Weekend DIY

Well, you'd think the weekend before Christmas, I'd have more important things to do than DIY.

I do, I just have been wanting to make up these projects for a while now and I decided today was the day.

First off I made a Magnesium Leg Butter, based on a Magnesium Body Butter recipe, because I think I'm magnesium deficient and it gives me leg cramps and other unpleasant feelings in my calves.
There are a lot of recipes out there, but I pretty much followed the one from Wellnessmama.com; but used a bit of Dr. Axe inspiration by adding some Frankincense essential oil and some Peppermint essential oil.

This looked so much better on my phone!

So this is the way I made it:

Magnesium Peppermint and Frankincense Restless Leg Butter 

Magnesium oil:
1/2 cup magnesium flakes
45mL (3 Tbsp) boiling water
* this gives a more concentrated solution, if you don't have flakes on hand, just 1/2 cup magnesium oil.

"Butter":
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
2 Tablespoons emulsifying wax (found at Aussie Soap Supplies - I used this one)
45g Shea Butter

20-25 drops dōTERRA Peppermint Essential Oil
drops dōTERRA Frankincense Essential Oil

To make the magnesium solution pour 45mL (3 Tbsp) of boiling water in to the magnesium flakes in a glass jar and stir until the flakes are dissolved. Set it aside to cool.

I use my setup shown in the video below to melt my emulsifying wax and Shea butter, then I add the coconut oil to the melted was/butter to help it cool slightly faster. My coconut oil was liquid though, if yours isn't, maybe add it to melt at the last minute. Melt this blend on medium heat, being careful so no water gets into the wax, oil and butter.

Some people whack a Mason jar at the bottom of the pan, with about an inch of water in there. I never feel very comfortable with that idea, I prefer a bit of buffer (maybe because I've been known to have temperamental stove tops, the kind that go to FULL POWER when they are on "simmer"!)

When your stuff is all melted, remove the jar from the pan and let the mixture cool until slightly opaque (usually room temperature will do that, if it's in the middle of an Australian summer, you can cool it in the fridge a bit).
Put the oils in a medium bowl and using your hand blender (I have one I use only for soapy stuff, but I couldn't find it so used the regular food one and cleaned it properly, since I'm using CPTG essential oils which are also OK for ingestion (I use only dōTERRA) and not fragrance oils, I didn't have a problem with that). Blend your oil mixture and start adding the magnesium oil a bit at a time, sort of like when you make mayonnaise; continue blending until all of the magnesium oil is added and it is well-mixed, add your essential oils and give it another good blending.

Put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes and blend again to get this soft fluffy body butter consistency! It's almost like magic.

You can keep this in the fridge in Summer months, it makes for a nice cooling lotion, or keep it at room temperature (without preservatives it should last about two months, if you want to learn about preservatives you can go see the lovely Susan at Point of Interest she has a bunch of posts on preservatives and which to use in a solution like this one).

This is how I like to melt my stuff :)

The other thing I made was Toilet Freshener/Cleaner bombs.... The water is quite "dirty" here, I don't know very well how else to put it, but my water filter gets this muddy slime on it, and that makes toilets dirtier than they should be as well, so I finally made some toilet bombs and hope it'll help us keep our toilet cleaner than usual, plus they smell really nice!

Whenever I want to do anything remotely soapy, I usually visit The Soap Queen first; and then spend so much time looking at all the pretty and clever things that I don't usually start my project that same day, but that's ok because I always learn something there!

Anyway, when I was ready to make my toilet fizzies, of course I turned to Anne-Marie at The Soap Queen.

This is what I used to make mine:

Toilet Freshener/Cleaner Bombs

1 cup Bicarb soda (baking soda, bicarbonate soda, sodium bicarbonate, "la p'tite vache", or whatever else you know it as)
1/2 cup citric acid (I don't know if that has any other names! you can find it in the baking area of your supermarket, but I just bought a huge quantity of it when it was on special at Aussie Soap Supplies
and
20 drops of dōTERRA Purify Cleansing Blend

If you've never made bath bombs before, it's quite easy, mix the bicarb soda and the citric acid together (the citric acid is a powder, it won't burn your skin, but may dull your nail polish, so you might want to wear gloves), I always put my dry ingredients through a sifter to remove any lumps, makes the job easier. Then I add my essential oil (or oils, depending on what you feel like using. On Guard would be a great blend to use, Peppermint and Lemon would smell really fresh).

Then you spritz whitchhazel onto the mixture, a couple spritz at a time, the idea is to get the dry mixture just wet enough to hold together. When it does (a bit like damp sand) you compress as much as you can in your moulds. The recipe above filled one heart and one "flower" sets of Ikea's Plastis ice cube trays (hmm, looks like they are out of hearts at the moment. The heart ones are my favourites to make chocolates!). When you have packed the mixture in the trays, let it air dry overnight.

TIP: don't make them when the temperature is humid... your chances of failure greatly increase. I've had bath bombs start to "bomb" while I was making them... can quickly turn into an impromptu volcano experiment, or a really good clean of any sink or toilet you can find!

If you need troubleshooting your bath bomb experiments, see this page on the Soap Queen's blog. I can't even begin to explain it as well as she does!

There you go, re-purpose a jar, and set somewhere you will see them and remember to use them!

and this is how they fizzed, the idea is either you let them fizz in the toilet and the citric acid does its stuff, or you give the clean a bit of a hand with the brush, to freshen the sides as well. I just thought posting a video of my toilet was a bit... weird!

Please get in touch with me via mydoterra.com/fstewart or via the contact button on this blog, if you would like to buy any of the dōTERRA oils mentioned in this post as I can help you figure out the best way for you to order. If you have questions you can also ask in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by!

Diffusion Inspiration

I've been posting a blend a day (at least) this month on Instagram. Come have a look.
They are mostly blends to get you inspired for the season, but I will throw a few others in between...
Some are mine, others have been collected in previous months and years... Why don't you come follow me?

If Instagram is not your thing you can find me elsewhere... Are you open to natural solutions and wellness that doesn't include damaging toxins and chemicals?

Did you know that you can do more with essential oils than just diffuse them to make your house smell nice?

Are you open to learning more about Essential Oils? 

 

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Liquid Sleep Blend and how a diffuser changed my sleeping habits

I've been looking into oils which may help a better night's sleep lately because it's one of my issues, and because it seems that and digestion are the problems that plague many people I encounter.

This recipe below is by Hayley Hobson (I believe in giving credit where it is due), it's a recipe for a roller bottle for those who don't have a ultrasonic diffuser (love mine, it changed my sleep!), if you don't have an actual roller bottle you can blend these oils in a little container and dip your finger in it... that will work just as well. If you'd like roller bottles, I can point you to some people who sell them (if you want oils and aren't a dōTERRA member/Wellness Advocate yet, I'll show you the way!)...

Click to buy or to contact me for the best way for you to purchase. You
can get a 25% discount on the retail price by enrolling. I'm happy to help. :)

I haven't tried this particular blend yet but it's similar to a few I've been experimenting with, might make one today though (Yay! Got to love Saturdays!).

With any "recipe" you find with essential oils, you can actually modify it for either a smaller roller bottle, a diffuser blend, a balm, a room spray, or even into beauty products such as soaps and the like. You have to pay attention to a few things, like, is it an oils that is meant to be diluted for sensitive skins (so you definitely don't want to apply those neat), and use your head a little but yes, for instance, the recipe below, if I were to use it in a diffuser, I'd either mix everything up in a small bottle (or a bottle with a dropper) and divide the recipe by 5, fill my diffuser that goes on for 12 hours, and stop it when I wake up in the morning, and turn it on again the next night. It's pretty easy. Contact me if you have any questions, I'm happy to help.

Now, for those of you still reading, thanks. I've been using essential oils for a while, I still remember a horrible cold I had one year and kept sniffing Thyme from a tissue, I smelled like pepperoni pizza (that's the memory I have)... I was pretty unhealthy back then, and wish I'd known about blends such as On Guard or Easy Air/Breathe... But it seemed to help, enough for me to continue despite the pepperoni smell! 😁 I have always have some sort of essential or another around, Lemongrass and Tea Tree/Melaleuca to make a rubbish bin deodorising spray, Eucalyptus to remove stains on carpets (and that bloody blutack that gets everywhere!), to name only a few.

Fast forward to September 2014... Id' been following a blog which was full of GREAT essential oils ideas.... and she was mentioning this "ultrasonic diffuser"... well, that same month, I walked past the chemist (pharmacy) and they had a diffuser on special for $50, and it came with a calming oil blend (similar to the Lavender Peace/Serenity that dōTERRA offers), I bought two! One for our room, and one for the girls' room... I slept through the night that night! I was sold!

Then comes May 2015 I get an invitation to a "Winter Wellness with dōTERRA" class - "yay, let's go find out some more about those dōTERRA oils I read about on that blog", well, I was hooked. I had the BEST peppermint chocolate milk EVER (thanks to the glorious Peppermint essential oil dōTERRA offers), some amazing immune boosting power bites, and other fabulous dishes (dip, soup, etc).

A year and a half later, and a few empty bottles too and I can say that I didn't get the normal knock-me-out-flu that I normally have in Winter, Hubby who gets it too each year has benefited, and I solve more and more issues with natural solutions. And... I sleep a lot better, I don't have that WORRY-WORRY-WORRY feelings I get when I wake up in the middle of the night, I usually just roll over and fall back asleep, I also feel that generally I'm a lot more calm and grounded than I was (most often than not, I still get irritated by some things and some people! But I'm working on that.)

Feel free to come follow my facebook page where I post some articles I find which relates to essential oils and other tidbits of information.
Get in touch with me via  my facebook page, or via this blog, or by leaving a comment before if you'd like to get started with dōTERRA essential oils, and be part of my team and receive my support, and that of the community we have going on. If you just want to purchase one or two oils, you can do so directly from my affiliate link (whereby I get a small commission, which is much appreciated) mydoterra.com/fstewart

Thanks for stopping by!

Good Night Diffuser Blend

I've been using this in my diffuser the past few nights and managed to sleep quite well so I'm happy!

I went for
Easy Air/Respiratory Blend (aka Breathe) because blooms are flowering these days and I tend to wake up congested (and though I don't want to admit it, I snore sometimes! *sigh*) and
Cedarwood because it promotes relaxation and
Sandalwood because it helps to lessen tension and promote emotional well-being. What more could you want for a great night's sleep?
The drop measurement are for about 80ml of water.

4 💧 Easy Air (Respiratory Blend a.k.a. Breathe)
2 💧 Cedarwood
1 💧 Hawaiian Sandalwood (or Sandalwood)

Join me on my facebook page if you'd like to learn more.
Cheers and thanks for your time.

I dō love my essential oils

Time is a funny thing. I saw a friend recently and could not believe it had been a WHOLE YEAR since I had seen her last... we talk on messenger, and via text message, so we never feel really that estranged, but still, a whole year...

That time thing hit me hard again lately... one, it's been 18 years since I left Canada (and haven't been able to go back since, yet), but chatting with mum and dad and some other relatives by phone, skype, emails, make it seem like it hasn't been that long. Our twins turned 18 and finished high school! It seems it wasn't that long ago (and yet it feels like many many years) I was walking these two little peanuts down the road to the kindy... Now, one is almost as tall as me, the other one towers over me by a couple (probably more but I prefer saying "a couple") inches, I remember then they barely reached my waist!

Then this morning I think ... "time to revive the blog" and noticed I had an unpublished post from May of 2015. So I didn't publish it but instead will tell you about it. Back in May of 2005, I wrote a post as I was awaiting, as patiently as I could, for my first order of essential oils from dōTERRA. I wasn't new to oils but new to that brand I'd heard so much about. I've been using essentials on and off for as long as I remember. When I was young, I remember boiling some flowers that grew in our backyard in Montréal to make essential oils... well, I thought it was easy, just boil, collect the water that falls from the lid and voilà... I think I got some scented water, and that's about it... but it was fun. I experimented with hair conditioners and face masks, as I'd found a recipe in a French magazine my aunt had probably bought for me. I always liked trying new things, I did lots of crafts too. I'm still at my happiest when I create something, doesn't matter if it's painting a jacket purple with DD1 for her Cosplay, or knitting arm warmers for DD2 for hers. I wish I got as much thrill from gardening as our "landscape" could use some, but I'm not there yet!

Anyway, it's interesting that it's been so long since I posted on this blog, and that I discovered this unpublished post. I was all excited because I had finally ordered some On Guard, which I'd read so much about. On Guard and I have had a beautiful relationship for the past 18 months. I've learned to love more than just On Guard, these oils have supported my family and I in so many ways, from just smelling darn nice to helping us with our immune system, moods, seasonal threats... you know, when the flowers start to bloom, stress, bruises and the like, insect bites, you name it, we have an ōil for that!

I haven't replaced my whole medicine cabinet with oils yet, but I like reducing the toxic load as much as I can. I make our soap (both the easy and old-fashioned way), hand wash (without TRICLOSAN!), home cleaners (wall, windows, countertops), I've made hair conditioner and shampoos too.
I even made a handmade hair soap bar, which I'm still using but about to run out so I'll be trying the dōTERRA shampoo and conditioner. Can't wait to see how wonderful that will be!

A long time ago I started making my own laundry soap as well, did some with grated bars of soaps, and have since moved on to a soap-free laundry detergent (tried a few recipes, most are good, so feel free to look around for something that suits your needs better). Proceed with caution when you decide to make your own laundry detergent as you are the best judge for what will work in your machine and for your clothes and family.  I have a top loader and know nothing about front loaders so do your own research so you feel confident as to whether or not you can use it in a front loader, it doesn't suds very much at all if that helps, but it does work great for us in our current washer and seems to rinse off clothes well too.

I'm hoping you will find my tips and tricks, links, and bits and bobs interesting, and inspiring as I start sharing my passion on my blog (which has always been about that, sharing my passion and what currently makes me happy and makes my life better).



Other citrus oils that will add a bit of Sunshine to your laundry: Wild Orange, Bergamot, Lime, Brapefruit, or the Slim and Sassy/Smart and Sassy blend which contains Grapefruit Peel, Lemon Peel, Peppermint Plant, Ginger Root, and Cinnamon Bark essential oils.

For washing sheets and pyjamas  you could try Lavender, or the Serenity/Lavender Peace blend which contains Lavender Flower, Cedarwood, Ho Wood Leaf, Ylang Ylang Flower, Marjoram Leaf, Roman Chamomile Flower, Vetiver Root, Vanilla Bean Absolute and Hawaiian Sandalwood.
This new formulation of the Lavender Peace (Serenity in the US) now includes Vetiver.


This blend is great for rugged men, smells like cut grass, makes clean laundry smell like the outside!
I know, it's a bit strange, but I like that smell, a lot!

 5 💧 White Fir or Douglas Fir, or even Arborvitae
 6 💧 Basil
 6 💧 Wild Orange
 6 💧 Bergamot
15 💧 Citrus Bliss

Let me know what you think if you try any variation of the soap free laundry detergent.
And feel free to scale the recipe up or down.
The smell in the clothes won't last forever because there are no chemical additives to make the scent stick on the clothes, but it's good enough for me that it smells nice when I hang it up and bring it in. If you want a more potent smell, you could double the amount of drops.

a last note on laundry for those who have clothes dryers...
I wasn't going to have a sales pitch at all today but this is a limited time offer from dōTERRA: a dryer ball set. You add your favourite essential oil to them, however the set does come with a bottle of our gorgeous Lavender oil. You pop the balls in the dryer with your clothes to make the laundry come out fragrant and fluffy!

You can click on the image to purchase via my affiliate link or contact me using the contact button on the same page, ad the bottom of the lavender coloured rectangle on the right.
If you'd like to open a wholesale account it's easy and you are in control of what you purchase and when (and you save 25%), I can help you with finding out the best way for you to order. There's also a promotion going on until the end of November where if you live in Australia and have a qualifying order of 100PV or more (so about $100), you can get 50 Points (roughly equivalent to $50) to spend on products as of 1st December. I will tell you more if you are interested in the wholesale pricing, and the perks this can bring.

Thanks for stopping by!