Plus, it's environmentally friendly and natural, so it's good for the skin, the planet, and the soul.
We know that sometimes it can be hard to find the time or motivation to go out and buy new teas for yourself. That’s why we added The Sips by Box® Tea Subscription to our best herbal gift ideas list – so the tea lover in your life can get their hands on all kinds tea without having to leave their house! Each month, the recipient gets four hand-picked teas based on their profile and preferences.
With 16+ fresh cups in each box, there are plenty of options available for whatever mood strikes you. Plus, with caffeinated and herbal blends both included in every box, there is something here for everyone! And best yet? It only costs $16 per month – making this one subscription service that won’t break the bank!
What could be better for a tea lover than getting a monthly surprise package full of delicious loose leaf or bagged tea straight to their door?
This apothecary starter box is a great way to help someone get started on their herbal journey. It comes with 16 different dried herbs that are all food grade and smell amazing! Useful for new herbalists and master herbalists alike, the herbs in this giftbox include:
- Marigold
- Eucalyptus
- Wormwood
- Sweet grass
- Dwarf everlast
- Wild garlic
- Lemon grass
- Heather
- Lavender
- Peppermint
- Oregano
- Sage
- Three-lobe beggartick
- Tarragon
- Lovage
- Thyme
This herbal giftbox, packed with aromatic, medicinal herbs also contains a lavender and peppermint cotton sachet, as well as an empty cotton bag for making your own blend.
The budding herbalist in your life can use these dried herbs to make delicious teas, tinctures, salves and more! The wooden box itself is pretty cute, too, with its laser-cut design of interwoven branches.
Everyone knows someone who is fighting stress, needs a natural pick-me-up, or just needs a bit more self-love in their lives. That's where this awesome pack of handmade shower steamers come in.
Each different variety features a wellness-targeted blend of essential oils and provides a few minutes of potent aromatherapy and much-needed self-care to start your day off right without feeling guilty about taking too much time out for yourself.
The essential oil shower steamer pack from The Herbal Zen is handcrafted with high-quality, natural ingredients. Each tablet targets specific wellness needs so you can choose the steamer block that bests meets your needs on any given day. Got a cold? There's a shower steamer for that. Overdid it last night while out with the girls? There's a hangover cure shower steamer! Dealing with idiots given you a stupid-induced headache? There's a shower steamer for that (well, for the headache at least. Sadly, you can't cure stupid!)!
We like this herbal gift set because it's affordable and has great variety, letting the recipient discover all the different blends so they can get more of their favorites when they run out.
Each pack contains:
- 2 Cold Kicker
- 2 Headache Rx
- 2 Sleepytime
- 2 Morning Energy
- 2 Morning Citrus Mint
- 2 Stress Fighter
- 2 Hangover Helper
Choose your shower steamer, pop it on the shower floor (away from the direct stream and not submerged) and breathe deeply as the tablet begins to release its potent aromatic oils.
Give your loved one the experience of guilt-free self-care, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
8. Herbal Books
One of the best gifts for any herbalist is a good book. Whether they're new to herbalism or an old hand, herbalists cherish books and herbal knowledge, and they know that there's always more to learn. Here are my absolute favorite herbal books suitable for herbalists of any experience.
1. Wise Woman Herbal by Susan S. Weed
2. The Modern Herbal Dispensatory by Thomas Easley and Steven Horne
3. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier
Bottles? As a gift?!? YES! Every herbalist, whether they've been practicing for years or are only just starting their journey, can never have enough amber glass bottles! It's how they store their preparations safely. Herbal vinegars, tinctures, and oil blends do best when kept in amber glass.
And a gift set of 1 oz amber glass bottles with dropper caps, filling dropper, and mini funnels is a super thoughtful gift for an herbalist. As herbal gifts go, it's pretty inexpensive, too, and something that the recipient can use over and over for years to come.
Foraging is easy-but-tough. You need your hands free to gather your treasures, and a way to comfortably walk, sometimes a long way, loaded down with foraged produce. We've tried all kinds of DIY bags and straps and baskets and clip-on contraptions, and honestly, it's hard to find something that ticks all the boxes.
This foraging bag from Gadino does tick just about all of those boxes. It's got a brilliantly useful drop-out bottom so you can easily unload your foraged items bottom-first. And actually, this is surprisingly practical for a couple of reasons - one, you tend to pack heavier items at the bottom, so when you upend a bag, the lighter stuff on top comes out first and gets crushed by the heavier stuff on the bottom. Secondly, with a drop-out bottom, produce has a smaller distance to fall, reducing bruising and optimizing lifespan.
This particular bag is water and weather resistant, has a removable waterproof liner, and has multi-way straps, so you can hang it to your front like a halter or cross-body like a messenger bag while harvesting, then wear it like a backpack for comfortable walking.
It's also fairly substantial, letting you cram in plenty of wild produce.
If you want something smaller to stow away in another bag and drag out when you unexpectedly see something worth foraging, we recommend this handy collapsible foraging pouch that clips to your waist.
This canvas gardening apron is a fantastic gift for gardeners, foragers, or herbalists! It’s made from durable and waterproof canvas that protects your clothing. The 13 roomy pockets are great for storing all of your tools and your harvested herbs and produce.
We love that this apron has two pen slots and a little pocket for a notepad - this is something a lot of garden aprons are missing. It's just so useful to be able to take notes while out harvesting or foraging.
The apron has an adjustable closure around the waist as well as an extra adjustable strap that runs between the neck halter and the waist band ensures it stays secure on your body and doesn't hurt your neck and shoulders when the apron is full of heavy produce.
This apron also includes ergonomic soft-grip herb scissors with safety cover & blade cleaner to make harvesting herbs easy.
Homemade Herbal Gifts to DIY
Not all herbal gifts have to be expensive store-bought affairs. If you’re a budding herbalist, love the idea of giving thoughtful, homemade herbal gifts, or want some truly unique handmade gift ideas, then our selection of DIY gift ideas should have plenty of options for you to make for your loved ones.
1 – Herb Infused Oil
Herb infused oils are incredibly easy to make, and they make great homemade herbal gifts for food lovers and folks who like to cook. You can choose to make herb oils for wellness and beauty or for culinary uses. The Herbal Academy has a great little tutorial on creating oils like these easily.
2 – Homemade Herbal Tea
Most folks don’t actually think about making their own herbal teas. Sure, they may dry their herbs or use them fresh in recipes, but they don’t think to turn them into tea. Herbal tea is a fantastic homemade gift – it’s ridiculously easy, looks beautiful packaged in a glass jar, and is packed with flavor and healthful properties. There are loads of recipes for herbal tea, and you can use whatever blend of safe herbs, fruits, and flowers that you want. EatingWell has a great beginner’s guide for making herbal tea.
3 – Homemade Bath Bombs
Making bath bombs is surprisingly easy and fun! We think this is one of the best homemade gift ideas because it’s so versatile. Just like herbal tea, the bath bombs can be customized to suit the recipient. Herbal baths are great to relieve stress, promote calmness, or even reinvigorate the bather, depending on what herbs and essential oils you use.
You can use your own herbs or spice blends alongside therapeutic grade essential oils. This is a great option if you really enjoy personalized gift giving, and it costs very little to create a big batch of bombs. And, presented in a mason jar, they look amazing. Garden Therapy has a nice natural bath bomb tutorial that you can make this weekend, ready for gift giving!
Give the gift of a good night’s sleep with calming, soothing lavender and chamomile bath bombs.
4 – Pine Resin Salve
A truly thoughtful gift, pine resin salve is easy to make and is just one of so many great ideas for gifts that won’t cost you much (or anything at all).
This is my old fashioned pine resin salve recipe and something that’s an integral part of our herbal first aid kit. Pine resin salve is multi-purpose and serves as an antiseptic, astringent, and antibacterial remedy. It works as a drawing salve as well as a wound barrier, promotes healing, reduces the risk of infection, and nourishes and soothes the skin.
Interestingly, it’s also a great natural alternative to Vick’s Vaporub!
And, it’s good for relieving join and muscle pain because of its warming action.
So while it’s not the most glamorous of homemade herbal gifts, it’s surely one of the most thoughtful DIY gifts you can give this holiday season.
And you can amp up the festiveness by presenting it in a beautiful, customized package.
5 – Supercharged Elderberry Syrup
Nothing says “I love you” like a bottle of something sweet and syrupy that staves off, or lessens the severity of, colds and flus. My supercharged elderberry syrup recipe is full of goodness, easy to make, and looks pretty all wrapped up with a bow.
When it comes to homemade herbal gifts, a high-quality elderberry syrup is a great choice. It’s packed with illness-fighting, immune-boosting ingredients and it’s suitable for the whole family (apart from littles under one year because the recipe has honey to sweeten it).
My recipe contains extra ingredients that really kick it up a notch. There’s ginger, cinnamon, cloves, orange, lemon and more, and it’s one of our most-requested herbal remedies from friends and family. Everybody gets a bottle or two at the start of cold and flu season. Some people, myself included, take a spoonful of this syrup every day right through the winter months to bolster our immune health.
It’s easy to make, too, and whips up faster, with less prep than many other herbal remedies.
6 – Echinacea Tincture
If you’re getting prepared for gifting a few weeks in advance, we think echinacea tincture is one of the nicest homemade herbal gifts you can give, alone or as part of a gift basket.
Another immunity booster, echinacea tincture is a particularly thoughtful gift for those experiencing mental or physical stress as it has many beneficial compounds. It helps to fend off cold and flu and relieve symptoms should you get a cold or the flu.
It’s great for respiratory illnesses, it’s a mild pain reliever, and it’s anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, and antiseptic.
7 – Lip Balm
Homemade herbal gifts don’t have to be big old bottles or herbal remedies. Homemade gifts can also be cute little stocking stuffers. Or maybe you’re trying to make natural or handmade gift baskets.
Lip balm is the perfect addition, particularly if you have lots of people you need small gifts for as you can make a huge batch several months ahead.
There are a ridiculous number of lip balm recipes and you can very easily create your own blends. We like this base recipe from Ricola that features shea butter and uses almond oil as the carrier oil. The recipe also gives you a few ideas for herbs that you could use.
There’s only a few ingredients, and you can have a batch ready in 30 minutes. It’s also super easy to customize with your own herb blend.
8 – Herb Infused Vinegar
Herb-infused vinegar bottles make ridiculously easy homemade herbal gifts. You can make these vinegars out of any herb or herb combination that you like and can use fresh or dried herbs.
DIY gifts really don’t come much easier than this, and bottles of infused vinegar are always welcomed by folks who spend a lot of time making their own food.
The method is super simple and the finished product is easy to make beautiful in pretty little swing top oil and vinegar bottles like these.
9 – Herb and Spice Gift Sets
Part of a gift basket or a standalone set, homemade herb and spice sets make fabulous DIY gifts because you can customize them to the recipient. They love Indian food? Great, focus on things like kefir lime leaves, curry powders, coriander, cumin, chili salt, and similar. Gifting to someone who loves Italian food? Yum! Put together little pots of rosemary, thyme, rosemary salt, oregano, sage, parsley, and bay leaves. BBQ lover? Make your own fiery BBQ blend with garlic, smoked paprika, chili, onion salt, and more. Just fill some cute little 2-oz jars like these with your herb selections, write out the labels, and nestle them all in a basket or box filled with recipe cards and, for a rustic look, cushion the basket with shredded paper or straw.
10 – Bath Tea Bags
Bath tea bags make brilliant homemade herbal gifts. You can easily buy a selection of relaxing, soothing, or even invigorating herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and make gorgeous bath tea bag blends, placing them into little cotton drawstring bags. An easy and thoughtful self-care gift.
11 – Herb Infused Honey
Of all the homemade herbal gifts on this list, herb-infused honey is one of my favorites. Its simplicity, beauty, and taste are unsurpassed. The recipe is easy to customize, tastes great and, if you use raw local honey, you get all the benefits of the botanicals you choose and the honey, which is an absolute powerhouse all on its own. Plus, you support local beekeepers and producers (unless you have your own hives), which is so important today.
Choose lavender, chamomile, hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, or any other botanica combination you think works well with honey and follow the super simple cold infusion method from Mountain Rose Herbs.
12 – Homemade Blackberry Jam
Blackberry jam is delicious, a little bit decadent, and insanely easy to make. And who doesn’t appreciate a gift they can eat? You can harvest the berries yourself and whip up a batch of jam (without even having to add sugar) in just a couple of hours. You can even make the jam well ahead of the Holidays.
Alternatively, harvest the berries in fall and freeze them until you’re ready to make the jam. Few homemade gifts are better than a tasty jar of jam, particularly as part of a gift basket or holiday hamper. I know, it’s not truly a herbal gift, but it does have healthful properties, it is a great herbal gift idea, and it’s affordable and easy.
13 – Peppermint Salve
DIY herbal gifts that smell just like the Holidays? Sign me up! Peppermint salve is divine! It smells strongly of peppermint and is fantastic for dry skin, headaches, increasing focus, and giving you a bit of an energy boost. This recipe for peppermint herbal salve from Thrive Global is pretty simple and the finished product smells wonderful and looks fab in a little tin with a custom label.
14 – Herbal Scrub
A good herbal scrub exfoliates the skin, stimulates the lymphatic system, and encourages detoxification. And, with the right salt and herb combination, our skin can absorb beneficial trace minerals from the scrub.
This homemade herbal gift is ridiculously easy to put together and, like many on our list, can be packaged quickly and festively. This particular recipe is a basic salt scrub recipe, but you can customize it with whatever herb blend you like. Rosemary and neem are fantastic choices for your skin.
For those new to salt scrubs, it might also be nice to include a little card with usage instructions.
