It’s that time of year! Are you making a list and checking it twice? Maybe you’ve been asked for your wish list and are stumped what to put on it. Fear not! The 2019 crunchy Christian wish list is here! These are all my top picks of the year for the crunchy minded, organic loving, natural, Jesus loving gal on your gift list — healthy gift ideas for body, mind, and spirit to help you grow in wellness in the new year.
1.) Acure Brightening Facial Scrub
Photo by @lowercase_gI’m all for making your own scrubs from scratch, but this gentle exfoliating scrub from Acure can’t be beat! Natural ingredients you can feel good about and your skin will feel ultra smooth and soft after using it. I saw Acure at my local Whole Foods earlier this year and quickly fell in love with their whole skin care line. No matter what type of skin you have, Acure can meet your needs.
2.) Hudson Valley Seed Company Wildflower Seed Shakers
Winter is actually a great time to spread wildflower seeds for next spring. A lot of seeds need cold to tell them that it’s time to sprout when things warm up and these shakers can help you have an instant garden as soon as spring has sprung. I’ve loved getting my seeds from Hudson Valley for years now and am so excited about adding these wildflower mixes to my garden this year.
3.) Healing in the Hebrew Months Book Series
Imagine the breakthroughs you’d find if you could synchronize your watch with God’s and copy his day-planner. It doesn’t take a supernatural revelation of his divine will – it’s exactly what’s possible for you when you follow the patterns God already laid out in the Hebrew calendar and explore the emotional themes in each month! After all, Ecclesiastes does say there is a time for every purpose under heaven.
The Healing in the Hebrew Months book series and 2020 calendar will help you engage in spiritual rhythms with a fresh perspective. Book one looks at the biblical events and significance associated with each month as well as emotional themes. Book two unpacks the prophetic significance of the tribes, constellations, gates, and gems associated with each month. And book three explores the Hebrew letters, their numerical value, and how it all connects to healing through musical frequency. And the stand-alone book, Miracles & Dedication: Christian Devotions for the Festival of Lights, goes with the series exploring the prophetic significance of Hanukkah through eight nightly devotions.
The 2020 calendar A Year of Healing gives you monthly reminders of each month’s significance as well as important Hebrew dates on the Gregorian calendar. Because the Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar their months dance back and forth on the standard calendar each year making a special calendar like this essential for keeping up with minimal effort.
4.) Edens Garden Holiday Essential Oil Blend Set
Seasonal scents are a great way to get in the holiday mood and activate that powerful connection between sense of smell and memory. These Edens Garden holiday essential oil blends are great in a diffuser or rolled on as a perfume. If you’ve been looking for high quality essential oils without the MLM commitment this a great way to give Edens Garden a try.
5.) Turbans for Tots
Turbans for Tots is an awesome little shop based out of Redding, California. Their founder, Jenna Zint, didn’t plan on starting a business but God opened big doors for her, taking an initial $35 gift card investment and turning it into a company doing several hundred thousand dollar businesses in 5 years.
Now Jenna works with a team of seamstresses hand-making their adorable headbands, hats, and bows for adults and children you can’t help but love!
6.) Quip Electric Toothbrush
Raise your hand if you remember the last time you switched out your toothbrush? No hands raised? No shame here! I always thought the whole “switch your tooth brush out every three months” thing was a good idea but it was just too hard to remember.
I got Quip as an after Christmas present to myself last year and have loved the automatic refills they send you. No more forgetting to replace my toothbrush! I now get a new clean brush head every three months and am doing better at brushing for a full two minutes every time thanks to the vibrating timer. While I don’t agree with Quip about fluoride and would recommend avoiding their toothpaste, their brush is a big time favorite!
7.) Copper Germ Stopper Key Chain
Copper has some fascinating properties that make it kill germs on contact. With all the concern about ingredients in hand sanitizer not to mention the drying effect they can have on already dry winter skin, copper is a great tool to keep your hands germ free all flu season. Just roll the keychain back and forth in your hands a few times to zap the germs away. Higher quality copper is of course what you want, especially with no weird coatings. So don’t just run to the hardware store to just get a copper pipe.
8.) Elite HRV Monitor
HRV (Heart Rate Variability) is one of the best indicators of overall health and well being. Unfortunately monitors for checking your HRV have tended to be expensive and difficult to use. With my clients I’d really wanted to be able to use HRV to help track their progress and I finally found an HRV monitor that is affordable and only takes 2 minutes to test!
The Elite HRV CorSense measures your heart rate variability using a finger pulse (similar to how a pulse oximeter works). You can use the Elite app to track your measurements or any other HRV app that connects via bluetooth.
Having good data can help you make good informed decisions and changes in your health. It can also help you identify when you’re starting to get sick or are being affected by stress. While I realize this is maybe a bit more of a nerdy wish list item it’s one I hope more and more people will see the value of and begin using.
9.) Made in the USA Stainless Steel Reusable Drinking Straws
No matter your feelings on the whole straw crisis – it’s clear we’re going to have to start keeping one on hand if we want to have them available when going out to eat. There are some good options out there for keychain reusable straws but the verdict seems mixed on how easy they are to clean. These stainless steel straws are simple to clean and will give you an easy option to avoid dealing with judgy waitresses while still sipping your drink in peace. What I love the most about these is that they are made in the USA with high quality steel so you don’t have to worry about introducing a whole new slew of concerns about sketchy made in China contaminants.
10.) The Passion Translation Genesis and Isaiah
I can’t say enough how much I love The Passion Translation It’s helped me reengage with scripture when it’s felt too familiar and has deepened my understanding of passages often overlooked. Like ESV or NASB, it’s a literal translation but uses the original Aramaic texts as well as Greek to get the full picture on some of the idioms we often miss the meaning of. The language is more modern for a fresh engagement with scripture, but it’s not a paraphrase like The Message.
The full New Testament plus Psalms and Proverbs is already available, but as they finish translating the Old Testament they are releasing them book by book. Isaiah came out last year and Genesis comes out at the beginning of December.
You can also check out TPT on Bible Gateway and the YouVersion Bible app to get a feel for it before diving in with a hard copy.
11.) Japanese Weeding Sickle
I put off getting one of these weed sickles assuming it couldn’t be better than my stirrup hoe – boy was I wrong! I finally got one this spring and will never weed without it again! The blade effortlessly slices through weeds making quick work of even the most overgrown patch. I find that it is more precise than my stirrup hoe and takes less effort to use. You do have to be careful – it is rather sharp – but this is a tool every gardener from the greenest thumb to the newest newbie needs in their shed.
12.) Belly Armor EMF Shielding Blanket
You don’t have to have a bun in the oven to benefit from this Belly Armor blanket! While the effects of EMF exposure are still somewhat debated it’s definitely a good idea to shield yourself from unnecessary amounts of it. If you use a laptop, a shielding blanket can be a great way to protect your organs. Sitting, lying down, or even at your desk, the blanket can cover those sensitive areas. And if you do have a baby on the way, this blanket not only protects you organs but baby’s developing brain which is much more susceptible to the effects of EMF exposure.
13.) Jade and Rose Quartz Beauty Rollers
You’ve probably seen these beauty rollers popping up recently. They’re been popular in Asia for years but started gaining popularity in the US for the past year or so. At first glance they may just seem like an IG photo op, but there really are some benefits to using beauty rollers and gua sha (the smooth scraping tool).
Some basic benefits are the actual rubbing of the tools against the skin. Similar to how dry brushing stimulates lymphatic circulation in the rest of the body, gua sha helps circulate stagnant lymph and other fluids beneath facial skin. Beauty rollers are often refrigerated to provide a cooling effect that soothes puffiness and inflammation as well as helps gently stimulate circulation.
So why jade or rose quartz? Crystals in general are purported to support healing because of how they handle electrical current. The computer or smart phone you’re reading this on works because of crystal oscillators. At a much smaller scale, certain crystals are believed to aid in the body’s natural healing because of how those crystals interact with our body’s natural electric field – the same electric field that makes your phone respond to your finger when you touch it.
Trying to choose? Rose Quartz tends to stay colder even with skin contact while jade is more adaptive and will warm up with your body temp as you use it. Jade is also a more fragile stone and will show wear and tear more easily. Because of the stone’s texture, jade tends to have more friction on the skin and provide more of a lift and energizing effect. Rose quartz because of its smoothness and cooling effect tends to be better for anti-inflammatory and anti-wrinkle effects.
Whatever you stone you choose make sure it’s the real deal. If you’re seeing beauty rollers for less than $25 they likely are fakes.
14.) The Enneagram Collection Journals for Each Type
Whether you’re a seasoned enneagram pro or totally new to the typology these journals are a brilliant tool for helping you along your path of growth from a gospel centered perspective. I had the opportunity to meet Beth McCord of Your Enneagram Coach and see this journal set in person before their release and can’t wait to get my own copy! Each journal is full color hardback packed full of exercises and insights to help you grow. They don’t release until mid-December but they are well worth pre-ordering and should still arrive in time for Christmas.
15.) Wool Dryer Balls
I’ve been using these wool dryer balls for about a year now and really love how they speed up dry time and reduce the wear and tear on my dryer. The idea is that the wool attracts moisture out of your clothes so that the heat from the dryer isn’t doing all the work, while also reducing wrinkles and keeping clothes soft without all the nasty chemicals found in dryer sheets. You can even add essential oils to the wool balls to naturally get that fresh scent dryer sheets promise (lavender is my favorite to use).
16.) Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug
You know the routine — make coffee (or tea), forget coffee in random room of house, find it hours later and drink it cold because it’s still caffeine. This temperature controlled mug is just one of those things that we make fun of for being a bit extra until we realize how much we would actually use it every single day. Imagine actually drinking a hot cup of coffee no matter what urgent needs my attention right now thing distracts you from your morning cuppa. Some splurges are worth the quality of life improvement.
Need Even More Holistic Gift Ideas?
2016 Crunchy Christian Gift Guide
2017 Crunchy Christian Gift Guide
2018 Crunchy Christian Gift Guide