DIY: Herbal Syrups for Health and The Sweettooth

Peppermint-lemon balm syrup on the left,
calendula syrup on the right.

Preparing your own herbal syrups is one of the ways to preserve the flavors and medicinal properties of your favorite herbs for later. Those syrups come in handy also preparing different sweet dishes, you know - syrup means a lot of sugar. I know, it doesn't sound very healthy, on the other hand, syrups you buy in pharmacy to fight colds and sore throat are packed with sugar exactly the same way. You can preserve herbs in many other ways without adding sugar as well, but this time - syrup it is. To make it healthier you can replace sugar by honey, or at least some amount of sugar can be replaced by the same amount of honey, of course, if you aren't allergic to honey, in the second case - sugar it is.

You will need: 

1 kg of sugar or honey

1 l of water

200 - 500 g of fresh herbs

Optional for better long-term preservation and enhancing the flavor: 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or juice of 1/2 a lemon. You can also add a few slices of lemon with peels cut into small pieces. 

Basically you take the same amount of sugar and water. 1l of water = 1kg of sugar,  1 cup of sugar = 1 cup of water. If you have another good method of making strong syrup with different measurement ratios, feel free to apply it. This is classic water: sugar ratio. I believe that absolutely precise measurements aren't the essence of cooking and canning. For long-term preservation and storing in the cellar I would advice to stick to the classics.

Now, herbs. For restful sleep and winter colds I've made meadowsweet syrup (read about meadowsweet here)- it has a slight hint of bitterness to it, but, oh, it's gorgeous. For sore throat and colds nothing beats calendula syrup (read about calendula here), but for refreshment, alertness and refreshing drinks in summer season the one you would appreciate the most would be peppermint syrup. Those are not the only herbs to use for making your own syrups. To choose your herbs for syrup think of what goes well with sugar or honey. Think of a tea cup. Lemon balm, lavender and lemongrass are popular herbs for making syrups. Basil, rosemary, thyme and fennel are used in making syrups as well. So far, I'm sticking to meadowsweet, peppermint, peppermint-lemon balm

and calendula. Of course, you can make fruit and berry syrups as well, but this time let's stay with herbs. Basically, if you have an access to plenty of any herb you love, you can make syrup with it - it's as simple as that. 

How much of herbs you need? To be honest, I don't know what's the best ratio. Every recipe tells something different. In this case I have to say more is better. and it's even better if you have harvested or grown more herbs than you need. The sweetest way to process them.  Classics ratio 1/4 of the amount of sugar. So,  if you are using 1 cup of sugar (and 1 cup of water) for syrup, use 1/4 of a cup of chopped herbs. You will have to pour the syrup over your herbs and let them steep in the syrup for a while, so it's better if they  syrup covers all your herbs. To prepare your herbs for making syrup clean and finely chop the herb material. 

The other disputable question is for how long your herbs should sit in the syrup before straining it. Some recipes say 2 hours, other recipes advice to leave the herbs in the syrup for 24 hours. I say, depending on how much time you have and how strong you want your syrup. I don't mind my herbs sitting in the syrup overnight. Just rise the lid of the pot with mixture and check how it smells and tastes. (Rise the lid of peppermint syrup and your eyes will widely open from the freshness!) 

Preparation

Step 1: combine water and sugar in a bowl, heat it up to dissolve the sugar. Stir occasionally until the syrup is ready and gives you the first few bubbles. 

Step 2: when the syrup is ready pour the hot syrup over the chopped herbs. Add in chopped lemon, or lemon juice.

Step 3: put the lid on and leave your herbs to steep for 2 - 24 hours (you choose what works for you and brings the results you are satisfied with). 

Note: ants love syrups. Take a special care covering your syrup if you have issues with ants entering your kitchen in mysterious ways trying to steel your sweets. 

Step 4 has two options: 

1) Strain the liquid, discard the herbs and bring the liquid to boil.

2) Put the pot with herbs and syrup back on fire, bring it to boil and then strain the liquid discarding the herbs. 

I put on fire my syrup together with herbs and pour the liquid into bottles through metal strainer placed over funnel with wide upper part. It's kinda messy, but works for me. 

Step 5: 

(You can leave it out if you are planning to store your syrup in the fridge)

Pasteurize your bottles for about 15 min in the oven or placing your bottles or jars in a large pot half-filled with hot, but not boiling water (around 80°C) for 15 min. (I have an old oven that is heated by firewood. So, without an option of getting exact temperature. Works well.) 

Step 6:

After your syrup bottles are pasteurized, close the lids well, let the bottles cool in the room temperature and then bring them to the storage. 

That's it. You have prepared your own syrup. Congratulations! It really isn't hard. :) 

I hope you found my method and comments useful! Let me know if you have tried making your own syrup following my method! 

Using Beeswax: for Health, Beauty, Home and Gifts – Everything DIY (and a few words about saving the bees)

Beeswax in my home is irreplaceable thing, one of my favorite materials not just for candle-making, but also for home-made remedies and beauty care products. It has many amazing uses even if you have it in very small amounts, so, let me share what I know. I hope you can use this knowledge in your home as well! Here is your little guide to using beeswax – cleaning it, mixing it with other ingredients to DIY your own products and gift ideas! Do not throw away any piece of beeswax – it’s usable, even if it’s just leftovers from a burned out candle.

The most natural form of beeswax is yellow/brownish beeswax – it’s just like honeybees have created it – unbleached and aromatic. Rarely bees make also white beeswax, but don’t get fooled – white beeswax you can find in shops is bleached, not found naturally made by bees. Support your local beekeepers - buy from them and you will be sure you get the best possible option of beeswax!

Properties of Beeswax

It’s the best material for candles – these candles smell nicely without artificial additives and without filling the air in your home with dangerous chemicals that can come from paraffin candles, chemical candle colorants and aromatic agents. I have heard that beeswax candles cleanse the air in home when you burn them – if you have a link to research data that proves this, let me know! One thing I know for use about beeswax candles - they are made from a renewable, natural material.

Beeswax also has been proved to be superior to other natural base materials for skincare products. It has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and anti-allergenic properties. It helps to protect the skin from stressing environmental factors and keeps the moisture in your skin. It nourishes, protects and softens the skin.  

In medicine it is used to lower cholesterol and relieve pain, for inflammation and ulcers, and even for polishing pills. I use it only externally, although nothing bad will happen if beeswax from your lip balm gets in your mouth. It’s generally safe taking internally or applying on skin externally. For internal use you have honey, for everything else – beeswax J

Cleaning and Melting Beeswax

In case if you get dirty beeswax, you don’t have to throw it out. Taken right from the bees, wax is mixed with honey, bees pollen, little pieces of dirt, sometimes other insects get trapped in it, or if it has been left somewhere for some time, it can be covered in dust. You can clean it: melt beeswax and strain it through a cotton cloth, a piece of clean tights or a clean sock. You can also strain it 2-3 times – as much as you need to get it clean. It’s a bit messy process, but not a difficult one.

The best method for melting beeswax is doing it in a water bath or double boiler. Pour water in a pan or pot , place it over the heat and put in it an empty heatproof  bowl.  The fire will heat up the water, the water will heat the bowl and beeswax in it will slowly melt, ensuring that it doesn’t boil or scorch to the bottom of the bowl. You can check beeswax melting methods here on WikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/Melt-Beeswax  .

Remember that overheating the beeswax might result in discoloration – it will lose the bright yellow tone. As soon as it gets liquid, stop heating and use it.

So here is what you can do with beeswax:

DIY Lip Balm

Making your own beeswax lip balm is the easiest thing on Earth. You need just beeswax and oil of your choice – olive or almond oil are great because of their properties, but you can check the properties of other natural oils to use in your lip balm. Melt a teaspoon of beeswax, mix it with a teaspoon of oil of your choice, pour it in a lip balm container and wait until it gets solid. That’s it. (Beeswax alone is too hard, so you need to add oil about 1:1)

DIY Beard Wax/ Bear Balm/Styling Wax

For bearded men in your life – making beard wax to give them as gifts is easy. Read here (opens in a new tab).

DIY Sunscreen

This probably isn’t for everyone, but for me – a person whose nose is always the first one to burn so that the skin is peeling off, this is a great sunburn remedy and sunscreen. Mix beeswax with lavender essential oil + some other healing natural oil to make your sunscreen softer and easier to apply.

Make Your Own Healing Salves

Any kind of them, including Tiger balm. For essential oil users: mix beeswax with essential oils to

make salves that are safe and easy to apply any moment without caring for diluting oils every time you want to apply them. Second option – make herb infused oils and mix them with beeswax for additional healing benefits, for example, calendula salve – with beeswax you can easily make this at home.

DIY Solid Perfume

Basically, it’s the same as making healing salve just without adding oils, except essential oils – mix beeswax with essential oil of your choice – the one you truly enjoy aroma.

Make your shoes waterproof

Polish your shoes with solid beeswax, then heat them using hair dryer and let them rest for some time. While heating the beeswax will melt covering your shoes with tiny, even layer and then solidify to stay in place.

 Make candles

Of course, you already knew it. I’ve previously posted about candle-making here (but not about beeswax candles): read here (opens in a new tab) Well, some time has passed and I have learnt a lot more. Now I make candles only from beeswax, and they look stunning (yeah, I’m bragging a bit now J ). 

Here are a few of my hand-sculpted beeswax candles made without silicone molds or plastic containers:

You can check my hand-sculpted beeswax candles on my freshly opened Etsy shop - SiltiCrafts

... or follow my latest creations my Facebook page here: SiltiCrafts (opens in a new tab)

I haven’t tried it all yet, but you can find some other uses of beeswax here:

http://www.naturallyloriel.com/17-cool-and-unusual-uses-for-beeswax/

A few words about saving the bees

As a beginner beeswax candle seller (and maker) I’ve faced people who are genuinely sad that I’m using beeswax – animal produced product. The main argument in this case is “The bees around the world are dying and you are taking from them the last they have… You are encouraging killing the bees.” Huh, I don’t know where to start explaining from… Let’s start from the beginning. Why bees are dying? Mostly because of using chemicals in farming. What can save the bees? First thing, of course, the world should stop poisoning the Earth with chemicals. Secondly, the greatest bee saviors and protectors are beekeepers. Beekeeping is doing exactly the opposite of endangering the lives of the bees:

Firstly, caring for bees has nothing to do with animal cruelty. Bees aren’t tied down or locked up into small chambers without a freedom to go. They are free to go and that’s what they do every day gathering honey. They also have a freedom to leave and never come back to the hives beekeepers provide, yet they return.

In the world where forests are cut down and meadows turned into fields for farming with chemicals it isn’t easy to find a place for bees to stay. Beekeepers are offering home for the bees.

When the family of the bees is getting too big for one living place, bees kill a part of their family to get more space. When a responsible beekeeper sees bee-family growing too big, he/she offers another hive for the bees, so a part of bee family can move to another hive. Isn’t that ensuring the living of the bees?

As beekeepers earn money or use for their own needs the honey and beeswax, they are really interested to take a good care of their bees. Both involved sides are benefitting from the beekeeping. Bees aren’t left without food and what is especially important in the North, beekeepers take care of the bees surviving cold winters, because not always they actually survive on them own.

Beekeeping is a long-term process and beekeepers often are those who are taking quiet actions to save the bees and care for the nature without loud slogans. They plant trees that will flower for their bees, they seed flowers for their bees and they plan where they are putting the beehives to make the work for their bees easier shortening the distances bees have to travel for gathering honey. And bees don’t run away, they survive, reproduce and live if they receive genuine care. I don’t think that beekeepers are taking too much for what they are providing and doing for the world. The key is into giving to nature we are a part of and taking respectfully. 

If you meet people who are protesting beekeeping, please, be kind and tell them what beekeeping is and why it’s important for all of us. Support your local beekeepers!

How do you use beeswax? 

Guide to Home-made Body Scrubs: create your own body scrubs (and masks) that meet your needs and abilities!

I've never been a keen user of body scrubs before I started to make my own scrubs. And since I started to make them on my own and give them as gifts for birthdays, I get calls and messages from people asking for more! 

I guess the first body scrub for giving away was made just because I hadn't thought about getting a gift in advance, so I had to make something fast.... When your friends already have got from you homemade soaps, candles and handpicked herb sachets you need to think a bit more... And bingo! Friends of friends of my friends are already asking for them and the circle of happy ladies is growing! So, I hope this post will help more people to get skincare products that really will make them happy. You don't need to choose a recipe if you can make your own!

Body scrubs made me to discover the next level of kitchen magic: you can always make a body scrub. Yes, absolutely always! And you also don't need to follow twisted recipes, because you can invent your own recipes putting together ingredients that are available to you and especially beneficial to you. It means, you can make whitening scrubs, scrubs that make your skin smoother, protect from sun or treat acne, scrubs that will tone up your skin or help to get rid of stretch marks, calming, cooling, warming or energizing. And all of them will rejuvenate, moisturize and feed your skin while removing dead skin cells. 

Just 2 Main Ingredients: Exfoliant and Oil

Exfoliant: a sandy, grainy substance that will remove dead cells when scrubbing. 

Sugar, salt, oatmeal, coffee grains, poppy seeds, bees pollen and many others. Basically, go to your kitchen and check what you have there. 

Salt and sugar are popular exfoliants because after using them your bathtub won't be messy - you can simply wash them away with water and they will also melt in water. Simple table salt or sugar is fine, but you can also use sea salt, Epsom salts, Himalayan pink salt and others that are less processed and have more minerals and vitamins in them adding more nutritional benefits. You can also chose brown sugar, reed sugar or any other. 

Salt is a nice muscle relaxant, but coarse salt can be too sharp, so, before mixing it into your body scrub, use a mortar to grind it. Also, remember that salt doesn't feel nice on cuts and wounds. When it comes to making facial scrubs I would choose sugar instead of salt because it feels gentler on skin. And when we talk about facial masks that you leave on face for a few minutes before washing off, I would use everything else mentioned here, except salt, sugar and hot spices. 

Oatmeal is one of my favorites. It feels gentle and moisturizes skin, it gently heals dry skin, helps to maintain skin's natural protective layer, cleanses and relieves itchiness. Many sources advice oatmeal for skin lightening. I personally haven't observed these effects on my skin, probably because my skin naturally already is quite white. 

Oats can be used in facial masks or gentle scrubs. You can even use them just adding a bit of water to oats and no oil at all. I usually use rolled oats and grind them a bit in mortar before adding to scrubs. 

Coffee grounds. Brew a cup of coffee, drink it and use leftovers for a scrub - how cool is that! Coffee grounds come as a skin tonic, often advised also for cellulite treatments (although I would add some exercising to cellulite affected areas before relying on coffee grounds alone) and dark circles under eyes. It can also reduce skin inflammations and redness. Coffee grounds are great for the entire body. Sometimes I also don't mix used coffee grounds with anything else, just apply them directly on skin, lightly massage into skin, let them sit there for a few minutes and then wash them off. 

Salt, sugar, oatmeal and coffee grounds are the most popular exfoliants used in body scrubs, although you are free to experiment and discover more. For example,

Bees pollen: gentle and truly nurturing exfoliant with specifically sweet scent. Some researches show that bees pollen has anti-aging properties, it moisturizes dry skin, helps to stay away from aging signs appearing on your body. I guess I'm not that old yet to say if bees pollen has helped me to escape aging signs, but it smells really nice and feels gentle on skin (and I got to discover it as a great body scrub ingredient just because it was siting in my kitchen unused).

Dried herbs and small seeds can be great exfoliants as well and also can bring additional benefits. For example, lavender flowers or chamomile flowers will have relaxing effects, they both have gorgeous aromas and skin soothing, healing benefits. You can also add meadowsweet or common yarrow flowers, powdered green tea, poppy seeds or dried, grind peppermint leaves that come with cooling and refreshing effects making you to wake up. If you add dried herbs and seeds to your body scrubs, let your freshly made body scrub sit for a while - it will make those dried bits soak oil into them and also extract some of their active ingredients into oil. 

One important thing to remember here: you will lightly rub body scrub on your skin and the rubbing process will exfoliate it. Don't choose too rough, coarse and sharp exfoliants - your skin needs gentle treatment not additional stress. It's for your health, but applying it has to be pleasure not a torture.

Oil: a substance that keeps your mixture together also moisturizing skin. 

There is a great variety of different oils with great benefits for skin you can choose from. The main thing here - get oil that is as natural as it can be and choose one that better suits your needs. My personal favorite is grapeseed oil firstly because it's own aroma is very light and it doesn't oppress essential oil aromas, secondly because I can get it relatively cheap, thirdly because of its skin benefits. I previously already wrote about it here: Grapeseed Oil for Health and Beauty Care (opens in a new window). 

If you do some basic online research you will find oil that suits you the best, because many of them really come with great health benefits. For example, olive oil can help to get rid of stretch marks, almond oil can lighten skin, jojoba oil can help to treat oily skin removing excess sebum, but coconut and rose hip oils can help protecting your skin from environmental stressors like harsh winds - and that's just the beginning. Many oils offer also skin soothing and anti-aging benefits. 

Take in account that coconut oil has a solid consistency and you will have to melt it in a water bath to mix it with other ingredients.

Basically, oil and exfoliant is all you need to make a moisturizing body scrub, but it doesn't mean you have to stop here. There are many other things you can add for more benefits.

You can also use infused oils that already have benefits of plants the oil has been infused with, for example, calendula infused oil, pine needle infused oil, vanilla been, lilac or plantain infused oil. Infused oil means that a plant material is covered in oil and has soaked into oil for 1-3 months. When the plant material is removed it's active ingredients, healing properties and aromas remain extracted into oil. 

Honey is one more great substance to keep your body scrub together. I truly am in love with honey skin treatments, it kind of makes me to feel royal! It's a moisturizer that cleanses, softens skin and lightens hair. It has anti-aging and antibacterial properties so it treats and helps to prevent acne and wrinkles. And at the end of honey skin treatment your skin is soft, glowing and smells nicely. 

Additional body scrub ingredients

Essential Oils

Your body scrubs can be made without essential oils as well, but they do add some more benefits and healing properties aromatherapy brings. Essential oils can also add a character to your scrubs and set your mood, not talking about gorgeous aromas! 

Here again I want to encourage you to make some basic online research to discover the benefits of specific essential oils. I'll mention just a few of them here.

Orange essential oil - anti-cellulite properties, good for dry skin, relieves muscle pain, it's antidepressant with warming and mood uplifting properties. Sunlight sensitive, so it's not advised to use it less than 12 hours before displaying skin on direct sunlight.

Lavender essential oil has antiseptic, antidepressant and calming properties, muscle relaxant, suitable for dry and oily skin, good for soothing skin after sunbathing, treats mosquito bites, fights insomnia, tumors, burns, skin irritations, excessive sweating and menstrual pain.

Peppermint essential oil - refreshing, cooling and energizing. Helps to alleviate headache and control appetite, treats varicose veins, alleviates muscle pain and cramps, mood uplifting antidepressant that helps to get rid of tiredness.

Patchouli essential oil has antiseptic, anti-fungal and anti-cellulite properties, especially advised for dry skin, alleviates sleepiness, mood swings, helps to treat acne and protects skin for UV rays. Can also work as aphrodisiac.

Cinnamon essential oil - warming, blood circulation improving antidepressant with anti-fungal properties. Alleviates tiredness and menstrual pain. Aphrodisiac. Never use in big amounts as it can irritate skin!

Tea Tree essential oil - heals acne and is advised for oily skin, alleviates muscle pain, treats different skin issues including fungi, sunburns, tumors, Athlete's feet and psoriasis. 

Lemongrass essential oil has antiseptic and disinfectant properties, helps to control appetite, alleviates headache, helps to treat varicose veins, alleviates emotional overload, has mood uplifting properties.

Ylang-Ylang essential oil - alleviates headache, has calming and aphrodisiac properties, fights acne, excessive sweating, psoriasis and wrinkles, helps to keep hormonal balance. Can set you into romantic mood!

Do not overdose with essential oils, especially if you are not sure of your skins reaction! 

Fresh Fruits, Berries and Vegetables

Mash a banana and add to your scrub. Mash strawberries and exfoliate your skin with tiny strawberry seeds. Cleanse and moisturize your skin with mashed cucumber or melon. Add a bit of lemon juice to your body scrub to brighten skin or get rid of blackheads. The world is wide and full of opportunities. My advice here, if in your kitchen is a ripe banana nobody wants to eat, google its' benefits for skin and if it suits you, make out of it a facial mask or add it to your body scrub! 

One thing to remember: if you make a mask or a scrub with fresh fruits, berries or veggies, you have to use it all and can't store it for longer time. Probably just a few days in refrigerator, so don't make big amounts!

Other ingredients for body scrubs:

Aloe Vera gel or just a slimy part of Aloe Vera leave from a plant growing on your windowsill, spirulina algae powder, dried orange peels, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, grated chocolate and so on... Your fantasy, creativity and knowledge gained in researching specific ingredients can lead to amazing and absolutely unrivaled body scrubs!

Here is one easy hand-scrub recipe I published some time ago: All-Natural Homemade Handscrub - it features just sugar, bees pollen and grapeseed oil. 

Making Your Body Scrubs: Tips and Warnings

• Put together all ingredients, add oil to cover all dry ingredients, mix them well and that's it! 
• If you are using coconut oil or solid honey, melt them in water bath before adding to other ingredients - it will be easier to mix them.
• If you are not sure of your skins reaction to any of ingredients or their combinations, don't mix big amounts of body scrub and firstly apply it gently massaging on a small area, wash it off and wait a few hours to make sure your skin is pleased not stressed with the treatment.
• On one tablespoon of body scrub it's totally enough with just a drop of essential oil. If you are not experienced using essential oils, less is better than more! 
• Remember that your body scrubs and masks will be as natural, clean and organic as the ingredients you are putting in. If you choose chemically processed ingredients, those chemicals will be in your homemade skincare products as well.

Using and Storing Homemade Skincare Products

• If you are using natural ingredients, your homemade skincare products aren't made to last for years! They breathe and they also can go moldy. If it's spoiled, doesn't smell and look good, it's not usable on your skin! No, you can't just remove mold from the upper part of your body scrub in a jar and use the rest - if mold is there, it's everywhere and the product is unusable. 
• Skincare products that are made with fresh fruits and vegetables have to be used the same day you make them. The most you can store them is just a day or two storing in refrigerator. 
• A body scrub made with oil that fully covers other dry ingredients can be stored and used for several weeks and for months if you keep them in refrigerator. 
• A body scrub with oil, honey, essential oils, salt and sugar (any combination of these ingredients without other natural additives) can be stored for the longest time as none of these go bad for long time. They can last for up to one year.
• The best option is storing you body scrubs in glass containers, always covered with a tight fitting lid. 
• Body scrubs aren't skincare products for everyday use! The can be gentle, smell gorgeously and feel good, but still they are scrubs. They help your body to get rid of dead body cells, but it's not necessary everyday. Your skin has it's own protective system and excessive scrubbing can be too stressful for skin. Let your skin do it's own work and help it using body scrubs not more than 2-3 times per week.
• Apply body scrub gently massaging it into your skin with circular motion. Don't rub it and press it into your skin! Be nice to yourself! Love yourself. :)

I hope this article gives you the whole picture of making body scrubs. Comments, experiences and questions are welcome!

Traditional Way to Make Candles

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

This is how our ancestors did it without fancy containers for homemade candles: 

1. Hollow out holes into turnip, apple or any other root, hard fruit or vegetable.

2. Press a wick into each hole and straighten it with a wooden splinter on top. Fill with melted wax. (Traditionally it was tallow).

3. Wait until hardens.

4. Cut the "container" to remove candles.

No-waste option: clean, wash and eat, prepare in delicious dishes or feed to animals the remains of your candle containers. :) 

Keep the good, wise traditions alive! 

DIY: Rainstick - Traditional Music Instrument

To make it clear, originally rainsticks are made from dried cactus, filling them with small pebbles. Who has a dried cactus available? Unfortunately, not me. Another traditional option - filling reeds (like bamboo) with hard seeds or pebbles. But there is alternative!

When you look into history it's not really clear where the rainstick comes from, but majority of resources say the music instrument was designed by Aztecs. Here is a good, short read on NativeVillage.org of what is rainstick,where it comes from and how it spread: Rainsticks

That stick sounds magical, so it's not a wonder people believed in it as a tool for calling rain. Rain wasn't in my interests, but the sound was. 

So, Youtube helped. This lady on behalf of Expert Village explains the process in details in a few videos on Youtube:

Warning from my side: making a rainstick takes less time than watching those videos.

I used cardboard tubes and toothpicks to craft the stick. You can find online also easier version - putting pressed, shaped aluminum foil inside the tube. Well, I tried that one as well, but didn't enjoy the sound. Pressing toothpicks or little nails into the tube creates a lot more enjoyable sound as the filling material hits against them creating a sound.

The longer the tube is, the nicer and longer the sound of rain will be. That's how the tube looks after you've put the toothpicks through it: 

After preparing the tube, I sealed one end of each stick. It happened that I had at home a few little 30ml jars perfectly fitting as a lid for the ends of the small rainstick tube. Well, this won't change the sound. I just thought it looks cute and it also adds a different shape to the stick. You can close the ends with fabric and rope, paper or whatever else - there is open place for creativity. 

Cut the outside parts of toothpicks - you don't need a hedgehog. And the fill the stick! 

I filled the small one with pearl barley and the big one with dried orange peels. Sealed the ends and decorated my rainsticks. 

The small one is about 40cm long, but the big one about 1m. Of course, the bigger the rainstick, the longer the sound of rain. :) 

The result: I've got sticks that sing! And the shorter ones can be used as musical shakers as well. Mine are already in use when jamming and playing music with friends :)

If you are making these for kids to play with, small jars at the ends of rianstick is not an option. Make soft, upholstered tube ends, so it won't be a trouble if the stick falls on someone's head etc., like this one: 

Just in case this one caught your attention in pictures...

... that's a handmade jingle bell stick. You can find tutorials here on Pinterest, although making it is so simple and easy that you probably don't need any tutorial. In short: prepare a stick, string jingle bells on a thread or wire and wrap around the stick. Another simple, easy, but pretty great sounding rhythm instrument. 

Natural Candle and Soap Colorants and Shapes for Home-made Goodies: Tested Tips and Tricks

The time of the year for giving gifts to the left and right is around the corner. For some people it's Christmas, for others - Winter Solstice, for someone else - the time of the year to spend with family and friends. I pretty much can't stand being surrounded by people who panic buying gifts, so before this beautiful holiday you can find me at home crafting. Some people watch TV or run around shopping malls while I turn my small apartment into atelier. This year it started in the kitchen, making soaps and candles. And,of course, I can't just do something without experiments. I've learnt not to believe everything what's online, so I had to check different methods and see how they actually works. 

To scent candles and add healing properties to homemade soaps I'm using essential oils, but there was always a question about the color - I mean, I want my crafted goodies look interesting as well. Last year for coloring candles I used crushed crayons - colors are bright for those candles, but they kind of don't look very natural. So, I found online that adding powdered spices is a great option to add color to soaps and candles. While it's not a bad idea for soaps, it's not a good one for candles - candles that are colored by adding powdered spices to melted wax don't burn well. 

For coloring soaps you can use almost anything natural as soap picks up the color from any natural abrasive material you add to them. A few ideas here: 

-  dried peppermint leaves will turn the soap light green, 

- grated orange peel will add orange color, 

- bees pollen will turn your soaps - golden brown,

-  spirulina algae powder will turn the soap dark green,

- cinnamon will make it dark brown, but as I find soaps with cinnamon powder too scratchy, I've replaced cinnamon  in soaps to cocoa powder. 

Although the process of making soaps and candles is pretty similar (that melting, color and aroma blending part), not everything what works with soaps works well with candles as well. Powdered spices will add color, but I usually have a wish to make candles that also burn well, not just look good. So I needed a new solution and came to infused oils! 

Infused oil added to candles brings two great benefits: natural color and aroma. Win-win. And, by the way, you can use infused oils for your homemade soaps as well. 

Preparing natural colorant infused oil: 

Firstly, you need oil you are going to infuse. I love using grape-seed oil for infusions because its own natural color and aroma is very light, but as I didn't have any grape-seed oil at home I used unrefined canola oil that I use for cooking. 

Secondly, but not least importantly, you need natural material that will bring color, aroma or both. I used cinnamon+cloves in one, coffee grounds into another one and orange peel into another one. 

Step 1: put oil into heat-proof dish and prepare to heat it in water bath.

Step 2: add into hot oil natural material for infusion - coffee grounds, cinnamon etc. 

Step 3: Let it sit without boiling on a low heat for about 15-20 minutes (just check from times to times, stir the mixture and smell it and you will find out the right time for heating it).

Step 4: Remove from the heat, let it cool and leave for a few more hours (or days).

Step 5: Strain the liquid to get rid of grounds or peels - whatever you are using. And it's done! 

Cinnamon+ cloves was ready very fast. With coffee grounds infused oil I fell in love  and it also was ready very fast. Orange peels didn't make the oil aromatic nor it gave a specific color - heating the oil didn't really help, so I let the oil with orange peels in it to sit for about a week - it gave aroma, but the color remained the same canola-oil-yellow which, by the way, looks very nice - soft and naturally bright yellow - in candles. 

Melt wax, add infused oil, stir well and fill into candle containers.

Basically, infused oils is on the top of my natural candle colorants. Although, you can also melt wax and mix it with powders, for example, cocoa powder for deep, dark chocolate color, and then dip in the mixture already prepared candles to coat the outside of the candle in a different color. 

Just one more thing to add here: think about oil infusions in advance as some of them might get the most intensive aroma and color after about 2-4 weeks sitting in a sunny windowsill, not if you heat the oil for 15 or more minutes. 

Here is my previous post about soap making: 4 original soap recipes (with organic soap base) You can find there peppermint, cinnamon-vanilla, bees pollen and orange peel soaps. 

And here are few pictures of my soaps and candles - latest edition: experiments and outcomes. I'm just a bit sorry for the picture quality.

The leaf shaped soap was poured into leaf shaped container, but the ornament at the top of it was made later by scraping it into soap by a toothpick. The top of the leaf is made with spirulina algae powder, the bottom - with cocoa powder. The spirulina part was lighter green at the beginning, but longer it lives, darker the color gets. 

These little cuties were made in chocolate sweet forms. Just pour melted soap into empty candy shapes and you get soap that looks like candy. For two colors, just use soap with different colors -pour in one, let it harden and then pour the next one. Green is with spirulina powder, brown - cocoa powder. 

For making these you can firstly make some soap in a darker color, let it harden and then cut it in different shapes, put them in containers and pour over melted transparent soap base. 

The heart shaped candle in front of the picture was poured into toilet paper roll that's fixed into heart shape using adhesive tape. After hardening, the candle was dipped into cocoa powder + cinnamon powder + melted wax mixture to get different outside color. As the candle is already burned you see that the outside part with powders is too thick to melt well. Dipping the candle in this mixture once or twice would be good, but for this one it's simply too much so the candle wouldn't burn well.

These were poured into drinking glasses, firstly pouring a bit of wax inside the glass, then sticking dried herbs (pressed in books) to the walls of glass and then filling the glass until the top. The one on the left side is made with orange peel infused canola oil and then the bottom of it dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture. The one on the right has light brown color from cinnamon-cloves infused oil. 

Take in account: the color intensity depends on how much of infused oil you add! 

This is cinnamon-clove candle, decorated with cocoa powder - wax mixture pouring it on the two sides of the candle and letting them run downwards on the two other sides. The shape comes from a small juice pack with the top of it cut off.

This candle was made pouring white wax into paper muffin shape. One muffin paper wouldn't be enough to keep the shape when the hot wax is poured in, so I put together 3 papers and put it in a glass to fix the shape not allowing it to widen. After the candle hardened it was dipped into cocoa powder - wax mixture, then over another burning candle I melted the outside cocoa powder layer, so it blended well and kind of looks like cappuccino. Well, too much of work for such a small candle...

Take in account: if you make candles in difficult shapes or with many small details like this one, before removing the candle from its shape, put it in a freezer for a few minutes - it helps to remove the candle easier without damaging it. 

These two were poured into toilet paper rolls. On the left side - coffee candle (obviously with two kinds of color intensity) and with orange peel infused oil at the bottom, on the right - orange peel infused canola oil candle dipped into wax with cocoa powder. 

Take in account: if you are using toilet paper rolls as candle containers,  you need to think in advance about suitable thing to put under the toilet paper rolls - cardboard base is the best one. Put a toilet paper roll on the cardboard, pour inside just a little bit of melted wax to cover the bottom and press the roll against the base. Hold if for a while until it hardens. Don't fill the entire roll with hot wax without fixing the bottom.

Take in account: sometimes after removing candles from their shapes you discover that they are not that smooth as you wished and there are small holes. I this case dipping helps to get a smooth surface. Prepare the dip and dip the candle in for 1-2 seconds, take it out and hold for a few seconds to cool and then repeat the process again, if needed. 

I hope this info helps! Let me know your experience and experiments making soaps and candles in your kitchen!

These candles, decorated with with hand-made charms and tiny ribbons, are waiting for holidays:

Decorations Made from Salt Dough - Cheap and Fun DIY's

Many years ago I became a fan of salt dough, and not eating it but using it for making decorations for home and, well, yes I made also earrings out of it (but let’s keep it in secret – if you do it nobody wants to know that’s a salt dough hanging in your ears :D).

Well, I just found the pictures that were forgotten in my computer for quite some time and also wanted to give you another idea to pin for making Christmas decorations in a really, really cheap way. 

Salt dough is a pretty plastic material and also can’t do anything bad for kids working with it. You can work with in like with any other cookie dough, the difference is that you are not going to eat those “cookies” and you can save them for long time, decorate your home with them, paint them and make even kids toys out of them. I remember when I was a child my mom allowed me to play with it making my own miniature toys – so, it’s nothing really new.

Ingredients for the dough:

• ·         Flour
• ·         Salt
• ·         Water

For about a handful of flour I’m taking about 3 tablespoons of salt and mixing with water to make the dough that is more or less the same solidity as modelling clay (or gingerbread dough). Precision in making this dough isn't really necessary, and if accurate ingredient measurements for this recipe exist for getting optimal results, let me know!

A few useful tips:

• Working with salt-dough, remember to keep a bowl of water in a reach to damp your fingers from times to times making working with dough easier.  

• When you’ve made the figures you want, leave it to dry in a warm place (that might take even a week or more depending on how thick your figures are) or put them in an oven to dry fast.

• When your decorations are fully dried you can paint them, glue glitters on them or beautify them any other way. I’ve used also nail polish to paint them – that way they can be used outside as well (of course, not really an option for going to swimming pool, although who goes to swim with earrings?).

That salt-dough earring thing is pretty funny, but you can use the same ornaments for decorating your Christmas tree or gifts.

P.s. click on pictures to enlarge.

P.p.s. Feel free to share your salt-dough projects in comments!