DIY Garden Projects, Yummy Recipes, & Crafty Goodness
This all-natural bug spray recipe is not only bad for bugs, it’s good for you. Good because it’s super simple. Good because it actually smells nice. And good because it’s not toxic on your skin. All that and it keeps mosquitos from biting.
If you’ve visited recently you would have probably happened by the Citronella CANdle project where you will have learned two things: I hate mosquitoes and love easy projects.
Love those awesome fizzing bath bombs but don’t want to spend $6 a piece? It’s easy to make your own with natural ingredients that soften your skin.
As this recipe is part of the Natural Skincare Series the ingredients are natural and safe. While there are many other recipes that recommend using synthetic fragrance and coloring, there are many options available that are 100% natural and will not harm you when absorbed into your skin.
You can feel confident that when you use these natural products, or give them as gifts, that they are healthy for the body.
Ingredients / Materials:
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, measure in the baking soda, citric acid and mix well.
2. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of coloring and mix well. Add more colouring if you want a deeper colour, but keep in mind that too much coloring will leave a ring in your tub, so go easy. The color will become more pronounced when you add the witch hazel anyhow.
3. Add 20-30 drops of essential oils and mix well.
4. Using an atomizer or spray bottle filled with which hazel, spray the entire surface of the powder mix and mix with your hands. Keep spraying and mixing rapidly until the mixture holds together when scrunched with your hand (think of making snowballs).
5. Working quickly, firmly press mixture into moulds. You can use soap-making moulds, chocolate moulds, ice cube trays, or even plastic Christmas tree ornaments that snap into two parts. The key is that they are plastic and large enough for the bath bomb to combine and set.
6. Gently tap the mould so that the bath bomb releases and carefully lay on a towel or tray to dry. To make a round bath bomb, over-fill two moulds and press them together firmly before tapping the mould to release the bath bomb.
7. Let the bath bombs dry for 30 minutes or until they are firm and won’t fall apart.
Tip: use the extra powder from the bowl and counter and shake it into carpets or rugs, then vacuum. Instant deodorizing!
As part of the Natural Skincare Series, here is an uber-moisturizing, exfoliating sugar scrub recipe that will wake up your skin and your mind with two energizing scent choices: lemongrass/ginger or rosemary/spearmint.
Materials:
Lemongrass Ginger Recipe Ingredients:
Rosemary Spearmint Recipe Ingredients:
Directions:
1. In a bowl or large 1L measuring cup mix together the sugar, oil and recipe ingredients.
2. Spoon mixture into small jam jars and smooth out top.
3. Optional: download and print these freebie canning labels to dress them up!
We’ll continue on our theme for making homemade holiday gifts again this week for this Weekend’s Project: a DIY Beeswax Flower Mason Jar Candles Tutorial.
The beauty of these candles is that you can screw a lid on them, decorate them up, and they’ll surprise the lucky person who gets to open them. They are also wonderful for out-of-town friends and family as they can safely be shipped without damaging the flower.
Materials:
1. Make some soy & beeswax jar candles in wide mouth 250ml / half pint jars like these. Fill jars so that they are only 3/4 full (note: they are too full in the photo shown) as this will allow you to have space for the beeswax flower and also be able to screw the lid on the jar for wrapping / shipping.
2. Now you can begin decorating! Using a cookie cutter, cut out a flower like shape from a sheet of the beeswax. We used both honeycomb and smooth sheets for different textures. Using the pen, punch a hole in the centre of the flower then slide it over the wick onto the top of your candle.
3. Cut a second colour of wax with the cookie cutter. Using the knife or scissors, separate all the petals. Then spread some of the tacky wax (a sticky wax that acts as glue for the petals) with a popsicle stick around the centre of the flower. Arrange and press each petal around the wick. Carefully bend the far tip of each petal upwards to create a 3D effect to the flower.
4. For the third layer of the flower, cut out smaller petal shapes with the knife or scissors. Generally 6 petals will do. Again spread the tacky wax and adhere the petals gently bending each tip upwards.
That’s it! No really, it’s that easy.
For bonus points, you can decorate the jar and the lid. For some cute printable labels that will fit mason jar lids click here.
We will leave you with a photo of a pretty black one that looks lovely on our night stand next to an Anthropologie ring holder.
Garden therapy extends to the indoors when the weather outside starts to chill. Warming up with the fragrance and glow of natural candles couldn’t be easier as you’ll soon see from this step-by-step tutorial on making our very favourite candles from a soy wax/beeswax blend. Melt, pour, then cosy up for this weekend’s project.
Materials
Optional Materials
Directions
1. Prepare your jars by adding a bit of hot glue onto the bottom of the wick tab and press it firmly into the center of your container. If your fingers won’t fit into the jar, use a pen or straw around the wick to stick the tabs down. Note: there are many different sizes and types of wicks so ask for the right size for your particular container at the candle supply store.
2. Assemble your double boiler and add wax in small pieces. Heat over medium heat until the wax is completely melted.
3. If you are adding colour, add at this stage by dropping in bits of crayon or wax dye until you are happy with the look keeping in mind it will be lighter and more opaque when dry. But if you prefer a more natural looking candle (we do!) then the 25% beeswax will add a beautiful warm honey colour to the candles with no artificial color needed.
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4. When the wax reaches 140°F* it’s time to add the fragrance. The 25% beeswax won’t go a long way in provided much fragrance (you’d need a lot more beeswax to get that gorgeous honey aroma) so if you want your candles scented add fragrance to the wax using natural scents. Now that’s a tricky one. Most candle stores sell artificial fragrance and many people are sensitive to these smells. Personally, we only use natural essential oils as fragrance in our soap and other products, but there has to be some additives to the oils to make them burn properly. A good candle supply store will stock essential oils for candles with little additives as necessary. The fragrances are cheaper and have a much wider range, but as tempting as they may be, many people have serious concerns with the toxicity of them. It’s worth it to spend a little more and bypass the “strawberry cheesecake” fragrance.
5. Now cool wax to 110°F* and carefully pour into containers. Secure the wicks with a chopstick or clothes pin to keep it centered. Careful not to disturb them too much while you set in a warm place to cool. Cooling slowly and completely will create the best looking candles.
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6. If you get depressed area around the wick when cooled, warm up some more wax and pour it into the void.
7. Allow your candle to cure for 48 hours undisturbed before burning. Then, when you fire it up, let the candle burn so that there is a full, wide pool of wax before you blow it out. It is said that candles have a memory, so it’s best to let the first burn set the tone for all the rest.
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Now, how will you decorate your jar candles for the holiday table or gifts? Stay tuned for some ideas on that in a future post.
*Please note: the directions are appropriate for using EcoSoy CB-Xcel, please adjust temperatures for your wax.
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