Category Archives: DIY Skin & Body Care Recipes

10 Things to Make With Calendula Flowers

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calendula salve

Have an abundance of dried calendula flowers or a bountiful crop of the blossoms from your garden and aren’t quite sure what to do with them all? Calendula flowers are traditionally used for their following properties: skin soothing antiseptic healing anti-inflammatory These 10 projects using calendula flowers are both useful and pretty! A few notes before we begin: 1. If your calendula flowers are fresh, you’ll need to dry them before making most of these recipes. … Continue reading →

10 Things to Make With Fresh Mint

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mint ice cubes

Mint is an easy to grow herb that cools and relieves pain. It can help ease stomachache, indigestion, headache, nausea and sore muscles. If you’ve ever grown mint in your garden, you’re probably well aware of just how rapidly it spreads! Today, I’m sharing ten ways that you can use up an abundance of mint to make things that are both fun and practical. While peppermint and spearmint are most commonly used, if you have other … Continue reading →

12 Things to Make With Dandelion Flowers

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Dandelion Vinegar

Dandelions are the epitome of cheerful resilience. Though many people inexplicably find them ugly and try to destroy them with harmful herbicides, they’re sunny little drops of happiness that offer a multitude of health benefits and even potential treatment for several types of cancer. (Check out these studies on PubMed for more information.) The flowers are especially treasured for their mild analgesic (pain-relieving) properties, making them an excellent addition to products designed for sore muscles … Continue reading →

10 Things to Make With Violets

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Violet Leaf Soap Recipe

Violets are not only lovely to look at, but are cooling and healing. The stems, leaves and flowers are all edible and are traditionally used in fighting chronic diseases such as oral cancer and fibrocystic breast disease. They’re especially useful for soothing irritations and eczema when used on your skin. Here are a few helpful links on identifying and foraging for violets. (You do NOT want to use African violet houseplants in any of these … Continue reading →

4 Recipes + A Sneak Peek

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I’ve spent much of the last 12 months brainstorming, measuring, mixing, testing, perfecting, writing and photographing hundreds of recipe ideas for my new print book and other ebooks that will be available this year.   Below, is a behind-the-scenes photo I snapped of my dining room area in the midst of one such crafting/photography session. (If only I had a self-cleaning house!) :) I’ve had such a great time making all sorts of pretty and useful … Continue reading →

Herbal Massage Melts for Pain Relief

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Herbal Massage Truffles for Pain Relief

Today’s recipe is a special feature from the new book The Beeswax Workshop by Chris Dalziel. It’s a fantastic book filled with 130+ recipes and ideas for using beeswax to make everything from candles, soaps and personal care products to surfboard wax, shoe polish and beeswax crayons. Reading through this book, I was amazed at all of the things I never knew beeswax could do! I can already tell it’s going to be an oft-used resource for my … Continue reading →

10 Things to Make With Roses

 
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Things to Make With Roses eBook - 40 recipes with full color photos, a companion set of b&w printable recipe cards, plus bonus printable project labels

Roses are one of my absolute favorite flowers to make things with! Besides being enjoyable to look at and smell, their cooling, soothing, anti-inflammatory and mild astringent properties make them ideal ingredients in many body care products and herbal remedies.   In this blog post, I’ve gathered 10 pretty project ideas you can make, but if you’re looking for even more creative ideas, be sure to check out my newly updated eBook, Things to Make With Roses. It includes 40 … Continue reading →