Playing in the Kitchen

Good Morning,

I took a little break today from stitching and am playing in my kitchen. You may remember my soap making adventures in the past. In the last 6 months or so I started making salves and lotions. I came across one that I really like. In fact, both my husband and my 89 year old dad love it and use it daily. So I thought I’d show you a few photos. 

A few of the supplies I needed  to make this salve. 

Here we have my mix of natural oils with some beeswax melting on the stove.

Birds Eye view. Lol

The beeswax has melted and the essential oils have been prepared to go into the oils as soon as they’ve cooled down a bit. Some essential oils will cause the natural oils to harden quickly. 

Here they’ve just been poured into tins…..

And this is how they look almost hardened.

Just a little disclaimer, I am not a doctor or pharmacist. In no way am I giving you any kind of medical advice. I’m just a gal playing with the natural things God has provided. I have to say though…my joints and muscles thank me for it! So does my family and it’s 100% natural. 

Soon I’ll have to infuse some more oils. I make them from dandelions, cayenne, chamomile and other herbs and flowers.  It has honestly been kind of fun and I’m always looking for new recipes.

So what have you been up to? Anything interesting?

Blessings,

C~ 

New Salves

I’m popping in to say that my Miracle Salve is working like a charm. I’ve been using it on my feet once a day, and they are getting nice and soft. My girlfriend used this recipe on her face and has affirmed its softening properties. I’ve been collecting different recipes for a while now and decided to try two others. 

This next one is a salve for pain. It’s kind of like a liniment and is great for sciatic, arthritic or muscle pain. I just want to add a disclaimer here that I’m not a doctor or nurse, just someone who prefers natural to chemical solutions. All remedies come from the earth and are changed or added to so they can be patented. I choose to know what’s in my products, and I’m feeling more strongly in that direction about food products as well — but I digress. 

The red color is due to cayenne and St. John’s wort oil. There is also my own arnica oil from dried flowers, and essential oils. It smells great. 

Lastly, I just made up some Cold sore therapy. This one has some very special ingredients in it. I have a friend who seems to get cold sores and I made it specifically for her. I’m hoping it will work as well as the natural one she got from a Penticton market quite a few years ago. 

This one has lavender, peppermint, tea tree oil, Vit. E and Rosemary extract. There are some lovely and unique base oils as well. It smells wonderful. 

I’m looking forward to trying these last two (I have extra of the cold sore therapy). I know they’ve come with rave reviews, so I’m excited. 

Thanks for popping by!

Blessings,

Carmen

Going Natural with Miracle Salve

Hi there,

Is anyone else feeling like you’d just like to get back to basics? I know I do. I’ve looked at the ingredient lists in cosmetics and creams & lotions and decided I’m going to make my own from now on whenever I can. 

I bought a few books in the spring on herbal recipes and benefits of natural remedies. Since I used to make soap, I’m familiar with the benefits of essential oils, but not as familiar with herbs, teas and other helpful remedies. 

In the spring I made an antihistamine cream, an eye serum and an oil for cooling hot flashes.

I wrote out the uses for it on the backs so wouldn’t have to remember.

Then recently I made this Miracle Salve. I’ll show you that and if you’d like to try to make your own, see Kelly at Primally Inspired for the recipe and those cute little labels. 

Here’s what Kelly has to say about this cream:

“It works wonders for dry hands and feet. Just rub some on your hands and feet before you go to bed, let the nourishing ingredients work their magic when you are sleeping and you’ll wake up with baby soft skin. It’s that good. You can use this homemade salve for hands, feet, face, elbows, even lips! Heck, I even use it for my dog’s paws. In the cold, harsh winter months when I need extra moisturizer to combat dry skin, I use it as my nightly face cream – I love this stuff so much!”

I agree with Kelly. I’ve used it for a couple of days and can feel a difference already!

In my recipe, I chose to use avocado oil and shea butter for the base oils. I used Frankincense, Peppermint (2 drops) and Lavender (7 drops) for my essential oils, and 10 drops of the frankincense because of its awesome properties. 

Frankincense oil reduces redness and skin irritation and reduces inflammation. It reduces the appearance of wrinkles and combats signs of aging. Studies found that it strengthens the skins elasticity and tightens it. That’s just for skin use, there are many other benefits as well. 

If you decide to make this amazing salve, do brush up on your essential oils. As an example, Frankincense should not be used on pregnant women and Peppermint should be used sparingly on skin. There are so many oils you can choose from for your own combination of oils. 

This recipe made two 4 ounce containers. 

Thanks again to Kelly from Primally Inspired for the recipe.

Blessings,

Carmen

Update and Gemstone Faceting by the Mr.

With all that is going on in the world, I’m sure many aren’t aware that BC is once again burning. The nearest ‘out of control‘ fire is about 25 km away from us, and there’s fires burning all around. So that means smoke! Lots of smoke! Which also means staying inside. I am so grateful we had central air put in about two years ago, because the temperatures reached 50C for a couple of days, the high 40’s for at least a week, and now we’re in the mid 30’s (95F to 122F, if you’re wondering). So yea, a tad hot - - tinder dry - - and burny. I made that last word up because it’s true. 

Therefore, I’ve been doing lots of reading and keeping myself busy with random things. So this will be a really random post of the few things I’m working on. 

My ‘quilt-along‘ quilt is coming along nicely. There is some sashing to do and one more small block, then free motion quilting, but it’ll be done soon. 

I’ve also been making cards. The first set is watercolor with doodles. The last card is cut out designer papers with doodles. I love doodling. 

Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been delving into herbs and oils. They’re coming along nicely, but slowly. I made a hot flash oil and a oil for dark circles under the eyes that I showed you last time. 

This is an antihistamine salve. Good for bug bites, allergic reactions, etc. it smells so nice.

This is a cayenne oil I made for using in salves. It’s bright red, but hard to see.  It’s been moved into an amber colored bottle for keeping. 

These are my dandelions from today that I’m drying.  

My basil, peppermint, chamomile and calendula are also drying.

My aloe Vera has been split into two pots since taking this photo. Here is an example of a failed attempt at a sunburn salve. I used the aloe Vera from the plant, but I didn’t break it down enough and you can see chunks of aloe in the salve. It smells amazing and will probably still work, but I’m not happy with it so will do it again. 

Honestly though, I’m loving playing with this. I’m still learning about herbs and can’t wait to make more.

Take a gander at this photo of my echinacea plant. Isn’t she gorgeous? She got some watering just before the photo was taken, so she’s a bit shiny. 

Last but not least, I want to show you my husbands hobby. Since retiring this year, he’s spending more time on faceting stones. He’s been buying gemstone and man made rough for years and so he has lots of material to work with. He also buys old silver jewelry and settings. 

This is a man made opal he cut and put into a silver ring he made for me.

Check out this ruby. It was a gift for a friend, I love this cut. 

Here’s another one he cut. My birthstone is emerald, but this is made from YAG,

 It is a yttrium aluminum garnet.

Here’s something most people don’t see. 

It’s a stone he cut along with one of the bules he cuts them from, a cobalt blue spinel.

 

This little beauty is an amethyst he cut. He’s a pretty talented guy! 

Well, that’s it for today. My random mix of crafts. I hope you’re all having a creative summer too.

Blessings,

Carmen

Backyard Foraging

I’ve just come in from my garden bringing small handfuls of flowers to dry. Gosh I’m having so much fun! I’m so happy my husband is a good gardener, because I’m not, but I’m loving the fact I can do something with the plants. It’s like foraging, but just in my yard. I may be kind of a fake forager but hey, why go somewhere else if I don’t have to?

So here’s some of what I’ve been gathering. I labelled them for you In the photo. I’d already bottled the rose hips, but those tiny flowers are wild roses. They smell heavenly but they’re pretty small. I picked those yesterday morning so they’re partially dry already. 

All of these things will be made into either oils, tinctures, salves, teas or Potpourris. 

I decided to make a couple of things while I’m waiting to gather up my botanicals. Below is an eye serum, and a hot flash roller. 

I started getting hot flashes at 50, and I’m still getting them. The hot weather doesn’t help and tends to set them off, as does wearing a mask, oddly! This stuff seems to be working pretty well for me!

The eye serum is to help with dark circles under your eyes. Mine aren’t that bad, but I’d rather use something natural that’ll resolve the issue than slather on a bunch of chemicals. I guess the caffeine stimulates and gets rid of the darkness. 

I always knew coffee was good for me. Hahaha

I will add the recipes for these two near the bottom of this post. 

In the meantime, our heat arrived a month early - - - I am so thankful for central air!! All our igloos have melted now. 

That’s a joke, for those of you who may be wondering. 😂 Not a great joke, but I try. 

So, I am slowly filling up jars and enjoying the thought of doing something with them. I’m scouring through my herb books daily, learning and trying to retain the information, which is almost overwhelming but super interesting. 

You’re probably wondering about the egg shells. I’m thinking about making my own toothpaste because I don’t like the fluoride they put in the store bought ones - - - and I know you can buy them without, but they’re a small fortune and I can make it myself so much cheaper.

The blue spruce needles are for tea (from the tree in my backyard) as are the rose hips. Both have amazing qualities and are good for you. 

I’m going to have to go forage in the backwoods for the pine needles I want for teas. I have to convince my hubby to go with me because there’s bears in them thar woods - - - although we’re more likely to run into deer, to be honest. 

Speaking of animals, my son named one of his chickens after me. I feel honored - - - I think. He says the chicken will provide for him (eggs) like I’ve provided for him most of his life. Of course, that’s a stretch because he left home at 18 and he’s 38 now. (I hope you’re all really bad at math. Let’s pretend I had him at  10 yrs..........actually, no, that’s bad too). Never mind. 

Anyway, here’s the recipes for the Eye Serum: 

Ever Blossom Caffeine Eye Serum

And the recipe for the Hot Flash Oil:

Live Well Zone Hot Flash Oil

 

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day!

Blessings to you and yours!

Carmen

From Soap to Nature

Remember when I used to make soap? Me too, and I really miss it, but my husband has a few sensitivities, and strong scents no matter how pleasant, give him headaches and worse, sometimes migraines. I reluctantly sold many of my supplies years ago. I loved soapmaking, which is basically working with butters and oils, etc. 

The world has been a strange place of late, and I sense a draw to the old ways that were strong and secure and had served us many generations until big business, large governments and oligarchs exploded on the scene and gained control. As many perks as that has brought, I still long for some of the old ways and the old days when people seemed friendlier, more courteous, considerate of young and old, and more self sufficient.

I guess that’s what eventually led to this interest. So for my birthday this year I bought a couple of books and began picking dandelions. Just the heads for now.

I have plans. But I didn’t stop there- - -

Meet my Echinacea Purpurea, also known as cone flower.

Here we have St. John’s Wort in the foreground and French Lavender in the back. These are in pots now and doing well.

And here  I’ve started some basil and peppermint. 

Yes, I’m growing and drying my own herbs and plants. I will be drying, making oils and salves, potpourris and teas. I’m quite excited as I just needed something new and useful to do. Oh, I also have a gorgeous Aloe Vera plant I will be putting to good use. 

Also this

This is sage. It grows wild around here and there’s tons of it on our back hill. These can be dried and used as culinary sage, but they can be made into smudge sticks as well. I’m actually drying them in the dehydrator Right now, but will try hanging some to dry too. 

We also have lilac bushes in the back yard. I’ve dried a bunch of the flowers. On the left is a jar of dried dandelion flowers. Both jars are full now.

And these are calendula petals (pot marigold) and dehydrated ginger root. I have a jar with coffee inside infusing in almond oil inside my cupboard as well. Plus there’s some basil and peppermint air drying. My house smells pretty good. 

I bought some supplies and containers using my old soap contacts and am almost ready to go. Also, here are the books I picked up. Apparently Rosemary Gladstar is a herb whisperer of sorts, so I bought these first two of hers. Then a good friend brought me the last book, which I’m enjoying as well.

What I found interesting is that some of the essential oils I will be using are different than the ones I used for soap making. More expensive, some of them, but just lovely!

I will be sharing what I make with all of these in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings to you and yours,

Carmen

Idle Hands? No!

Welcome to the end of August!

As I type that, I'm finding it hard to believe. It's been a hot summer filled with a beautiful garden (which means lots of canning), visits to and from family, sewing, crocheting, and lots of studying for a course I'll be teaching this Fall. 

I hope you haven't felt too neglected and that your summers have also been awesome! 

I'll be honest...I feel a little guilty, but at the same time, life happens. I've even thought of ending this little blog, since I don't make any money with it and haven't had time to do tutorials, which I would've loved to do and which I know gets traffic. I'm actually quite good at that sort of thing, if it weren't for the time it takes.....

I'll see how this Fall goes and if it happens...if not, I'll reconsider what I'll do with the blog at the end of this year.

So I'm just going to show you what I have been doing. Within the next 2 weeks I have to do up some digitals for a couple of sites that are sponsoring my work. I'll be sure and do up a freebie for you then. Promise.

My computer isn't working well right now...my screen is black. I am typing this with an additional screen off to the side so that I can see what I'm doing. Annoying, to say the least, but it is what it is for now.  I'm sure there are bigger problems in the world. 

First my garden. It started out like this........

And ended up like this....see my granddaughter's head? Most of the tomatoes (in the back half) just exploded and are leaning over. We can't figure out a way to stake them high enough. They're really producing though.

I picked a bunch of the basil a while back...

and made Pesto. YUM!  I have enough basil out there to make more now. 

See below for the recipe.

Here are some of the tomatoes. I had opted to have lots of Roma's, a few eating tomatoes and maybe one cherry tomato....but my husband helped. I ended up with about 4 cherry tomatoes, 3 Roma's and 6 eating. In the end I decided, hey...they're all tomatoes. In the pot they go! 

I turned them into stewed tomatoes. These are great in my spaghetti...I'm known for my spaghetti. 

Those green things on the bottom of the picture. Well, they were supposed to be long english cucumbers. We kept waiting for them to turn dark green...until they began turning into monsters. 

Then we realized what we had were Armenian cucumbers. 

They're not bad...much like the long english but a lighter flavor.

Remember all that fabric I was given? Kai wanted some shorts with pockets. 

What Grandma would say no to those big brown eyes of his? 

I also made this little dress. It's the La Jolla Bow Dress. Google it, it's a free pattern. Easy and cute! I added the band at the bottom as it wasn't in the original instructions. 

It was my first time shirring with elastic....turned out pretty good considering. 

And it's just about time to start making soap again. However, my DIL and I decided to start with these lotion bars for her little ones. One in particular has very dry problematic skin and this bar is all natural. Easy to make too. I kept a couple, then gave one to my mom, so I have one left. I keep it in the fridge because it is very soft. They hardened to a lighter color than in the photo below. 

See below for the recipe.

Here's the Sock Monkey Hat I promised to make for our littlest grandson, Cooper. His mommy picked out the colors....I love them! That's keep his noggin' warm up there in cold Ft. McMurray, Alberta! 

We also made some things this summer. Here's a little balloon bracelet we made. You're supposed to use the long animal balloons, but all I had was water balloons. It kinda worked. The kids didn't seem to mind too much. It was just something to do to keep them busy while babysitting.

Oh, and remember the studying I've been doing. Here's my notes and some hand outs for 9 chapters out of the 11 or 12 we'll be covering. There'll be more handouts as well. All neatly typed out and ready to copy for the students. Yes, I've been busy! 

Basil Pesto Recipe

2 cups fresh basil

1/2 cup parmesan

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup EV olive oil (I used just virgin)

2 cloves garlic

juice of 1 whole lemon

1/3 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts...all I had on hand)

In a food processor, finely chop the garlic.

Add basil, chop until fine. 

Add cheese, nuts, salt and pepper. Pulse until it looks coarse and pasty.

Slowly add olive oil while the processor is running. Keep running until well mixed. 

Add lemon juice slowly while running processor. 

Mixture should be a bit wet/oily.

Store in airtight container and keep in fridge for up to 1 week. 

Pesto can be frozen. I poured my leftovers into an ice cube tray and covered each one with a bit of olive oil. After frozen, I removed them from the tray and put them into a ziploc bag for later use. 

All Natural Lotion Bars

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup cocoa butter

1 1/3 cup grated beeswax

2 tsp. Vitamin E Oil 

I melted the first three ingredients together in a double boiler slowly and added the Vitamin E after. I then poured them into silicone molds. 

They were very soft, so I put them in the fridge after about 4 hours and left them overnight. They came out solid. They melt with the warmth of your skin and are perfect for the little ones. 

I wanted to keep these all natural and they smell like chocolate because of the cocoa butter. Kai says they smell like vanilla. He must be smelling the natural beeswax. 

You could add essential oils if you wanted to, but why?

I will be keeping mine in the fridge when not in use. 

September is just around the corner and life should settle back into our regular humm again. In the mean time, have a great long weekend and be safe on the roads!

Blessings,

Carmen