Time to Smell...Good!

DIY Deodorant

 

As I push on through my DIY/natural health madness, I have gotten to a point where skin tags are something that I need to find a remedy for. Some people say, "Big deal! They aren't hurting anything." You're right, usually you don't know they are there until they get bigger and they might get a little sore. But my personal opinion of skin tags is "EW!" And I'm not being all judge-y; I get the most disgusted when they are on me! That's right, I get em. Often. 

So what do we do? Until recently, I just cut them off myself. That might be extreme for some people, but it really is quick. The only problem is...IT HURTS SO BAD! You can go to the doctor and pay a lot of money to get it cut off, but the result is the same; pain and risk of infection. Now, however, I know why I get them and what I can do to take them off that doesn't involve bleeding or saying fake bad words (like, "OH PICKLES! THAT HURTS LIKE BANANAS!)

Removal - get some Oregano Essential Oil. Use a Q-Tip to apply a teeny tiny bit directly to the skin tag. You'll need to do this at least once a day for a week or two. The biggest hurdle to this method is staying consistent. You need to do it everyday until that little sucker falls off (usually a week or so.) WARNING- please be careful! Oregano essential oil can burn your skin. Only use a little, and put it straight onto the skin tag. Don't put a band-aid over it - this will spread it to the skin around the tag and it will burn.For children or anyone with sensitive skin, I recommend using Frankincense Essential Oil instead; it takes a little longer, but it still does the trick.

Prevention - You may get skin tags for what seems like no reason at all. One of the biggest causes for skin tags, however, is your deodorant/anti-antiperspirant. That's not just Hazel talking, check out this article from WebMD. The article also says shaving can cause it, but let's not give up shaving just yet. First, try making your own deodorant.

What I did - I used this recipe (recipe #2) for a general guideline, then did the Hazel freestyle with it. I replaced the 6 T of coconut oil with 4 T of shae butter and 2 T of beeswax. I didn't want it to melt in the summer, or have to keep it in the fridge, so I thought the shae/wax combo should take care of that nonsense. I bought my containers from here; they are really inexpensive, but the shipping is a little high. There are a few of us that usually combine our orders so that we can split shipping. The essential oil that I used was Melaleuca. It's really great at killing smelly germs, so it's perfect for deodorant. Make sure you don't add the essential oil until the mixture cools a little. Then pour that stuff into your container and you are just a brief cooling period away from smelling not-stinky.
 



The verdict - I think it's pretty awesome. It is definitely different from store bought deodorant, but it does the job and will (in theory) lessen my occurrences of those strange little skin growths. Hope this helps!

Lovely Lotion Bars

Lotion Bars!

My most recent DIY project was lotion bars! I have a sweet almost 2 year old niece who has SEVERE eczema, and we are constantly searching for new ways to soothe her itchy skin. After some marathon Google searching, I stumbled upon the concept of lotion bars...and fell in love! They melt just enough when you rub them on your skin to moisturize and protect, but they're solid so it's easier for itchy baby to help use them.

I used this recipe from Wellness Mama as a guide, but as usual I did a little free-styling. I used 2 parts Shea Butter, 2 parts Beeswax, and 1 part Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Since this was a sample batch, 1 part for me was equal to about 1/4 of a cup. After melting the Shea, EVOO and Beeswax together in a "double boiler" (read "glass measuring cup inside a pot") I let it cool until it got slightly solid-ish (so technical.) Then I added some Vitamin E Oil. This part was tricky since I only had Vitamin E CAPSULES...so I poked one end of them with the world's smallest screw driver and squeezed the oil out. I am not recommending this method. However, it worked. After stabbing my fingers repeatedly, I mean adding the Vitamin E, I added about 10 drops of dōTERRA  Frankincense Essential Oil. It's important to add the essential oils after letting the goo cool so that you don't lose any of the awesome therapeutic properties. Then I spooned the slightly liquid awesomeness into a muffin tin to set up. I came back to them once or twice to smooth out the part facing up since they were looking a little rough. An hour or so later I popped them out and felt accomplished! It took almost a full day for them to really set up well, but they were usable as soon as I got them out of the tin.

There you have it! You now can be as good as I am at making lotion bars. Well, I hope you are better!

Hazel

40+ Hour Emergency Candles

Emergency Candles

My grandmother (my Mumzey) and I spent some serious time working on these awesome candles. They are the longest lasting candles I have ever seen. So far my test candle has been lit for a total of fourty hours, and it still has quite a bit of wick left! In addition to the incredible burn time, the glass jars they were made in are high quality and really tough. As part of my extensive and completely planned testing, I know that they can stand falling down my basement stairs. Ok, it wasn't planned, but my clumsy nature was actually helpful (for once) as I not only discovered that the glass can take some abuse, but also that, because the wax has such a low melting point, it didn't burn me when it splattered all over my feet. I'm not saying it was comfortable, but the fact that it didn't horribly scald my little piggies was a definite plus.

In conclusion, if you would like to purchase some awesome low smoke, low melting point, long burning and non-scalding candles (that last one may not apply in all cases, and I take no responsibility for the results of your "testing") let me know! Hazelwines@gmail.com
$7 dollars each. You'll definitely get your money's worth.

I'm also throwing in some waterproof matches and a striker just for fun :)

Enjoy!
Hazel

Melted Bead Tea Light Holders

So here's a fun one! Thanks to a friend who passed on some unwanted beads, I got to experiment with melted beads! I had seen a few cute pictures of melted bead sun catchers, and a few bowls made with "melty beads" (whatever those are) but none of the things I saw excited me. After a little rummaging around I found my crayon tin, which is a muffin tin I use to make toddler crayons, and the light came on!

Set the oven to 350°F. While the oven preheats, arrange your beads in your muffin tin so that they cover the bottom and stack up the side. Don't worry about greasing the tin to prevent sticking; as soon as they cool they will pop right out.

Carefully place the tin in the oven, and wait. You can melt them as much or as little as you like. It should take about 30 minutes to melt them enough to stick together, but I went a touch longer so they looked extra melty (technical term.)

When you get to the desired level of "meltiness" (also technical,) remove your tin from the oven and let them cool. Once they're cool, pop them out, set your tea light in there and enjoy your homemade holders!

Heather's Creations

My first post (ok, technically my second ) is about one of my all time favorite crafty people. Her Facebook page, Heather's Creations, will get you in touch with her. I've seen Heather crochet things that are seriously in the running for "cutest thing I've ever seen!" She's a whiz at what she does, whether it's children's character hats, purses, scarves or any of her well made custom orders. Check her out, you won't be let down!

Here We Go!

Hi! My name is Hazel, and I am blessed to have crafty people all around me. My coworkers, friends and family have taught me so much, and I want to share their talent with you! Some posts will be free tutorials, others will share information on how you can purchase things they offer, but all posts will be kind (no trash talking ) and fun. I hope you enjoy reading as much as we enjoy creating!

Hazel