Results for Category: DIY
How to Make Your Own Soap + Herbal Recipes
One of my favorite ways to utilize herbs and essential oils is by adding them to my handmade soap. Soapmaking is a great skill to learn on your journey to a healthier life, as you control what goes into it so you know exactly what you’re putting on your skin. It can also be a…
Soothing Oatmeal Bath Recipe
My son and I suffer from eczema, and during the coldest parts of winter our eczema tends to flare up more often than usual. It can...
Comfrey Uses + Soothing Comfrey Cream Recipe
I started growing comfrey a couple of years ago, but my reasons were NOT strictly altruistic. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of ...
Can You Be Green and Glamorous?
Editorial Note: This is the first part of a two-part post exploring the realities of the cosmetics and personal care product industry. The first part focuses on animal testing and cruelty-free alternatives. The second post will delve deeper into natural products and environmental impacts. As human beings, we are multi-faceted creatures. But what happened when…
A Simple Cold and Flu Recipe with Ginger, Lemon, and Garlic
Like many families, each winter we struggle through cold and flu season; fortunately, it’s usually just a cold. I have a pretty basic natural protocol I follow at the first sign of illness. Therapies like elderberry tincture or syrup, salt baths, lots of warm soothing liquids, and rest can really help support your body to…
Make Your Night Memorable With a Rose-Vanilla Massage Oil
Valentine’s Day is looming, tantalizing us with its impending possibilities. With a five year old son who loves to come to o...
Spring’s Bitter Tonic Tea with Dandelion Root, Motherwort, and Lemon
The holidays have passed and the new year is upon us. Many of us have given ourselves license over the winter festival season to i...
Detoxifying Face Mask: Ring in the New Year with a Fresh Face!
The new year is upon us and it has me looking at all of the ways I need to detox in my life. After a holiday season of sugary treats and candy, my face is telling me that it needs to detox from all of the holiday cheer I forced upon it. What better than…
Wintertime Herbal Infused Whipped Body Butter Recipe
‘Tis the season for cold and dry winter weather, which also is synonymous, in our world, with dry cracked hands and feet. My husband has worked for a prominent coffee company for as long as we have been married, and every winter his hands take a huge beating because of all of the numerous hand-washings…
Breathe Easier With a Decongesting Herbal Steam
When I get a cold, my least favorite thing is not being able to breathe well. I even get dreams when I am congested that I am drow...
Making Sage Honey
Sage. One of my favorite culinary herbs and one of the herbs people have easy access to no matter where they are. Salvia officinal...
Violet Leaf Soap Recipe
While violet flowers are only around for a short time in the spring, the leaves often persist well into autumn, depending on where you live. Oil infusions of these leaves are wonderful for toning and moisturizing the skin (Cech, 2000) and can be incorporated into a gentle, soothing soap, perfect for those with sensitive skin….
Warming Ginger Cayenne Salve For Natural Pain Relief
I have been going through surgeries on my spine since my first one, at 8 years old. It all started with scoliosis, and from there things got worse. It seemed that with every surgery, new symptoms and pain were added. Over the last 20 years I have had 7 surgeries on my spine, causing paralysis…
DIY Lavender Bath Salts
Is there a person on the planet who does not wish for a long bath at the end of a stressful day or week? Unfortunately, not much...
Valerian Mint Cordial: The Perfect Herbal Nightcap
No matter how hard I try to maintain a good sleep schedule, I often find myself lying awake, staring at the ceiling long after I s...
Making Herbal Vinegars
Fall is a bountiful and busy time of year. Now that I have decanted my infused oils and most of my herbal tinctures, I take to the gardens to harvest herbs and plants that will be dried for use during the winter and spring. Making herbal vinegars from flowers and culinary herbs is also something I look…
Lice Home Remedies Using Herbs
It is that time of year: the kiddos are in the full swing of school and bringing home all sorts of things for you to take care of. While you expect your kids to bring home homework and permission slips, the last thing anyone expects is a head full of lice! Let the panic begin!…
Ten Homemade Herbal Teas for Cold and Flu Season
The changes in the leaves, drops in temperatures, and pumpkin pie-everything are signals to me that it’s time to prepare for...
Calendula Uses: Our 14 Favorite Recipes
There are many, many uses for calendula! Calendula is perhaps most commonly known as a first aid support for cuts and wounds. It&#...
Elderberry Calendula Cold and Flu Elixir
Herbalists need to be good at multi-tasking and planning, like a juggler with three or four balls in the air. Late summer is a good example, when I am simultaneously picking the calendula flower heads daily and setting them to dry, planting another round of cilantro, wildcrafting the last of the mugwort before it goes…
An Herbal Deodorant That Works… Finally!
I think I’m one of those people who’ve tried every natural deodorant recipe they could find only to be utterly disappointed when they all fail to work… at least the way you expect. When I first became interested in natural living, trading in my old, toxic skincare products for natural ones was the first step…
Promote Healthy Gut Flora With A Prebiotic Herbal Electuary
As a health conscious person, you are likely aware of the fact that digestive health is directly linked to overall health. This me...
Meet the Mint Family (+ Mint Sun Tea Recipe!)
I walk in my gardens on a July evening, admiring the lush green that abounds in midsummer. The bee balm is chest high and near blo...
A Summer Bitters Recipe with Dandelion, Gentian, and Licorice Root
It goes without saying that most people prefer a sweet or salty flavor over a bitter one these days, but did you know that bitter foods are foundational parts of traditional diets due to their action on digestion? It’s true! Bitter plants were incorporated into the beginning of almost all meals as a way to…
Lavender-Infused Oil and Sugar Scrub Recipes
Summer has always been my favorite season. I just love the warmth of the sun, the gardens that come alive, the meadows that fill with wild flowers, birds, and butterflies, and the farmers markets that offer the best of the summer growing season. I enjoy tending my herb gardens as well as the perennial and cut flower…
3 Ways To Prevent A Sunburn Naturally + A DIY Sunburn Relief Spray
Sunburns are such a bummer, but if you’re like me and you enjoy being outside when the weather is nice, getting a sunburn is...
How To Make A Homemade Sugar Scrub with Calendula
Over the last 8-10 years, I’ve become more focused on living a healthier lifestyle and raising my kids with that mindset as ...
Herbal Burn Salve Recipe with Comfrey, Calendula, and More
This past month, my four-year-old landed a second-degree burn on his leg, thanks to a cup of accidentally spilled hot cocoa. Thankfully, I had an herbal burn salve in our medicine cabinet that was a perfect remedy for this painful situation. The Story Now isn’t that just the way things tend to happen? Kids always…
DIY Sweet Oranges & Rose Perfume
For Mother’s day this year, I wanted to make my mother something extra special that I knew she would adore. It wasn’t that hard to come up with the scent for this special gift–something with roses and sweet oranges, my mom’s two favorite scents. A Sweet Oranges and Rose Perfume seemed like a good place…
Homemade Calamine Lotion for Quick Itch Relief
I had been longing for spring to come. Daily hikes through the nature preserve, with our family dog and my four-year-old son, were...
