August Garden Update

Goodbye July and hello August! It's still hotter than hell here in Texas. So our peppers are loving it! The picture is of today's pepper harvest. Our tomatoes are however not much liking the heat, so they've slowed down. At this point we're just trying to keep them alive until cooler temps set in and hopefully they'll go back to producing. Other than that we're just waiting for the temps to cool a bit so we can plant for the fall harvest which shouldn't be too much longer. Here's to hoping everyone has a blessed week!

sorry I suck :( and Giveaway info sorta

Hello Lovelies, I keep meaning to get to this and give an update on everything that is going on, but life has been weird lately. I have been making my own meals when I can, but I have been very busy on CHRISTMAS CARDS.. lol yes Christmas cards, and wrapping christmas presents. I start buying christmas presents somewhere around march usually, so that the cost is spread out over the year not all one lump sum where I go broke, and I get stuff usually on sale or discount so I am saving even more money, and my husband got me a Cricut Explore Air for my birthday, and I got it a few weeks early and I have been spending a lot of time creating images for it and creating Art pieces, presents, and Christmas Cards, since I am making my own Christmas Cards this year. 

I Love getting custom or handmade christmas cards, its so special, and it lets me know that someone is really thinking of me, and since I have SUCH a large list of people to get christmas cards FOR, I have decided to start VERY early, and honestly Card stock, and Stamps and stuff like that is not cheap, so Also trying to spread that cost out. I am Loving making cards and being able to create, and that has cut in to some of my homesteading things, but I have turned my craft room partially in to a pantry to store foods that last longer, etc, but its been hectic.. I will have a Hammock, A camp kit that includes pans and such, and some other little things including an SOS kit, and a first aid kit etc like that.. to win one of those all you have to do is comment on this post, and share it on your social media that it lets you and let us know so we can check that out.  So Again I am so sorry, I hope you are all doing well, and I hope you are having lots of blessings.. I am gonna end this out by sharing some of my card bases here they are not finished in the picture, but its a start. 

Im baaaack! (Tazzy post, and giveaway update)

Hello Lovelies, I know its been like a month since I posted. I went to Indiana to visit the husbands family, and some friends of ours for 3 weeks we were there, and when I got home, I got a MASSIVE tooth infection that lead to an abscess, and I have been working on dealing with that. The Infection is not fully gone, but with Echinacea and Goldenseal I am dealing with it and it barely bothers me anymore so there is that. So As promised soon I will be figuring out the details for the Giveaway where I will be giving away prizes to 4 people, and I might do another soon since I have a lot of stuff for giveaways.. I love paying things forward, because there have been many times in my life where I needed a hand and people have helped me out. so yeah.. this is a very short update I just wanted to let people know what is going on in my life.

July Garden Update

It's July, so I figured it was time for an update in the garden.

We are slowly starting to do some harvesting. We have had new tomatoes to pick each day for a week or so now. We've actually been picking them right before ripeness due to tomato worms starting to attack! So we have a ripening bowl sitting inside so they can continue to do their thing.

Our peppers are just now starting to really take off. We've collected a jalapeño and a bell pepper that had a soft spot forming on it. It won't be much longer and we'll have more jalapeños ready and some poblanos.

The green beans are pretty much done, so we've been taking them out to make room for the 2nd growing season's planting.

Yesterday our 3 varieties of pumpkins were seeded. We also seeded Roma and early salad tomatoes, as well as zucchini and 3 types of cucumber. We had planted zucchini and straight 8 cucumber previously, but we haven't had much luck thus far. Hopefully we'll have a bit more success for the 2nd season of the year.

And in preparation for the 2nd season, we're working on a new 24'x24' garden spot.

We've also taken cuttings from the hybrid tomato plants we bought. Hopefully they'll take root and continue producing into the fall. I'm also hoping to keep these plants going for several years so the seeds produce the same tomato plants in the following years. They say it takes 5 years for this to happen so I'm crossing my fingers!

This season is really starting to take off and I'm already dreaming about the cooler days of the 2nd season! Until next time, happy homesteading!

First Green Bean Harvest

We harvested green beans today. Man, we got a ton! A lot more than we got last year. I'll have to get out early on the morning to finish because it's just way too warm here already and my kids and I do not do well in the heat. Not to mention, the kids spent yesterday in the pool, the first day it was set up, so they look like lobsters.

We also picked a few peas, however that was a bit disappointing. We simply planted them to late and it's already getting to hot for them here in Texas. We'll try planting more for the fall garden.

As for the green beans, I'm going to blanch and freeze them for later use.

Get Rid Of Ants In Your Garden

We've had a couple of run ins with the local fire ants. They tried taking over one of my beds, so I tried this. Honestly, I didn't have much hope in it working, but it did! So, I thought I'd share. Whether you're gardening or just trying to rid your yard of fire ants (please leave red ants alone, they're awesome!), give this a try.

Mix together 1 gallon of water, 3 tablespoons orange essential oil and 6 tablespoons of Dawn dish soap. Once mixed, pour on the fire ant beds. It is best to do this in the morning or late afternoons when the ants are home.

I hope this helps, I'm loving being able to keep them out of my garden beds and not have to worry to much about my kids being attacked by the pesky things.

Taz is on vacation

Well Don't know how much I will be able to update for the next few weeks, on vacation with my family, to visit more family, but we are going camping so I will get some pictures of me using my pretties I got for camping, I am super excited. This will be my 13 year old daughters first camping trip ever! I will also get a really good chance to see how the Bug spray and stuff I made works out for me.. hopefully pretty well, and I have my meds packed so there is that.. Hopefully I dont do anything stupid like break my glasses.. but we are all packed and ready to go.. I am gonna miss my babies soooooo much.. I have the three prettiest little evil kitties ever and a WHOLE lot of fish.

our Prentice and Abby 

My two fish tanks full of a LOT of fish.. freshwater.. 

and our sweet baby Abby..

I already miss them :( We have people staying here to love on them and feed them though so They will be okay, as much as I love going on vacation I hate leaving my little fur babies.

Anyway.. So yeah.. I might be able to update while we are gone but dunno.. if not see you in 3 weeks. 

June Garden Update

After all the flooding and once our yard dried out, the weeds were almost as tall as we are. So, we had to move all the containers, makes for easier mowing and weedeating. I took the opportunity to reorganize the gardening when it was time to move them back. So many tomato plants were sitting in part shade and they really needed more sun. So as you can see, we placed the containers a bit differently, more organized. This also gave me the chance to really look over what was going on. So here's the June update!

Tomatoes - We have a total of 56 plants. Most are flowering and 3 are already producing tomatoes. The majority of the containers you see are indeed tomato plants lol.

Peppers - There are 20 of them. One plant is starting to produce peppers, some others are blooming. We moved them to a sunnier spot, which hopefully will help. I also recently read that peppers like to touch one another, so we grouped them all together.

A quick note, while doing the up close and personal plant check, I discovered a few plants that were still tiny. So as much as I hated doing it, I yanked them out and am repurposing those planters.

Summer Squash - 2 out of 4 plants are already producing, the other 2 are starting to put on blooms.

Potatoes - So far so good. I just planted a grow bag of russets. So now we have 3 types growing and 7 containers lol.

Broccoli/cauliflower - The grasshoppers have turned the broccoli and cauliflower into skeletons. Grr! So, we will be trying these again this fall.

Green Beans/Peas - Both are still blooming. One of my sons spotted a green bean yesterday. I guess grasshoppers don't like these as much thankfully.

Everything else is still just doing their thing. I did trellis our cucumbers and melons. Replanted carrots, as those were taken out by ants or flooding. Yesterday we planted baby corn and are waiting on the demise of a fireant bed before we can plant the peaches and cream corn.

Well, I have a kitten trying to help me type, so time to go lol.

Seed Storage/Vault

If you are or have thought about prepping/homrsteading, you might have considered the possibly of a seed vault. I did, however the prices scared me and sent me running the opposite direction. Later, after the sticker shock had warn off a bit, I started researching them again. This time however, I did some info checking, instead of just looking at the pretties for sell.

One thing I personally didn't like about them, aside from the costs, were the varieties of seeds. Yes, you can buy vaults that come with so many different types of seeds and blah blah blah. However, the seeds themselves are cheaper to just go to a local source and pick and choose the types YOU want and WILL eat, not to mention that will work for your area.

You might be amazed to learn that those expensive seed vaults, with their years of storage capabilities, have no solid evidence backing up their claims. Nor are they any better than throwing together a quick DIY! However, I invite you to do your own research if that's what you want to do.

For us cheapskates, find a jar, any jar big enough for your purpose. It can be a mason jar or repurposed glass jar with a lid. I used a salsa jar.

If you wish, get some small ziplock style bags. I prefer this method, because I don't have to worry about seeds spilling.

I kept the needed info from the seed packets, folding the packages up to fit into the bags. Poured the seeds info the ziplock, popped in the info, sealed the ziplock and tossed the bag into the jar.

I also reused some moisture absorbers (I save mine from over the counter medicine such as headache relief). I just toss a few into the seed saving jar.

After bagging up as many types of seeds that will fit (I'm going to have 2 jars for fruits/veggies, 1 for flowers and 1 for herbs), I placed the closed jar in the back of my fridge. The fridge will keep the seeds dormant and help them last as long as possible.

So there you have it, my version of a seed vault and so much cheaper, filled with the varieties that my family will use and that works for our area! And, over time, what was spent, will pay for it's self, as I will have less of a need to buy seeds with each passing year because we will be seed saving from our harvests. I hope you enjoyed this tip!

29 Foods to store long term

Hello Lovelies, Taz here. I am big on storing food when I find it on sale, since I am in a situation where I cannot grow a lot of stuff myself, because of the rules of where I live, DEALS ARE MY GOLD! That being said I thought I would share some stuff that if there is a good sale, you should DEFINITELY Stock up on, unless of course you would never eat it, because it would be wasted, unless you wanted it for trade etc.

Next I will post a list of Items NOT to throw away, and Items to stock up on when you get a chance.
alright so lets get started.



1. Honey - This literally NEVER goes bad, they found honey in ancient egyptian tombs that was still good.. so Honey will outlast you and is great for sweetening many foods, it has antibiotic properties, and has been known to heal wounds faster when put on a wound, and well its Honey, who doesnt love honey? I will say to be careful of where you get your honey, sadly a LOT of places sell sugar syrup with a little honey in it as honey.. GET PURE HONEY, or better yet.. make your own so to speak.. Beekeeping gives you Honey, beeswax, and it polenates your plants!


2. Salt - Another one that doesnt EVER go bad.. ever.. The type of salt you save depends on you and your taste, Me personally I have 20 pounds of Himilayan sea salt in block form, I have several pounds of Sea salt, several pounds of Kosher salt, Epsom salts etc.. Which is my way of saying.. I Keep every salt known to man..
Salt is great as a spice, Epsom salts are great for soaks, for a laxative, and a lot of salts are great in soaps and other bath and body things, and you can use it to pull stuff out of infections.. not to mention its a great food preserver. Be sure to either get your salt in block form, or store it in an air tight container as it is very hydroscopic and will absorb any moisture in the air till it becomes little rocks.

3. Sugar - This is another thing to stock up on, if you like sweet foods anyway.. it will last forever if you keep it in an air tight container away from moisture.. because it is so hydroscopic it will suck moisture out of the air and become hard as a rock.. but you can break it up again if this happens..

4. Pure Vanilla Extract - The Alcohol content in this keeps it good indefinitely without refridgeration. Vanilla makes for great food, great coffee, and is actually great for a mouth wash and a perfume!  Added note, its really easy to make your own, and the longer you keep it with the beans in it.. the stronger it gets!

5. Vinegars - I would keep several types of Vinegar. White Vinegar combined with Orange peels makes the best cleaner you will ever find, White vinegar also cleans a lot of other products all on its own, combined with salt it will get off baked on yick from pans, Balsamic is amazing and it actually gets better with age. Wine vinegars and Apple cider vinegars have a lot of health benefits, and are good for a variation of problems.. and will attract  gnats and flies if you want to get rid of those.

6. Maple Syrup - The high sugar content in this makes it a great long term food option, and its amazing on pancakes and waffles! While this one cost more, you can if you live in a very cold climate make your own.. it takes time.. but the pay off is definitely worth it.

7. Corn Syrup - I know people freak out about HFCS .. this isn't the same thing.. though most is genetically modified if you search you can find organic. Corn Syrup is one of those things that will last indefinitely if stored in air tight containers, and kept in a cool dark place,this is good in a lot of things.

8. Distilled Liquor - Liquor is good for ever, as long as it is sealed against evaporation. The obvious perks are destressing.. just kinding.. sort of, Liquor is great for making a lot of products, for cleaning out wounds, you can use distilled spirits to make Mouth wash, Body spray, Extracts, tinctures, etc. There are SOOO Many uses for Liquor its not even real, I would suggest stocking up on everclear, and vodka. White rum would be alright too.. the clear liqores are best since they don't have a whole lot of flavors typically to interfear if you are going to make tinctures or Extracts. You keep whatever works for you, and remember.. they can also be used for barter if you need.

9. White Rice - Doesn't really matter what variety of White rice, and there are A LOT of varieties of white rice, if stored properly in air tight containers away from light and air, will store for 25 years and I have heard even longer.. but 25 years is awesome.  Brown Rice unfortunately is high in fats so you can only keep it a couple of years. White rice is great and filling and will make a simple stew or stir fry stretch so you are still getting nutrients from meats and vegetables but you feel full from the Rice.

10.  Corn Starch - This is a GREAT thing to keep. It does not go bad, so long as it is stored properly, it is great in food as a thickening agent, puddings, pies etc, it makes a great body powder that isnt damaging to your lungs unlike Talc Powder, it is absorbant, it goes well in lotion bars to add a soft slip, in bath bombs, and a lot of other products. Corn starch has soo soo many uses I think it is one of those things you should stock up on while its still cheap.

11. Powdered milk - This one has to be stored properly! you can make your own, or you can buy it in bulk, or in small packages when on sale, if stored properly it can last up to 25 years, and I promise you get used to the flavor, you can actually make fresh milk last longer by half and halfing it with Mixed up powdered milk.

12. Ramen Noodles - These will last until the end of time if stored properly, and you don't have to use those over salted packages of Bouillon that comes with it, you can add your own be it canned, dehydrated, or bought, add dehydrated or fresh vegetables, and meat and you have a very satisfying filling meal.

13. Beans - This is I will grant a given, everyone knows about beans and everyone knows about rice.. but I will add it anyway. You can get a variety of beans and store them and keep them for up to 30 years, if time gets lean you can always make beans and rice, you can grind it to make bean flour, you can use it to plant fresh plants, and you can use them as weights in your pie making.

14. Spices - preferably whole spices since they keep their oils longer, thus keep their flavor longer, but many spices can be kept for years in air tight containers kept out of sun so that when you want some spices, and who doesnt you have something that will make your food taste good.. even if they lose some of their potency, most spices wont actually go bad.

15. Baking soda - This is imporatant in baking, and in cleaning, and it will last for next to forever if kept away from air that can degrade the quality.

16. Bouillon - you can make your own, though it is time consuming, but good Bouillon will last years if you store it away from light and air, it is definitely something that will make food much more flavorful, and healthy giving you nutrients from the animals or vegtables that went in to it.

17.  Instant coffee, Tea, and Cocoa - Storing these favorites will definitely keep up the morale. Instant coffee that is vacuum freeze dried will last forever if kept in a dry airtight container. As for all three, they must be kept away from any moisture.

18.  Dried Corn - Corn has a virtual plethora of uses and in a staple of many diets. Drying fresh corn is actually very easy and storing corn is much as you would store beans.

19.  Pemmican - Pemmican was first made by Native-Americans and later by European fur traders and settlers. It was made from meat of large game like buffalo, bison, elk or deer. The lean meat was cut into small pieces and dried by putting it over an open fire. Then it was mixed with fat and pressed into little cakes. Sometimes, berries were tossed in for extra flavor. Pemmican makes a great survival food. In fact, it was given in rations and used by British soldiers during the Second Boer War

20. Soy Sauce - As long as it’s never opened, soy sauce will last forever. Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, salt, wheat and water. The high sodium content of soy sauce helps to preserve it. But if you’re gluten intolerant, make sure that you buy a soy sauce that is gluten-free. From stir fries to soups, soy sauce is an important ingredient in Asian recipes.

21. Whole Wheat berries - Besides the obvious that you can make Flour out of this, you can also sprout them for vitamin C when Juiced, you can also use these as a great low cost treat for your animals.

22.  Oatmeal - This is inexpensive and can be used for cereal, in baked goods, or even ground up into a flour. It contains fiber and is easy to flavor with seasonal fruits and spices.

23.  Whole Coffee beans - These will last years if stored properly and will keep you from killing people.. or is that just me? Whole beans last several years where as ground coffee even vacuum sealed wont last nearly as long as their oils degrade.

24.  Chocolate - oh yeah.. you read that right! Chocolate kept away from heat, and stored in air tight jars will last several years, and will make for a great addition to cakes, candies, or just for a treat, because in a situation where you are on your own.. you need some comfort food, and what is more comforting than Chocolate?

25.  Popcorn - while I suppose this could go under the title of Dried corn, I view popcorn as a different entity. Popcorn makes a nice comfort food type keep.. I am not talking about microwave popcorn, but those big bags of just dried popcorn, if you want a variety, get the heritage varieties like blue, red, and purple Corn Popcorn.

26.  Hard Cheeses - YEP! I hear you screaming BUT ITS DAIRY!!!! So? When waxed, and I will do a post on waxing cheese for long term storage soon, and kept in a nice cool area Hard cheeses such as montery jack, Cheddar, Gouda etc will last for 8-10 years. So Invest in some cheese wax, and a good quality cheese brush, and stock up on those quality cheese when you find a good deal.. unless you make your own then more power to you sugar!

27.  Ghee - Ghee is Butter that has been melted and simmered for a long time till all the water has evaporated and all the milk solids have settled to the bottom, if you just take the liquid you can can it and keep it for years.

28.  Distilled water - Yes, I know.. NOT a food strictly speaking, but water is something we need to survive, and Distilled water is its purest form so not likely to get all funky and gross in long term storage.

29.  Pasta - while it doesnt have a 25 year life span, it is a great thing to store. Pasta's are pretty low in fat and dehydrated already so when stored properly you can keep pasta for a couple of years.

30.  Dehydrated ... everything? Okay not everything but you would be surprised what you can dehydrate all by yourself, and store for many years in your pantry, or wherever you like to store food, make sure its in a cool place since foods kept in a cool even tempurature last longer.

31. Canned foods - depending on what it is, some Canned foods will last up to 25 years..



Alright.. this is a VERY long list, and I doubt you will ever need anything to last for 25 years.. I would suggest rotating your food out at least once every year or two, and store enough to keep your family at least a couple of days, longer if you have the space to keep it.  One of these days I will make a post pointing out the pros and cons of Dehydrating food vs. Canning foods.

Alright I think thats it for now, If there is something I missed please let me know!  If you want to know how to store anything on this list let me know!

Containers/Raised Beds VS Flooding

I have never seen so much widespread rain in one year, much less in one season, in the state of Texas and I've lived here my entire life! I live in what is deemed "The Big Country" area, where highways were shut down, entire towns were flooded and people were being evacuated. Luckily my family wasn't devastated during all the craziness. My heart goes out to those who have lost so much, we've been in that kind of situation before, not even a year ago and if you haven't experienced such, you just can't understand.

However, to the topic at hand. Luckily most of our gardening wasn't planted directly in the ground and it is close to impossible to over water raised beds and containers due to them having such good drainage. We would have lost a good portion of the plants if they hadn't been potted up! So far the only thing I have found that we may lose is one tomato plant that's stem was broken in the down pours.

Disasters happen folks. I know shows like Doomsday Preppers painted an insane picture of preppers/homesteaders. But, you never know what mother nature is going to throw at you and it is always wise to be prepared as much as you can be. Take the time to do research for your area, pay attention to the weather and your surroundings, keep tabs on mother nature predictions and think it through! It honestly was a fluke that we put most of everything in containers this year as I've stated before, but it's a great thing that we did!

Tips and Ideas : Where I get my Supplies for DIY Bath, beauty, and skincare items.

Hello Lovelies, Taz here again, and I have had commentary privately asking where I get my stuff for my Products I use on here.. that is a difficult answer because it really depends on the product.  I will list some of my main suppliers here and what I get from them, I will state that I write reviews for products on Amazon, and thus I am offered a discount on several of my items like Essential oils.


Herbs - I ALWAYS Get my Herbs from Monterey Bay Spice Company   They have the best prices for bulk herbs and spices, and Honestly it is something I think you should ALWAYS buy in bulk.. invest in a vacuum sealer if you are worried about space.

Essential oils - Before I started getting my Essential oils at a discount, I looked around for the best prices on them because well honestly they are freaking expensive.. the cheapest place I have found for good quality Essential oils is Majestic Mountain Sage,

Beeswax - Honestly if you live on your own land I would say beekeep. free beeswax and honey.. but if you don't want to or can't.. Go to Amazon.. that is where I get mine, and usually I do pay full price for my beeswax.

Oils - and now this is where it gets complicated.. because it depends on the oil.. Some oils I get from Sams in bulk, or our local Kroger.. because its cheaper than buying online, same with Big things of coconut oil, Several of my less common oils like Evening Primrose oil, and pumpkin seed oil etc, I get from Amazon because Honestly Amazon is my main go to place.

Butters - Again Amazon is my go to place.

Containers - depends on the containers.. some I have gotten for discount, some I have gotten on clearance at various sites, and some I go to the Dollar tree for, because you can't beat 1 dollar for 10 containers, some I get from my local store.. like glass jars.

I sort of collect and hoard supplies, whenever I can find a great price be it because it is on Clearance or I found an EXCELLENT site for prices, or because I am able to get something at a discount because I give an honest review for that item.. Just keep your eyes peeled.. You would be surprised at where you can find certain stuff.  I get Lye from my local Ace Hardware store, Pet stores have Pine Tar which is great for pine tar soap, which is amazing for skin conditions.

My Biggest advice I can give is to SHOP AROUND, go to thrift stores, and Craigslist, and your local buy and trade, even yard sales, are great places to find stuff. There are some excellent sellers on etsy for soaping supplies, and if all else fails.. check Amazon periodically you will find some really really great sales, and I would suggest if you find a sale.. invest.. because it is in investment.. it took a while for my husband to figure out that it really was an investment, I make lotion bars for his dry skin issues, and Lip balm he swears by.. I make Bath teas, and bath bombs.. you do it right you can pamper the crap out of yourself without spending too much money, and the best part is YOU KNOW WHAT YOU PUT IN TO YOUR ITEMS.. and to me.. That is the best thing ever.  So there you go Lovelies, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Infusing Oils with herbs (Calendula in this one)

Hello lovelies, Taz here. I have been making lots of ointments, lotion bars, lip balms and other stuff since for me this is the time of year to do that.. Well I am about to use the very last of my Calendula infused olive oil, so I thought I would make a quick post to show you how easy it is to make your own infused oils, this way you get all the benefits of the herbs in your products.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED.. this is the shortest easiest list ever.. seriously

Oil of your choice - I used Olive oil this time

Herb of your choice - I used Calendula this time.

Jar or container to store it in that is airtight. I just used one of the jars that I used last time.  and something to get the air bubbles out, I use a bamboo skewer.

WHAT YOU DO.. again.. this is SO EASY, its really hard to mess this up..

Put herbs in to Jar..

Shove them down

Keep filling till you are a bit over half way full of herbs once pressed down

Fill with your oil right to the bottom ridge of the lid area..

Now use your skewer and poke in there, and stir it gently to get all the air bubbles out.

Put your lid on, and shake it up, and then store in a nice cool dark area, shaking every day or two, and let steep for about 4-6 weeks..

Time consuming yes, but worth it.

Every time you are low, just make some more.. once you strain it out.. you will be left with lovely infused oil like this

There you go.. Nice beautiful infused oil to use in your next ointment, soap, lotion, etc..

Thank you for looking and if you make it I would love to see what you make!  Soon I will post Lip balm, Lotion bars, and more!   a new soap recipe will be up soon as well.

Homestead First Aid : DIY Calendula Ointment (All natural and petroleum free)

Hello Lovelies! I'm back! Since I am on a tear getting stuff ready to go on a vacation, where we will be camping, I am making ointments for my travel kit. Earlier tonight as you saw I made Antiseptic Ointment.. This post is about Calendula Ointment which is great for Skin irritations, Rashes, and as a basic skin lotion type ointment..  For this you WILL need to have Calendula infused oil.. to do that.. you will need a few weeks..  I Use a jar, fill it with Calendula, Then with Olive oil..Put in a nice dark place and flip it a few times a day for 2 weeks minimum.. mine has been infusing for about 2 months.. yes I am a procrastinator.  A Pint Jar gave me 10 ounces..
I used 2 in the Antiseptic ointment the rest went into this ointment..

well lovelies LET'S GET STARTED!!!

EQUIPMENT:

Microwave or double boiler etc.. I microwave mine takes a minute and a half.. and its ready to go.

A Container to mix and melt the oils in that is heat proof/ microwave proof.. I used a Mason jar.

Containers to pour your ointment into, I used some that I got 10 for a Dollar from the Dollar tree..

Paper Towels since this MIGHT get messy.. it always does when I do it.

Something to use to strain your Calendula infused oil, since I make bath teas, I used a huge Tea bag.. you can use stockings, a fine mesh strainer etc..

Something to stir with..  I think thats everything..



INGREDIENTS :

8 ounces Calendula infused Olive oil

2 ounces Beeswax  I use Pellets for easy measuring, but you can grate your own or whatever.

40-50 drops of Lavender Essential oil

and Optional 1/4 Tsp of Vitamin E

WHAT TO DO :

First.. Strain out your Oil.

 once you are done you can move on to the rest..

Measure out 8 ounces of oil into a container of your choice..

Add 2 ounces of Beeswax grated or pellets to the oil

Bring oil over to microwave or other heating station.. the next few steps will show how *I* did it in the Microwave
Heat for 30 seconds.. and stir.

Notice still sunk and not melting much when stirred.. be sure to stir.. you really really want to stir..

Pop back in for another 30 seconds..

melting a bit.. but still not enough.. do not forget to stir well in between.. okay one more time.. Back in the microwave.. 30 seconds

THIS is what you want.. see how all of the wax has moved to the top? that's what you want.. now carefully transfer it back to your work station.. and start stirring..

Stir

 Keep stirring.. there are still pieces of unmelted wax..

Ahh there you go! All melted  Now Keep stirring till it cools down a little bit because you don't want it too hot or your essential oil will evaporate and then whats the point?

Okay Add your 40-50 drops of Essential oil and Stir some more..

don't worry total it takes about 5 minutes from Start to finish after you strain your oil.

Now .. pour your mixture in to your containers..

you will notice its a bit darker than the Antiseptic ointment.. because of the Calendula in the oil at this stage..

Alright! All packaged! dont forget to mark your container so you dont get confused.. cause its not that different in color..

Spot the difference.. which is which?

All finished! See how easy it was to create Calendula and Antiseptic ointment?  easy Peasy! And best part.. Petroleum free! No gasoline byproducts!  And you know exactly what you are putting in to it, because you need to remember.. whatever goes ON your skin.. will go IN your skin.. your skin WILL absorb it..

And don't worry neither are greasy!

that is all for now my lovelies! I hope you are all fantastic and I would LOVE to hear what you think, and if you make it let me see!