Happy Essential Oil Blend

Who doesn't need a little happy boost ever so often! I love the combo on these oils, AND this could also be an amazing perfume. It smells so yummy!

 

My happy blend contains:
5 drops Lavender
5 drops Joy
5 drops Orange
5 drops Stress Away
5 drops Valor

Add it all to a 10mL roller bottle and top with your carrier oil of choice! It also helps if you use these insanely cute glass roller bottles from Root + Petal Roller Balls! I may be slightly obsessed with these roller bottles! So cute!

DIY Bath Bomb Kit Gift

I have a 12 year old niece that lately I've had a hard time buying gifts for her!! For her birthday she pretty much only received bath bombs from Lush. So for Christmas, being the DIY lover that I am I started looking for a DIY kit I could give her, where she could make her own bath bombs. But the only thing I could find was a very cheap looking toy kit with horrible reviews. So I decided I would DIY my own DIY Bath Bomb Kit!!!

First I had my very talented sister create a printable of the recipe I use for my bath bombs. To see my recipe for bath bombs and directions on making them, visit here. In my kit, I included enough ingredients to make bath bombs twice. So I included double the ingredients of what is listed on the recipe card.  Then I purchased another set of the bath bomb molds I like.



In my DIY Bath Bomb kit I included 4 samples of oils for her.  I picked Lemon, Lavender, Grapefruit and Ylang Ylang. On the recipe card I suggested combinations of oils.  I used 1/4 dram glass bottles to give her just enough of essential oil. In each dram I put about 10-12 drops. I used my Brother p-touch label maker to make the labels for these tiny bottles.

The almond oil I put in a 1oz amber glass bottle with a dropper. And the rubbing alcohol I put in a 2oz amber glass bottle with a spray top. The dry ingredients I put in small kraft colored bags. Then I added a paper label to everything.

Lastly, I put it all in a cute box with the printed directions and added a cute ribbon to the top. Just like that I have a great gift for a 12 year old Bath Bomb Lover!

My DIY Bath Bomb DIY Kit turned out a thousand times nicer than the kit I was looking at purchasing for her. I am glad I spent the time to put this together for her!

If you have any questions about Essential Oils please visit my Essential Oils page!

Immunity Booster Roll-on Essential Oil

With it being winter, who doesn't need an immunity booster in their life! 

I love this little blend of Young Living Essential Oils. Everyone in my family uses this blend and we roll it on our necks, chests and behind our ears. Since I got my tonsils taken out a year ago I have a lot of ear pain and this little blend works wonders for that, so I go through this blend rather quickly!!

For this immunity booster blend we use 

5 drops of Tea Tree

5 drops of Lemon

5 drops of Oregano 

5 drops of Purification 

5 drops of Thieves

Add all of these into a 10 mL roller bottle and top with your favorite carrier oil. I used these adorably cute Root and Petal Roller Bottles. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Young Living Essential Oils, or visit my informational page on Young Living Essential Oils. 

Bath Bomb Recipe that Actually Works!

I have tried several bath bomb recipes that have not worked, but I finally have one that works and I love it!

For this one you need the following ingredients.

Baking Soda – 1 cups
 Citric Acid – 1/2 cup
 Corn Starch – 1/2 cup
 Almond Oil – 2 tsp.
 Essential Oils – 12 drops
 Coloring –4 -6 drops
 Rubbing Alcohol in a spray bottle
Bath Bomb Molds

Baking Soda, Citric Acid, Corn Starch and Almond Oil (or substitute for any other oil you have on hand) can all be found in your grocery store in the baking isle. I use Young Living Essential Oils.

The bath bomb molds I have used and like can be found here. They are nice because they include a couple different sizes. I like the metal molds for bath bombs, because they easily hold their shape and the bombs are very easy to remove.

Making these bath bombs is very simple, just make sure you mix everything well!

First combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

In a separate small bowl combine essential oil and almond oil. If you don't have Almond Oil on hand you can use any other carrier oil you have, including Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sunflower Oil, etc., even Olive Oil would work fine. Again, you want to mix this well!!

Slowly mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Go slow!! And mix until no more lumps! I find a fork works well for fixing, you can push out the lumps.  Mix in coloring (if you desire) until no more lumps.

Spray in rubbing alcohol 4 to 5 sprays at a time, continually string until mixture resembles we sand. You will need several sprays of rubbing alcohol to get damp sand texture. But don't add in too much! Add it slowly, so you don't add more than you need. Again I like to use a fork, until it stats to get close to that wet sand phase, then I use my hands! This is the step in the past where I have said, oh I can just slowly pour in rubbing alcohol and it will work just fine. I think the spray is key, so you don't add too much liquid.

Looking like wet sand! It clumps together nicely, and holds the shape I form with my hand.

Fill each side of the mold with the mixture (tightly packing it) so it overflows the top.  Firmly press the two sides together, removing any excess from the sides. Let sit for a minute or two.

Lightly tap the mold with a spoon to gently release the bath bomb from the mold. Let dry over night. Finally ENJOY!!!!

What essential oil combination to use?

For these bath bombs, I wanted a relaxing bath bomb, so I used only Lavender oil.

If I wanted more of a energizing bath blend, I could have used 6 drops of grapefruit essential oil and 6 drops of lemon essential oil A calming bath with only Joy essential oil would be wonderful! Or if you are feeling congested a blend of Eucalyptus (only a few drops or it could irritate your skin) and Peppermint would be soothing!

Using this recipe, and the bath bomb molds I suggested, I only made two large and one small bath bomb. The large molds are pretty large, close to the size of a Lush Bath Bomb. This recipe is easy to double. Just double all the ingredients listed above and use 20 of your favorite essential oil blends instead of 12.

Click for more information about Young  Living Essential Oils!!!

Essential Oils, Now What? My Favorite Essential Oil Tools

When I started with Essential Oils I didn't really know where to start. I had my oils, but now what?? I have included a pretty big list of items below that I love and use frequently when mixing up and using my oils. But if you are just starting this might be seem like a lot. So if you want to start small and have no idea where to start......

If you only buy two things and the VERY basics to get started!!!
Ok its three things, but you can pick your favorite color of roller ball bottles.



Now that you used up your first ten The Root and Petal roller bottles (it didn't take me long!!!), and now that you are hooked and you need to know what to add to your collection to mix up any Essential Oil mixture, my list is below!

General Glassware
The Root and Petal bottles look so pretty but there are a lot of other options for roller bottles in the 10mL size. After roller bottles, a good 1 or 2oz bottle with a dropper is good for making your own face serums and beard oils. Small spray bottles are good for making room sprays. Larger bottles are good for making your own cleaning supplies!



Carrier Oils
This fractionated coconut oil is my favorite. It's a must for roller ball blends. The Organic Jojoba oil is great for face serums and the 3 pack of oils is great for trying different carrier oils.



Bath Bombs
Please visit my easy bath bomb recipe for more information on making your own bath bombs!



DIY Hand Soap



Label Printing



Chemical Free Cleaning

Easy Roller Bottle Labels

When I started making all of my roller ball blends, I needed to figure out an easy and cute way to label my bottles. While I have a vinyl cutting machine and for about two seconds I thought I could make super cute labels using that, (until I remembered my love hate relationship with the machine!!!) I decided that wasn't practical for labeling the bottles quickly and easily. 

Then one day I discovered this amazing little label maker the Brother P-Touch Label Maker and its not only makes very cute little labels, but I can create them so fast, without getting out my vinyl cutter. 

And the best part (besides being so cute) is that they actually stay attached to the glass bottles, even if you accidentally get a little oil on the labels. Have I mentioned I love making roller blends!

Do you want to learn more about oils? Stop on over here! 

Essential Oils, Where Have You Been All My Life!!!!

I recently made a major life change for my family and signed up with Young Living! We had not used Essential Oils before this, but I had heard a lot of great things about them, and decided it was worth checking them out to see if I could help with some of my family concerns without resorting to medication and chemicals. 

4 months in and I am hooked!!! I can't believe I didn't know about essential oils before now. But I am so glad we finally made the switch. 

They say the average person applies 300 chemicals to their body every day! I wanted to try and cut down my families exposure to all the unsafe chemicals, and we can do this with essential oils. 

Three of my favorite oils are Lavender, Frankincense and Thieves. We are constantly diffusing lavender in our house, and I have made a night time roller blend for both of my kids to help promote relaxing before bed. Lavender smells amazing and its just an all around useful oil! I love my frankincense oil! I made myself a face serum that has frankincense in it. It has actually decreased the redness in my face! I roll frankincense all over my neck and face, I just love it!  I also love diffusing Thieves. We recently had a run of colds in our family and I diffused Thieves constantly. It cut down on our sick time! Which with two kids is a must! 

I also recently replaced all of our cleaning products with natural cleaning products. Including Young Livings Thieves cleaning products. Two months ago, after returning home from the cleaning ladies cleaning my house, I had to diffuse Purification to get rid of the awful intense chemical they sprayed in my house to clean it. It was awful and not only that, I have no clue what was in that chemical that I was exposing my family too. Now my cleaning ladies (and myself) use my natural cleaning supplies made with my Young Living Essential Oils and the last time they cleaned the house it smelled much better!! No toxic fumes!! 

I was attracted to Young Living because of their Seed to Seal process, which is a promise to integrity. The company is 23 years old and they add no fillers, no additives, just the oils!

Want to join the oil community? And start your life with oils?

The most cost effective way to purchase oils is with the Young Living Premium Starter Kit. The  Premium Starter Kit includes 11 oils, 1 amazing diffuser, samples, and 24% off future purchases and an AMAZING community of oil lovers! The oils included are: Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon, Copibia, Frankincense, Thieves, R.C. Purification, DiGize, PanAway and Stress Away. If you purchased these oils separately and with the diffuser at the retail price it would cost you over $250!! Plus with the Premium Starter Kit you get a wholesale membership which gives you 24% off retail pricing on all future orders!! Ready to join to oil community??

Once you purchase the Premium Starter kit you can simpy enjoy your oils and be under absolutely no obligation to do anything in the future. If you would like to continue purchasing oils at the 24% off wholesale rate, you simply need to place a 50PV order a year (most likely only $50) With a wholesale membership you can always choose to share your love of oils like I am with you, but again you are never under any obligation to do so!!!

Clink over to the sign up page!  The link should already auto fill in my Sponsor ID and Enroller ID Number of  12980563. You do not at this point need to give your Social Security Number. I recommend the Dew Drop Diffuser! It's simple!

Please contact me with any questions!! Oils are amazing and I wish my family started using them years ago!! 

Quilting, quilting and more quilting

My forth, fifth and sixth quilts!! 

This is my first Jelly Roll Quilt. Wow was it easy! It came together so fast, I love fast projects. And I absolutely LOVE the fabric in this quilt. Surprisingly, this is a quilt I made for myself and kept for myself!! Out of the 6 quilts I have made, I have only kept 2 for myself. 

Quilt number 5 is a quilt I made for my sister and her husband for their wedding. I also love how this one turned out! For this I used Jeni Baker's Side Braid Pattern. This is the mini version.  I love Cotton + Steel fabric. 

 

 

 

And quilt number 6, is a quilt I made for my niece for Christmas. Yet another Jelly Roll Race Quilt. This fabric is Lullaby by Kate and Birdie for Moda fabrics.

I am currently working on quilt number 7 (ANOTHER QUILT FOR ME!!!! And ordering fabric for quilt number 8. Picking out fabric is so much fun! But also so difficult!!

Yet Another Frozen Party

My daughter goes through a faze where every January she becomes obsessed with Frozen, so when it comes time to talk about what kind of party she wants, its a Frozen party! Maybe it has to do with our wintery Wisconsin weather!!! But she has insisted on this theme two years in a row! And of course I did not keep any of the decorations from my last year party.

It doesn't look all that difference from last year! This year I tried to use a little more purple for something different!

I sort of threw it together the day before, I have been sick a lot this winter (see my previous post on my tonsillectomy!!) But Ava loved it, so that's all that matters!!!

Having a birthday right after Christmas makes decorating for a frozen party so much easier. All of these trees are Christmas decorations of mine, and my mother and mother in law!!! I loved the table skirt tutu so much from last year I made yet another one this year (seriously it doesn't take long to make at all, maybe 2 hours!!! and its so cute!!!) But now the big question is, do I sell this one or do I keep it for next year if she decides its got to be another frozen party!!!??????? I think I am going to sell it, its a lot to tulle and takes up a lot of space!!

I didn't realize these balloons were so big, but they turned out awesome!!! They worked very well over the Kids table!

Simple wand favors and tiara headbands also double as table décor!

What Frozen party would be complete without a life sized Stormtropper wearing a crown and a tutu!!! Ava LOVED that we dressed him up for her party!!!! She thought that was awesome!!!!

Check out the awesome cake that my mom made her!! I love how it turned out!!! And more importantly, Ava loved it!!

My daughter had a great 4th birthday party!!! So that is the most important part! I am glad I could make her day special for her!!! And hopefully she picks something different for next year, because I am all out of Frozen party ideas!

My Easy Adult Tonsillectomy Recovery

I feel I need to write this because everything I read about adult tonsillectomies, said that it was completely the worst pain and experience ever! I read post after post of, I am on day 10 and its awful. Or I am day 8 and I want to die. I am very sorry if this was your experience, or will be your experience, but I just need to say that it was not my experience and maybe there is hope for other people too!! 

I turned 38 years old on the 3rd of February and exactly a week later on February 10th I had a tonsillectomy. I am writing this post because before my surgery and during my recovery I did a LOT of reading on the topic and I am here to say that as an adult I had what I would call an EASY tonsillectomy recovery!!!

As I write this, tomorrow will be two weeks since my surgery. And I really have no pain except for when I yawn!

Before my surgery I was very nervous about having my tonsils removed, I did a lot of research on the topic. I even watched a YouTube video on the actual surgery!! Because of my research I thought I was very well prepared for it. I lined someone up to take care of my two kids for the first two weeks, which I didn't end up needing. Below is my list of items I had on hand before my tonsillectomy.

My Pre-surgery shopping list

• Lots of ice packs - both reusable and instant. Because sometimes you just don't want to walk to the freezer!!!
• Liquid Tylenol - Although my Doctor wrote me a prescription for this as well.
• A Humidifier - I still use this and could tell the night we forgot to fill it up!!!
• Lots of pudding - I enjoyed this later in my recovery, not right away!
• Lots of Jell-O
• 7-up or other clear soda
• Popsicles - In the hospital they gave me two popsicles slightly melted with 7-up. and it was amazing, until it wasn't around day 3!!
• Root beer - I needed something besides water by day 7!!
• Lots and lots and lots of pillows. I slept nearly upright for the first 7 days! I probably used about 7 pillows.

I ended up getting strep throat the day before my surgery. Everyone at my Primary doctors said they would probably end up canceling my surgery for the next day. I was very disappointed. But they decided to go ahead with it anyways!!!

I had strep all the time as a kid, all of the time. I am not sure why they didn't take my tonsils out as a kid, but it is what it is. I went years and years without getting strep and then this year, since May I had strep 5 times!! So it was finally time for them to go! Thankfully!!!!

I felt pretty crumby the morning of my surgery. I couldn't drink anything but still had to take this monster sized Antibiotic with a sip of water. I was so glad to get to the hospital and get a nice big bag of an IV. I felt so much better.

Immediately after my surgery I felt pretty decent. I remember telling the nurse I was at about a 3 pain level. But I read that a lot of people weren't in pain for the first couple days, so I thought it was just normal. (I heard a couple times, wow those were some massive tonsils!!)

I don't remember much from the first 4 days after my surgery. I spent most of my time in bed. I didn't really sleep or watch TV. I just sort of did nothing. But still my pain was very manageable. I kept waiting for it to get worse and it never did. Around day 4, since I wasn't in a lot of pain and I hate taking narcotics I cut back on them to see how things went. I just took the Tylenol. On the narcotic I probably had a pain of 1. On Tylenol it was maybe a 2 but I felt so much better once the fog of the narcotics got out of my system.

Around day 4 was when I randomly threw up twice in the middle of the night. I am not 100% sure what that was about. Throwing up post tonsillectomy isn't the most fun thing you could do. But I survived. My son also was sick, so it could have been related to that? and not my tonsillectomy?

Yes, the back of your throat is disgusting!!! I tried not to look too much. I made my husband look and make sure it looked the same!   And your uvula is going to be swollen and huge!! And yes your tongue is going to look disgusting and white!

At day 7 I went to my son's Hockey game. Even though it was a short trip out of the house I was tired from it. By that point I thought this has been too easy, the scabs are going to fall off now, so now its going to turn painful. And again it never did!!!!

Right around day 7 I think was when my scabs started to bother my gag reflux. Between days 7 and 9 I threw up 3 times because of the scabs feeling like they were gagging me. I still have a little trouble brushing my teeth because of this feeling, but I haven't thrown up since.

But by day 8, I pretty much went back to my normal routine. As my son said, "Mom must be feeling better, because she's downstairs."

One important thing to note is, I am still drinking copious amounts of water each day. And if I wake up in the middle of the night, I make sure to drink several ounces as well!! I make sure to drink well over 60 ounces a day. Before my surgery I bought a 24 pack of water from Target that I had at my bed side. I would drink those at room temperature until I ran out and my mom bought me a massive jug of water!

It does still hurt to yawn!!! It is getting better each day, but the pulling of that really isn't fun!! But breathing out as you yawn does help, or I like to plug my ears. My son also simply said I should just go to sleep before I feel the need to yawn... the wisdom of a six year old!!!

I don't know if I have a very high pain tolerance?? or what, but my pain was never over a 5. (For what its worth I didn't have an epidural for the birth of my daughter and I didn't think that was painful either.....)

I am sorry if this is not your experience!!!  If it is not your experience, remember the end goal of getting those pesky tonsils out, and that the pain won't last forever. I feel like it is such a weight lifted having mine finally gone!!! If you are reading this right before your tonsillectomy I hope you have a similar experience like mine! And I just want to give you reassurance that NOT everyone has a horrible time with it! And hopefully that is the case for you as well!!!

Good luck and it will get better!!!