Notes

We moved to the country last year and suddenly bugs I’d never really thought about became a daily problem. After finding ticks in the babies hair I decided I’d better figure out something besides deet I could use.

In a canning jar mix

• Mint (peppermint, spearmint)
• Rosemary
• Lavendar
• marigold
• basil - lemon basil is good - see helpful hints
• Optional: Citronella - see helpful hints
• Pour olive oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, or peanut oil in (if plant leaves cover, if spices use a teaspoon of each for a cup of oil)
• Let sit at least over night. I let the plants stay in the oil for 3 or 4 days even if we’re using it during that time then I drain off the oil olive and bottle it. I throw the herbs in the compost but you can toss them in the garbage too. You don’t need a lot of this. I put it on my ankles, wrist, and a little in my hair. I put more on the kids because they are usually out longer and put it on them more often. If the bugs are thick I’d say reapply every hour.

  Helpful Hints:
  Citronella can irritate your skin so go very easy! I only use it when I have a citronella plant on hand and can cut off a leaf or two. Citronella is not edible.
  Lemon basil is a great way too keep bugs from your tomatoe plants and will help the flavor of them. Most spiders seem to dislike the smell of lemon so that makes lemon basil the perfect choice.
  Marigold is great around your yard and garden too. It will keep bugs and rabbits away from plants.

  Almond Oil has some natural bug fighting properties so is a good choice but expensive and harder to find. I usually mix in a little Almond Oil with a lot of Olive Oil but any of the oils listed or some of each should work just fine.
  Mums are great for bugs in the yard.
  I find Lavendar somewhat hard to grow but I love it! If you can find a plant instead of seeds it might be easier. It has many uses and is kind of expensive if you buy it dried at a flower shop so growing it makes the most sense.
  I go heavy on the mint because of ticks and it smells better

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When my son hurt his ankle jumping off the bleachers at school we figured out this helped. He ended up using it again in the bath after he started weight lifting.

Just use

• warm water
• epsom salt
• Aloe Vera
• honey

Helpful Hints:
Sometimes I put in powered milk cause I love it in the bath! It helps make your skin softer.
I also like a little camomile tea. Just put the bag right in the bath. Camomile has wonderful healing properties including anti aging properties. Sipping some Camomile tea while in the bath is another great thing in the bath.
Which Hazel has properties that can help with bruising so if you don’t mind the smell dump some of that in too. Especially if your just soaking a foot or hand in a bucket.

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This is an easy recipe that works very well to moisturize and exfoliate your skin. Works great on dry legs and face. Smells sweet, the oatmeal fans in your house might try to eat it but that’s ok, this cream is edible.

• 1 part ground oatmeal
• 1 part sugar (I prefer brown sugar as it is softer and smells better)
• 1/4 part honey
• 3/4 part of melted coconut oil
• 1/4 part olive oil
• Stir
• cover
• let sit overnight
• stir again

Helpful Hints:
You don’t have to grind the oatmeal (it’s a great natural exfoliant either way) but I find if I throw it in the food processor for a few seconds my drain likes it even if my plumber doesn’t
If your husband is like mine and waits till it’s over 90 degrees to turn on the air conditioner make small batches in warm and hot weather as it can go bad quickly or because I’m lazy I make a big batch and only put small amounts in the bathroom and put the rest in the fridge
I put it in canning jars cause I like to stay away from plastic and love canning jars for almost everything! Just be careful cause it can be slippery in the shower.
You can throw some vanilla or scented oil in if you want a different smell but I find some oils irratate my skin especially if I’m using it on my face
Sometimes it will separate just stir it around with your fingers
I don’t know why (think it’s the coconut oil) but a great added benefit I wasn’t expecting is that my stretch marks lost their redness and are much less noticable

In the summer, thanks to the no air conditioning policy, my coconut oil gets soft so I don’t have to melt it

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This is a quick and easy recipe for an ointment to heal all of your cuts, scrapes, and burns:

Mix equal parts of:

• Aloe Vera Gel
• Distilled Witch Hazel
• Honey

Apply and cover affected area.

This recipe does not include any antibiotics, just the natural healing properties from nature. We no longer use commercial antibiotic ointments for minor injuries. Obviously, seek medical treatment for a major incident.

Helpful Hints:
When buying Aloe Vera Gel (I use plants and buy it if my plants are running low) make sure the first ingredient is Aloe Vera Gel. I was amazed how many had water or alcohol as the first ingredient. Also, it’s not really green that is usually dye.
Witch Hazel is easy to find, if you have trouble check local health food stores, Walmart, Target, etc. Also if you ask, a lot of places will order it for you if they don’t stock it.
My older kids, who think most of my natural stuff is weird, love this one. After seeing his brother’s finger heal from a knife cut in a couple of days he asked me if I could make him a “potion” when he sprained his ankle. (see Sore Muscle Soak)

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