Results for Category: DIY
Nettle Beer: A Delicious, Healthy Herbal Ferment
Registration is open for our new Short Course—The Craft of Herbal Fermentation. Today we want to give you a little sneak peek inside the course so you can get an idea of what to expect. This course teaches you how to make your own herbal beers, mead, kombucha, water kefir, and lacto-fermented foods, and we…
How To Make Herbal Homemade Wine and Mead
With the explosion of the DIY movement in recent years, more people seem to be returning to old-school food and drink traditions, ...
Rose Petal and Rhodiola Valentine’s Day Herbal Lollipops
Although sugar shouldn’t be a regular feature in a healthy diet, homemade candy making can be a delightful way to celebrate Vale...
Love Potions, Charms, and Such (+3 Recipes!)
Back in the days when I co-owned an herb shop at a Renaissance faire, a great many of our sales would be used as components of amulets, talismans, potions, charms, and spells. More often than not, they were used to draw love to the one purchasing the herbs. The only other purpose that even came…
How To Make Essential Oil Solid Perfume to Warm Your Winter Romance
Winter, in many places in the world, means shorter days, longer nights, and cooler temperatures. We tend to stay indoors more and work on different tasks than we did during the longer, sunlit summer days. This can be a time to slow down, have a cup of tea, and nurture your personal relationships with friends…
5 DIY Floral Body Polish Recipes
“The earth laughs in flowers” Ralph Waldo Emerson Flowers are delightful, bringing joy to a weary soul. Savor the beauty of fl...
How To Make and Use Rose Infused Honey
Tranquility, love, and contentment are some of the emotions triggered when inhaling the beautiful aroma of the humble rose. For th...
Homemade Marshmallow Root Lip Balm
Whether it’s the parching of the hot summer sun or the blustering cold wind of our Michigan winters, my lips always seem to be in need of some sort of soothing, healing, moisturization all year long. I used to spend money on fancy lip balms and butters at the store until I realized how wonderfully…
18 Herbal Teas To Help You Stay Healthy This Winter
Keeping our bodies healthy and strong during winter can be a challenge! Thankfully, there many wonderful herbs that we can use to provide the support we need. Prepared as tasty teas, these herbs can help support wellness right in your tea cup! Brewing up a cup of tea to enjoy is a wonderful form of…
Lavender Sachets and Dream Pillows
A delightful, calming herb, lavender is a great addition to any home during the holidays. Lavender sachets and dream pillows are ...
How To Make Homemade Fire Cider (With Video!)
While some think of this time of year as the holiday season, I tend to think of it as the season to make homemade fire cider! Fire...
Clove Pomanders: An Old Fashioned Holiday Favorite
Clove pomanders are a seasonal delight! Made with numerous little cloves, pomanders are a wonderfully fragrant addition to holiday decorations as well as a lovely gift to share with others. Gathered in bowls around the home, hung in windows to catch the warmth of the sun, or displayed on a tree, this old fashioned favorite…
Homemade Squash Cinnamon Dough for Holiday Decorations and Ornaments
What spice reminds us more of the holidays than cinnamon? The smell of cinnamon cookies baking or perhaps a few cinnamon sticks brewing on the stove instantly brings warm memories to mind. There are many ways to enjoy cinnamon during the holidays and squash cinnamon dough is a surprisingly fun way to welcome this beloved…
How To Make Your Own Fresh Rosemary Wreath
With its fragrant aroma reminiscent of fresh pine, rosemary is a wonderful herb to enjoy during the winter holidays. Bring rosema...
6 Natural Beauty Herbal Gifts For The Soul
This article is reprinted with permission from the Nov/Dec ’03 issue of The Essential Herbal magazine. Herbal Gifts That Are...
How To Make Immune Stimulating Elderberry Syrup
Holy shi…………itake! We are being invaded by cold and flu viruses! But, that doesn’t mean that we are helpless. Instead, we can use simple herbal support, such as an immune-stimulating elderberry syrup, to support our bodies as they resist viral pathogens like the common cold and flu virus. First of all, no one has time…
How to Make Herbal Ear Drops
Earaches never seem to happen at a convenient time. They often sneak up on you in the middle of the night causing pain and misery. Thankfully, having a supply of herbal ear drops on hand can help ease pain and support the body when fighting a possible infection. I should know, as I recently found…
How To Craft Your Own Herbal Smoking Blends
There’s something fascinating about the alchemy of herbs and smoke. Part of it is visual. We can see the plants undergoing a vio...
14 DIY Herbal Fall Gift Basket Ideas For Friends and Family
Fall is a time of shifting light, color, and energy. The plants are releasing their seeds and directing their energy inward and do...
How to Make an Herbal Syrup
The cold days of autumn and winter bring to mind cozy socks, warm cups of tea, good books, and for many herbalists, pots of simmering herbal syrup. Perhaps one of the most delicious ways to take herbs, herbal syrups are wonderful to have on hand during the colder months of the year. Enjoy learning the…
3 Balancing Herbal Recipes for Bodies in Pain
Herbs are a time-honored way to comfort and balance bodies challenged by pain. They offer ways to nurture the nervous system, soothe the fires of inflammation, and ease tension. There are many different herbal recipes for bodies in pain that have been used for these purposes down the ages, and we’ve been exploring some of…
4 Tasty Avena Sativa Recipes To Try At Home
Avena sativa, otherwise known as oatstraw or milky oats, is one of those lesser known, yet powerfully potent herbs. This herb can ...
How To Make A Mushroom Double-Extraction Tincture
Although the art and science of making plant preparations can seem to grow ever more complicated the longer an herbalist maintains...
How to Make an Herbal Decoction
That simple, tasty cup of tea is only one way of extracting the many virtues of herbs into water. Other ways include the making of infusions and decoctions. Today I am going to share how to make an herbal decoction and which herbs are used for this type of herbal preparation. Infusions are used with…
How To Make and Use Ginger Syrup
Ginger is a great herbal ally that should be a part of every home herbalist’s apothecary. Not only does it have many health benefits, but it can be used in a variety of herbal preparations. Today, I want to show you how to easily make and use ginger syrup in your daily life, but first,…
How To Dry Fresh Herbs Using A Dehydrator
Summer is the season of abundance. The days are long, the plants are growing, flowers blooming, and the bees buzzing and dancing i...
How To Make Fresh Herbal Sun Tea
It’s an herbalist’s favorite time of year again. The earth has turned green and we have an abundance of plants all around us. ...
How To Make Calendula Salve
Calendula is a beautiful flower and is well known throughout the world as a powerfully supportive plant. It grows most climates and readily reseeds itself to come back year after year, and it’s a plant that I believe most herbalists would recommend growing yourself. I was so pleased when I moved into my new house…
How To Make A DIY Mother’s Day Bouquet Using The Language of Flowers
Mother’s Day is approaching, and what mother wouldn’t be happy with a bouquet her children or other special person picked out for her? Most all moms love pretty flowers! But this year, how about trying something a little different? Consider the nearly forgotten art of “The Language of Flowers” or floriography. Instead of buying a premade…
How To Make An All-Purpose Herbal Cleaning Spray For Spring Cleaning
Once daylight savings hits, bulbs are poking up their leaves in the gardens, and the days warm up enough to open the windows and l...
