herbtipsframe

My kitchen is my sanctuary. In the same way an art studio is sacred ground to the artist who creates within it, so it is with my kitchen. It is in the kitchen where all concoctions are lovingly made, blessed, then used for what ever purpose I have deemed them necessary. I can not, of course divulge all of my recipes as what works for one person will not work for another. And too, I am not a qualified physician, nor am I a licensed herbalist. I know only what works for me and my family. What I can share here are a few tips that may work for you. Please keep in mind that no herbal remedy should take the place of qualified medical care and no herb should be ingested without first checking with your own physician. The following tips and or recipes do not require being ingested but rather used on the body or for perfumery.

Sea Salt: True sea salt is wonderful in the bath. Not only does it make the skin feel soft and clean, it will act as a natural skin defoliant and also aid in removing toxins from the body. Sea salt can be poured into the bath directly or you can take a bit of sea salt in the palm of your hand, add just a couple of drops of warm water and scrub the skin for a shiny healthy glow. Avoid using sea salt on the face.

Dried Seaweed: Dried seaweed is positively perfect for that afternoon alone bath. Just drop in a pack of dried seaweed and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Seaweed cleans toxins from the body and refreshes the skin.

Castile Soap: Castile Soap whether in the bar form (see Kirks) or in liquid form is the best soap for cleanliness and body purification. It contains no harmful additives and does not have the junk in it that regular store bought bar soap has.

How to Make Your Own Powdered Incense: Most incense purchased from stores like Wal-Mart and your local grocery store is manufactured in bulk and contains some additives that release toxins into the air when burned. The best solution is to make your own using woods, herbs , spices and essential oils. Once made, the incense can be burned over small charcoal blocks usually available in your local new age store or health food store. They can also be purchased on the internet in packages rather inexpensively. The incense can be stored in a zip lock bag for later use and will maintain it's potency for several months. The following is a list of utensils and ingredients needed and I will follow with a couple of my favorite recipes.

Utensils: a couple of small wooden spoons, a mortar and pestle (optional), a couple of wooden bowls, an eye dropper, a coffee bean grinder, an old blender and your own two hands. These utensils should not be used for making any food products after they have been used for your incense.

Ingredients: a wood base, herbs, choice spices, essential oils. Please note that almost any spice right from your kitchen can be used in making your incense. Also, note that ONLY essential oils should be used in anything you make. Perfume oils contain alcohol and will not maintain their aroma.

Making the Wood Base: Your wood base can be your choice of wood. If you know a woodworker who will give you sawdust, you are half way there. If not, you can purchase pine and cedar wood chips at your local pet store. Just go into the gerbil section and look for that bag of stuff used to line the gerbil cage. They are just wood chips. Let's begin. If you are starting out with wood chips, you will need to drop a handful of wood chips into your blender. Grind these up as small as possible. Once you have them ground up, pour out your chips into one of your bowls and pick out any stems and throw out. Poor back into your blender and grind again. Repeat this process until you think you have about 2 ounces of a wood base. Once you have the desired amount of wood, poor your wood base into your coffee bean grinder and grind it into a powder form. This may take several tries. The idea is to get the wood as powdery as possible without it being like baby powder. Once you have your wood base done, pour it into a bowl and set it aside.

Making the Herbs: The process for your herbs is the same as for the wood base. The length of time it will take to grind them in your coffee bean grinder depends on whether your herbs are dried or seeds. I personally choose a dried flower herb for my incense and I usually choose one that will compliment my wood base. Any dried flower herb will work and the choices are practically unlimited. Once you have your herb grinded into a powder form, pour it into the same bowl that contains your wood base. With your own hands and fingers, mix them together thoroughly. Why do we use our own hands and fingers? Because this process is part of you and you are part of it. And if your hands are just a bit dirty with left over garden residue on them, so much the better. Your art is an extension of you and so it is with anything you create.

Adding the Spices and Essential Oils: Spices are a fabulous addition to home made incense. Just look around in your kitchen. What do you have? Cinnamon? Get it! It is perfect! Now, add that spice to your wood and herb mixture and again, use your hands and fingers to mix it in. Once you have your spice mixed in, get out that eye dropper. Some essential oils do not have a dropper in the bottle. If yours does not, pull up a dropper full of your favorite oil and add about 10-15 drops into your mixture. Try to get the drops around the mixture and not all in the same spot. Once your oil is in the mixture, take your fingers or a small wooden spoon and mix very thoroughly. The oil must cover ever little bit of mixture. Once you think you have it mixed thoroughly, set the mix aside uncovered for about 3-5 hours to dry. Check it every so often for aroma. If they oil does not smell strong enough for you, add more drops and mix and let dry again. Once the incense has dried for approximately 24 hours, it is ready to burn.

Light your charcoal and set it in a suitable burner (metal is preferable). Once the charcoal starts to burn really well, sprinkle a few fingers full of your newly created incense over the charcoal and just breathe in the fabulous aroma. You will be able to smell your new scent all over your house for several hours.

I have many incense recipes that I have concocted over the years for various purposes. I can not possibly share them all her so I will offer a couple for you to start. Remember, your own mixtures are an extension of you, so create one of your own and create it with love:

Recipe # 1

Cedar wood base about 2 ounces

Approximately 2 tablespoons of ground lavender flower

One teaspoon of ground cloves

15-20 drops of Ylang Ylang oil

Recipe # 2

Pine wood base about 2 ounces

Approximately 2 tablespoons of ground Primrose

One teaspoon of sage

15-20 drops of wintergreen oil

How to Make Your Own Fabulous Soap (No Lye Required): Store bought soap is not only harmful to your skin, it is harmful to your personal space and environment. The best thing you can do for your yourself and your skin is to make and use your own soap. Bathing with your own hand made soap is relaxing, stress reducing, and just all around good for your spirit. Please keep in mind that you will absolutely need "Kirk's Castile Soap" in bar form. No other store bought soap will do. Kirk's is not easy to find at your local grocery store but it is available on the net and in most health food stores.

Utensils: One bar of Kirk's Castile Soap, 1 glass mixing bowl, your choice of 1 essential oil, your choice of a powdered herb or spice, 1 sharp paring knife , cheesecloth, pretty bright yarn strands, and several hours that you have to yourself.

The Soap: You will begin by shaving the soap bar into your mixing bowl. Please cut away from your body with the knife. Do not cut the soap into chunks but shave it in so that you have nice slim shaved pieces to work with. Once you have the entire bar shaved into the bowl, add about a tablespoon of hot water. You will then, mix the entire batch of soap with your hands into a very thick paste. You don't want any froth, so be careful as to how much water you add. If your mix is to hard to work with, add a drop or two of water at a time until the mix is soft but not frothy.

The Herbs and Oils: Once you have your soap mixed to a thick paste (it should be thicker than Elmer's Glue), add about 20-30 drops of your chosen essential oil and about a teaspoon of any powdered flower. Powdered rose petals or lavender flowers are really good. Mix the oil and the powder well into your soap until your soap is no longer site but similar to the color or your powder. Shape the soap into round balls (your choice in size) and wrap in a thin layer of cheesecloth. Tie up your wrapped soap with some pretty yarn and loop it so you can hang it. Hang up your wrapped soap on hooks and allow to dry for about 3-5 days or until they seem hardened. You can use your new soap right in the bath and shower without ever removing the cheesecloth.