lavender cooling spray

It’s stinking hot here right now. I’m not overly enjoying it, though I can imagine that the tall hormonal kid’s 6th grade teacher is enjoying it even less right about now. Imagine a classroom that you can taste.

Anyway, for anybody who might be a little heat intolerant like me, or experiencing hot flashes, here’s something I made that cools and smells nice.

• 1/4 cup rose water
• 8 drops lavender essential oil
• small spray bottle

Add rose water to the spray bottle. Add lavender essential oil. Shake the mixture vigorously prior to use. Spritz liberally to cool off.

* You can make it with peppermint essential oil too, but this smells more like summer to me.

safe enough to experiment with on your youngest child

Linked to Sorta Crunchy, Frugally Sustainable, A Pinch of Joy, Like a Mustard Seed

a warming ginger, cinnamon and orange sore muscle soak for a change in the weather

We’ve had a huge change in weather this week – we’ve gone from dog-days-of-summer humidity and heat to cold and rainy, put-your-socks-and-sweater-back-on weather. I’ve been enjoying some  fun with muscle spasms, so I concocted another bath soak to warm me up and calm the muscle spasms. I got the idea for this one on Crunchy Betty’s post about using ginger in homemade beauty products. I modified her bath salts idea to use my sore muscle soak. I have to say that she’s a genius on the scent combination – it smelled absolutely delicious.

Ginger is warming, has muscle ache relief qualities, and apparently is highly-regarded as one of nature’s best cellulite reducers (so, yeah, I’ll give it a try). Both ginger and cinnamon encourage circulation, which in turn helps relieve some of the aches and pains you may feel after a long day.

The recipe suggests Sweet Orange essential oil, which is optional, but smells so good. If you don’t have any, I suggest trying some orange zest. Why not? There will already be some little floaty things in the bath (the ginger).

My other note: this bath is really warming, as in – it will make you sweat like a stevedore. This is good – sweat out the bad stuff, relax for 15 to 20 minutes in the wonderful smell, and when you are all done, drain the bath and take a quick tepid shower to rinse the bits and pieces off of your bits and pieces. You’ll feel great afterwards.

Warming Ginger, Cinnamon and Orange Bath Soak

• 1 cup Epsom salts
• 1/4 cup sea salts
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 3 tsp peeled, finely ground or grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 5 drops sweet orange essential oil (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small container and stir well. Add to bath under running hot water, and stir it around with your hand to help the salts dissolve before you climb in. Soak for 15-20 minutes. Use immediately.

*This would also make a nice gift, packaged in a pretty jar – just don’t grate the ginger. Attach the nob of ginger to the outside with instructions about how much to include in the bath.

Linked to Frugally Sustainable, A Delightful Home, Six Sister’s Stuff, A Pinch of Joy, Mind Body and Sole

homemade lip balm – or how to get rid of the red mustache your kid gets from licking her lips

As you can see from the picture, my small squeaky kid licks her lips constantly. So much so, that she has a permanent red chapped mustache above her lip. We try reminding her constantly to stop licking, but it doesn’t seem to help much.

Coconut oil rubbed onto the chapped skin above her lip works really well to heal it quickly, but I want something that she can carry with her to school. It’s quickly coming up on the warm time of year here, so the coconut oil probably won’t stay solid if left in a warm pocket or bookbag. I looked at a few recipes on line, then “farmered” something to use what I have on hand and to make a small amount (most of the recipes out there are for a bulk batch – and I didn’t really want that much).

Homemade Lip Balm

• 1 tbsp grated beeswax
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 5 drops peppermint essential oil

Melt the beeswax and coconut oil in a glass bowl in the microwave or using a double boiler. Add in the honey and essential oil, stirring constantly to ensure it is well mixed. Pour into containers and let sit until it has set.

I found 3 teeny little travel containers for $1 and this recipe divided perfectly into them. I still wouldn’t recommend leaving the containers out in the heat, but the beeswax helped harden the balm up nicely. The licky kid likes anything that smells like peppermint, so she is likely to apply it between licks.

This same recipe, if you leave out the peppermint oil, would be perfect for chapped baby cheeks in the winter time. I remember always slathering on some kind of store bought balm when the girls were babies – they constantly seemed to have chapped cheeks from the cold and the drooling.

Linking to Make it Yourself Monday, Frugally Sustainable, A Delightful Home