How to Make Aromatherapy Stress Balls

There is just something so comforting about squeezing a stress ball.  But it’s even better when that squishy stress ball smells like calming essential oils!

stress ball + essential oils = aromatherapy stress ball

It’s the best of both worlds!  A stress ball to squish, squeeze, play with, fidget, and calm with repetitive sensory processing.  And the aromatherapy of essential oils to relieve stress, lessen anxious feelings, and calm.

Plus they’re inexpensive and super easy to make.

Great for kids, teens, and adults. Just adjust the size of the balloon to make the perfect size stress ball for everyone.  And customize to their favorite color and perfect calming scent.

It’s a fun activity to make together.  And they make great gifts!  Here are some ideas for other homemade essential oil gifts to add to the stress ball to make a great gift basket.

• Teacher survival gift:  DIY aromatherapy stress ball, natural headache relief balm, peppermint foot cream, and disinfecting cleaning spray
• Gift for a busy mom:  essential roller bottle kit, bath bombs, calming magnesium body butter for her best sleep ever,  and homemade aromatherapy stress ball
• Fun kid gift: bubble bath, cuddly stuffed animal or blanket, DIY scented squishy ball, and sweet dreams pillow sleep spray
• Coach gift: DIY aromatherapy stress ball, peppermint cooling spray, massage lotion bar, and sore muscle rub
• Teen gift:  sugar scrub cubes, body spray, bath bombs, homemade aromatherapy stress ball, and a favorite rollerball blend or two (find recipes here and here)
• want more essential oil gift ideas?  find easy essential oil DIY gift ideas here and here and here

What you’ll need to make aromatherapy stress balls

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• heavyweight balloons (make sure to use thick, heavy duty balloons (like these).  Regular or thin balloons can easily break or tear when used as a stress ball  click here for the ones I used
• flour  tip:  you can use other filler instead of flour.  Cornstarch, arrowroot powder, rice flour, sand, and uncooked rice all work.  I like flour best because it creates some nice resistance, is squishy, and calming to squeeze, without being too hard.  But if you like a firmer stress ball for more intense fidgeting, then sand or cornstarch are great options.  Or if you find texture comforting, then you may want to try using uncooked rice in your stress ball.
• essential oil  — I share ideas for calming essential oil combinations in the recipe and instructions below.  Here are some stress-relieving essential oils that you may want to try: lavender, orange, cedarwood, vetiver, eucalyptus, spruce, spearmint, ylang ylang, bergamot, Roman chamomile, patchouli, cypress, frankincense, and sandalwood.
• funnel
• water bottle — using a water bottle makes it really easy to fill the balloons

How to make aromatherapy stress balls?

step 1:  use a funnel to put 1/2 to 1 cup of flour into a water bottle

tip:  adjust the amount of flour to the size of stress ball that you’d like.  1/2 cup will make a small stress ball that’s great for little kid hands, while 1 cup will make a large stress ball that’s good for larger adult hands.

tip:  putting the flour into a water bottle makes it really easy to fill the balloon.  You could try to put the flour directly into the balloon, but it would be difficult.  The water bottle helps to force the flour into the balloon.

tip:  make sure the water bottle is clean and completely dry before you add the flour.

step 2:  add 10 drops of essential oil to the flour in the water bottle

here are some calming essential oils and blends that you may want to try in your aromatherapy stress ball or use your favorite calming essential oil:

• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 6 drops lavender essential oil + 4 drops vanilla oleoresin (find here)
• 2 drops grapefruit + 2 drops bergamot + 2 drops lime + 3 drops sandalwood
• 5 drops orange + 5 drops vanilla oleoresin (find here)
• 3 drops cedarwood + 3 drops orange + 1 drop rosemary + 3 drops frankincense
• 6 drops lavender + 4 drops vetiver
• 5 drops eucalyptus + 5 drops spearmint
• 5 drops lavender + 2 drops cedarwood + 2 drops orange + 1 drop ylang ylang
• 3 drops patchouli + 3 drops cypress + 4 drops bergamot
• 4 drops lavender + 4 drops lime + 2 drops spearmint

step 3: put the cap on the water bottle.  Then shake the flour and essential oils together.  Mix well.

step 4:  blow up the balloon to about twice the size of the finished stress ball

tip:  this makes it easier to get the flour mixture into the balloon

step 5:  attach the end of the balloon to the water bottle

step 6: turn the balloon and water bottle upside down and then squeeze the flour and essential oil mixture into the balloon

step 7: remove the balloon from the water bottle, being careful to pinch the end of the balloon closed.  Keep the end of the balloon mostly pinched closed but slowly open it just a little tiny bit to let a little bit of the air out of the balloon.

tip:  do this very slowly.  If you open the end of the balloon too much, the flour and essential oil mixture will fly out of the balloon and get all over everywhere.  You just want to open the end just a little tiny bit so that most of the air comes out but flour stays in the balloon.

tip: don’t let all of the air out.  How much air you leave in will depend on how squishy you want the stress ball.

• If you want a hard, firm stress ball, then let out almost all the air.
• If you want a super soft stress ball that’s easy to squeeze, then leave most of the air in.
• I prefer a firm but squishy stress ball; for that, let out most of the air, but leave enough air in so that the flour can still easily move around.

step 8:  tie off the end of the balloon and wipe away any excess flour from the outside of the balloon

step 9 (optional):  to make it look more like a store-bought stress ball, cut off the end of the balloon

How to use aromatherapy stress ball

Simply, squeeze the stress ball whenever you’re feeling a little stressed.  Helps to relieve anxiety, calm, and quiet a racing mind.

here are a few other essential oil posts that I think you’ll like:

calming aromatherapy playdough

21 roller bottle recipes for emotions (calming, uplifting, focus, motivation, courage, chill out, and more)

sweet dream sleep spray

24 essential oil inhaler recipes and free printable labels

calming diffuser blends

natural headache relief balm

calming lavender vanilla bubble bath

calming magnesium body butter

DIY floral bath salts

12 best essential oil diffuser blends for sleep

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