How To Host Your Own Make-N-Take

We all need a reason to gather friends and have an extra bit of fun! Doing a DIY Make-N-Take is one of my favorite holiday gatherings to host. And yes, it’s perfect for any time of the year! The best part is that your friends can show up, munch on delicious hors d'oeuvre and sip on hot apple cider, make several essential oil-infused items, and then decide if they will keep each of the home made items for personal use or if they will share as gifts.

Doing a make-n-take event is also one of the best ways to introduce your friends to essential oils and Young Living in a non-intrusive, non-salesman type of way. Friends and family who may never use Orange essential oil may enjoy the Orange-Infused Sugar Scrub. Someone who may never drink peppermint tea would enjoy a double helping of Peppermint Brownies. You just never know what will make someone jump on board with the oil-infused lifestyle after joining your gathering. Plus, this can be the perfect event for local team members outside of the usual classes.

The recipes I’m sharing below are the most simple ones that I’ve made at roughly a dozen make-n-take events. The ingredients are easy to find at a local store or on Amazon. The bottles and jars can be used for multiple different recipes. And your guests are sure to enjoy the munchies infused with Young Living’s vitality essential oils.

Let’s get started!

Food & Drink Recipes

Tip 1: Find the really good Organic Apple Cider that comes in the gallon glass jar.

Tip 2: Add cinnamon sticks, dried clove buds and/or orange slices to the top of the cider after it has been warmed on the stove.

Tip 3: This recipe works well being made on the stove top or in a crock pot.

Tips 1: Make these the day before and let them cool in the refrigerator.

Tip 2: Serve with Young Living’s Einkorn Crackers. Be sure to order the crackers ahead of time and early in the holiday season because they tend to go out of stock due to popularity.

Tip 1: You can buy the already ground Einkorn Flower from Young Living, or the whole wheat berries to grind yourself.

Tip 2: For more info on Einkorn and why it is the perfect wheat substitute, especially for those who have challenges with gluten, check out Gary Young’s blog HERE.

Tip 3: Test out this recipe before your class. If desired, add 1-5 drops of Peppermint Vitality according to your desired taste. Taste a little of the batter after adding 1 drop to see if you need more. Remember that less is more when adding oils to cooking.

Gift Ideas Infused with Essential Oils

Here are a few oils and oil blends that friends love.

• Christmas Spirit

• Christmas Spirit & Stress Away

• Stress Away & Lavender

• Stress Away & Northern Black Spruce

• Joy & Orange

• Idaho Balsam Fir, Orange, Cinnamon Bark

• Peppermint & Ylang Ylang

• Frankincense, Idaho Blue Spruce, Cinnamon Bark

• Orange, Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang

• Orange, Ginger, Cinnamon Bark

• Orange, Clove, Frankincense

• Cinnamon Bark, Lemon, Peppermint

• Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger, Nutmeg

Tip 1: Use more than 5-10 drops of oil if you desire for the smell to be stronger.

Tip 2: Which ever smell you desire to be more dominant, add more drops of that oil to the mixtures and less of the others. An oil like Cinnamon Bark will be stronger than Orange, Christmas Spirit will bed stronger than Stress Away. etc.

Tip 1: There are so many great essential oil combinations for the bath soak. Feel free to get creative and make up your own concoction. I’d stay away from “hot oils” like Oregano, Thyme, and Cinnamon Bark. Go for the relaxing ones like Lavender, Stress Away, Peace & Calming, Gentle Baby, and Eucalyptus.

Tip 2: Adding essential oils to a hot bath presents the challenge of the oil just sitting on top of the water and not mixing all throughout the water. By adding oils to this recipe, or simply just adding a few drops of oil to a cup of Epsom Salt, it enables the oil to mix all throughout the tub.

Tip 3: Be sure to get Epsom Salt that does not already have any fragrance or additives in it.

Tip 4: To simplify this recipe, just use Epsom Salt as a base and add your oils of choice.

This is a favorite amongst everyone I’ve given it to. The recipe originally came from my friend Rachael Wren when she made it for a Farmer’s Market. It was such a hit that I asked for the recipe and have made it several times a year for the last 4 years. It’s a great gift for both men and women. This can be used as a lip balm, hand salve, face moisturizer and body butter. It really is an all-in-one masterpiece.

*For some extra info on price per jar, exact brands of ingredients I use, and more, check out my blog titled DIY Moisture Balm Ingredients.

I generally use 2 ounce glass jars when using as a lotion. You can use little tiny tins for lip balm, 1 ounce tins for a nice sample, or glass jars for larger amounts.

Tip 1: You will need a stove to make this recipe. If you don’t have one available at the location then make it ahead of time to just have available as gifts.

Tip 2: 2 cups coconut oil, 2 cups shea butter, and 2 cups beeswax makes enough bass mixture to fill 16 of the 2-ounce glass jars.

Tip 3: You can add essential oils of choice to the base mixture once it is all nice and melted in the pan, or you can pour base mixture into jars and then add oils of choice. If each person wishes to add their own oils of choice then simply fill a jar and let them add the oils.

Tip 4: For a 2 ounce glass jar I generally add 20-30 drops of oil total depending on how strong I want the mixture to be. For instance, I love 7 drops Frankincense, 5 drops Cedarwood, 3 drops Ylang Ylang, 7 drops Lavender, 3 drops Geranium for a total of 20 drops per 2 ounces of base mixture.

Tip 1: Have several people at this station make a large batch of the base mixture. Then each person can fill their own jars with the mixture and then add in their desired oils.

Tip 2; Add 10 drops of oil per 2 ounces of base mixture.

Tip 3: Keep in a cool place. Coconut oil will start turning to liquid when the temperature is over about 78 degrees for a prolonged period of time. Do not store in a hot garage.

Tip: This is a super fun thing to have near a kitchen or bathroom sink for guests to try.

These are so fun and very economical. The roller bottles can be found on Amazon in clear glass, tinted glass or colored glass. It just depends on the look that you want. I recommend having white labels available that a person can write on an stick to their bottle. They can write whatever will help them remember what’s in the bottle.

V-6 Mixing Oil comes in an 8 ounce bottle from Young Living. This is the best base oil and gives a beautiful moisturizing effect along with your essential oil.

Here are a few great roll-on recipes for infants and children, plus some snazzy romantic blends..

Preparing For Your Gathering

Okay, so now you have some great recipes for food and DIY Make-N-Make items. Now it’s time to choose your venue, day and time, prepare your shopping list, and get all set up.

Where/When

The location is important for many reasons. A home gathering is fun and cozy. If you love hosting people in your home this can be a great reason to clean it up and creating an inviting atmosphere. This is a great option so that you can make the moisture balm on the stove as guests are making their own recipes at the other stations. You can also make food ahead of time and keep items in the refrigerator that need to stay cool.

Hosting at a local venue can be a fun way to get out and about. I recommend talking with the owner or manager of the location to find out if you can arrange the space and set up recipe stations. They will let you know if it’s best to gather during regular business hours or do a special party during closed hours. Ask if they have a local clientele that they’d like to advertise to. This can be great way to bring in newbies who are not yet YL members, get your name out there and provide a fun event for the community. Be sure to clean up really good after so that you don’t leave them any extra work, and give a gift to the venue provider.

You can either choose a day and time that works best for you and just invite people, or you can get the word out and ask when works best for your potential attendees. If it’s a moms group, retired folks, or people coming from farther distances away you will want to plan the time according to their needs.

Food Prep

I recommend making the brownies and cheese balls ahead of time, even the day before if needed. This will give you the entire day of to be prepping your space and finish last minute things. You may wish to make these recipes once before the class just to try them out. Then you’ll also know if you need to make any tweaks. Be sure to order the Einkorn Crackers from Young Living way in advance.

The apple cider is super easy and can be made on the spot. If you’re at a location without a stove then you can make it in a crockpot and keep it on warm. Have mugs or disposable hot cups available. NEVER-ever-ever use styrofoam cups!

Find a cute way to serve the items. Have small paper plates and napkins available. Have a trash can close by.

Supplies/ Setup

Here’s what I have done in the past that works great. I like to have a station for each of the DIY items that guests will make. At each station you have a recipe card, the ingredients needed for that recipe, the mixing bowls, measuring cups, stir spoons, jars/ tins/ bottle/ spray bottles needed.

Then have a table where you put all of the oils that guests can use. Think of each recipe and choose favorite oils that guests will enjoy and then let it be up to them to add their desired oils to their own recipes according to the amounts given on the recipe sheets. With this you can choose oils you already have and then make a list of new oils to buy from YL. Keep in mind that your oils will not get all used up. What you purchase and make available for the gathering you will also have some left over for personal use.

When it comes to measuring cups and such, don’t feel that you have to go out and buy multiples of things you only have one of. Just help guests know how to share the needed supplies between stations. This doesn’t have to cost you a ton in new supplies. What you will need at each table though are mixing bowls and utensils to stir.

I recommend using disposable table cloths on all surfaces. This will keep oils and ingredients from damaging your table surfaces. Just throw away the table clothes at the end.

Labels

It can be super fun to have labels for each of the DIY items. A simple way to go about this is to get two kinds of labels from an office supply store and make them at home on a printer. It’s best to get water resistant labels that won’t deteriorate if they get wet. I like the Avery brand round labels and rectangle labels. The package will have a number on it, you can go to Avery.com and search for the template and make your own labels super easily at home on your own printer.

Yes, you can just take a sharpie and write on the labels as well. This doesn’t always turn out as cute, but it’s an easier option and very customizable.

Gift Wrapping

This is totally optional although super fun! Once everyone is done making their recipes, it’s nice to finish the process by wrapping them up all nicely as gifts. Your party suddenly became the one stop shop for their favorite Christmas gifts! I love having wrapping paper, ribbon/bows, gift tags, little bags, etc. This is completely up to you as far as how elaborate you wish to go and how much money you want to put into it. Buying all this ahead of time can get pricy. However, no price tag can be put on a day of fun and laughter with friends.

Cost

By the end of your gathering - after you have purchased all the supplies, made the food, set-up and tear-down and entertained everyone - you will have put in quite a bit of your own time, effort and money. Each of your guests will understand the sacrifice you put in to make this event possible. So when I say that it’s okay to have guests give a donation or pay a flat amount, trust me, it’s okay. I generally have each guest pay $20 and take home 4 items. If they wish to make more items (and you have enough ingredients and supplies available) then that’s great!

How many stores have you been to where you can get a really good quality gift for only $5? Not many, especially not that include therapeutic grade essential oils. So, with all that being said, I do recommend having guests give financially. This will cover your cost of supplies and leave you feeling like your efforts are appreciated.

It’s Go Time!!!

Now you’re ready to rock and roll. If I forgot any details or you need any additional guidance please feel free to call me at 877-357-5777 and we can chat.

Much love!

Elizabeth Rose