Tag Archives: natural living

Daily oils – Kiddo edition

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This is part 2 in a series documenting how our little family uses essential oils as part of our daily routines. If you are interested in how I personally use them, click here to go back to yesterday’s post.

Today, I will be summarizing how we use the oils to help WonderGIRL and WonderBOY stay healthy, focused during school, and manage their anxieties throughout our days together. This was a main reason I researched different essential oil companies and has been the greatest joy and blessing since starting because they actually work!!!

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Morning protocol – 
The kiddos have three different rollerball recipes that they apply each morning while eating breakfast. A rollerball is a 10ml glass container that you can add oils and a carrier oil (we use fractionated coconut oil) and is one of the easiest ways to apply the oils topically to your skin. We apply them to the backs of our neck, up and down our spines, and on the bottom of our feet.

1. On guard blend – 30 drops of OnGuard + carrier oil (to prevent from getting sick)
2. “Recovery” blend – 20 drops of DDR prime (cellular repair) + 10 drops rosemary (supports memory) + carrier oil
3. Focus blend – I have tried a great many recipes for this one. We use this one which is pretty heavy on the oils because of the needs of our kiddos. If you are not sure, start with half this recipe and adjust as necessary to your needs.
6 drops Cedarwood
15 drops Balance
4 drops Frankincense
6 drops Vetiver
4 drops Lavender
+ carrier oil

After school –
WonderGIRL takes one supplement to aid in focusing on her nightly homework routine. I also have each kiddo take one DigestZen softgel to help with their digestive health. I found these little “boosters” for health have made a huge difference in getting their little bodies regular and regulated (my two favorite words for them).

Nighttime routine – 
WonderBOY has a hard time sleeping in his room alone and sleeping through the night due to some anxious thoughts and nightmares. He will often ask for oils to be applied to his stomach and back before bedtime. Even if this is just a mental bandaid of sorts for him, we have found it really helps the transition into bedtime! His favorite oils to rub in are: Serenity, Cedarwood, and Wild Orange.

Of course, our children are older school-age children. Many people I know have newborns that they have also loved using the oils for. There has to be something so comforting about being able to meet your child’s emotional and physical needs in a natural way without having to go to the doctor or the drug store for medicine. Here a few ones that I have heard many use to help their little little ones:
Baby favorites – 
Digestive support: 1 drop of DigestZen or Fennel on baby’s tummy with carrier oil
Skin irritations: 1 drop of Lavender + Melaleuca (tea tree oil) + carrier oil
Teething: Dilute Lavender, Roman Chamomile, or Serenity along the jawline
Ear infections: Dilute Lavender and Melaleuca and apply around the ear (never put oils IN the ear) and massage down towards the lymph nodes to encourage drainage. You can also use the diluted oils on a cotton ball placed in ear – use a bandaid to help keep in place. **We used this for WB’s ear infection and it worked to alleviate both his pain and the infection – awesome trick!**

Coming up tomorrow – how my husband uses the oils and how I got him “hooked.”

If you have read enough to dive in and empower yourself with everything you will need to keep your family healthy and sane, head to my oils website to sign up. Under the “join and save” tab, you just enter some personal information, pick your favorite starter kit, and within a week’s time, you will have products in your hot little hands to start playing with. Plus, February is an awesome time to join with the option of getting $100 in free oils just for signing up this month. Message me with any questions and as always, no pressure here….I just want to spread the information and true power I feel with these to as many people as I can to help their family grow and thrive just like mine!

Also, if you aren’t ready to dive in yet but want me to come teach a class for you and some friends, I’m totally available to do that too – just message me and we’ll go from there!!

Happy oily weekend everyone!

DIY Cleaner Recipes

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Confession: I am not a clean person and in fact, I rather despise cleaning (cue all family members/former roommates nodding their heads emphatically). So it was a shock to my husband and even to myself, when last Spring, I got quite the bug to start some Spring cleaning. I purged my entire closet, organized cleaning/chore schedules for the kiddos and also dove into the world of DIY cleaners. And now that I have started, the creative part of the process is just as fun as saving my little family from toxins and chemicals coming into our house. It is also saving us some money as we haven’t bought a single cleaning product since beginning this venture last April (the ingredients needed for most of these recipes is cheap cheap and lasts a long time!!).

Most DIY cleaners take a combination of the following products (I keep these on hand to mix together whatever I need):
White Cleaning Vinegar (I put lemon rinds directly into the container to take away the strong odor)
Washing/Baking Soda
Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap (we love lavender and citrus)
Powdered Citric Acid
Rubbing Alcohol (or substitute actual alcohol collecting dust in your cabinets)
Various Essential Oils (message me for details on which brand I love and why)

Here a few recipes that I love from the ebook DIY Natural Household Cleaners by Matt and Betsy Jabs. As you can see, I write the actual recipes right on the label so I don’t have to search through the book to “refill” the cleaner every so often. If it’s easy to do, we’ll keep doing it right????

TBD Clean: All-Purpose Shmutza
3 cups hot water
1/4 teaspoon liquid castille soap (we use Lavender scent)
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons borax
6 drops lavender, 4 drops rosemary
Combine ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake to dissolve borax.
** I like to add specific essential oils that will also help my family and my mood on a day to day basis since we use this spray the MOST in our kitchen and living spaces. I love the dual purpose this spray can serve. **

TBD Clean: Dishwashing Soap
1 cup liquid castille soap (we use Citrus scent)
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white vinegar
10 drops wild orange essential oil
6 drops grapefruit or lime essential oil
Combine all ingredients in a squirt bottle and shake gently to mix (we just reused an old Dawn container – works great!). If formula looks like it’s leaving streaks, add 1/4 cup white vinegar to rinse water.
** Even though it doesn’t suds like normal soap, it is effective and you don’t have to use a whole lot for an entire sink load of dishes. **

TBD Laundry Detergent
2 1/4 cups liquid castille soap (we use Lavender scent to aid in our kiddos’ need for calm at all hours of the day)
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon powdered citric acid
10-15 drops lemon essential oil
5 drops tea tree essential oil
Combine all ingredients in container with a pour spout (I use the blue glass container you see above from Target a while back). Shake gently to combine each time before adding to washer. It will separate after time and become paste-like so I don’t make huge batches at a time. This blue container takes our family of 4 about 2-3 weeks to get through. I also add some white vinegar (with lavender essential oil added) into the fabric softener portion of our washer to help keep our clothes nice and soft!

We really love our cleaners so far and my next adventure into the DIY world will be soaps and hygiene products (including DIY deodorant and lotions). I not only feel good about eliminating chemicals from our home, but I save time and money by creating our own products instead of adding one more item to our grocery list. If you’re interested in other recipes, please feel free to message me or peruse Matt and Betsy’s website.

Happy Labor Day everyone (hopefully you’re not doing too much cleaning today and getting a little relaxing in as well)!!