h e a r t s c e n t
INFUSING ESSENTIAL OILS DIRECTLY FROM PLANTS
There are so many wonderful recipes using essential oils for home and health. What if you don’t have any essential oils on hand? Don’t worry, these healing fragrant oils are derived from many common plants found around us every day, in our home, the grocery store or growing outside. You can use the plant itself and still take advantage of the benefits of essential oils.
h e a r t s c e n t
DIY
Here are a few examples:
- After peeling an orange, or squeezing the juice from a lemon, place the peels in the garbage disposal and grind away. This aromatic blend will deodorize and sanitize your grinder. If your disposal can’t handle the peels, pour a half cup of baking soda into the drain, and then pour some white vinegar on top of it. This will foam up cleaning the drain and making it smell fresh.
- During hot summer months when you have a hard time cooling down, try this aromatic spray. If you have mint growing outside, you can pick a few leaves and let them dry in a cool, dark area for a few days. Or if you prefer, you can just use a peppermint tea bag. Bring one cup of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the tea bag or dried peppermint leaves (it is good to tear them into a few pieces to open up the plant to the water). Let simmer for 5-10 minutes. This is called an infusion. Remove the tea bag or dried leaves. Place the infusion into the refrigerator to cool down. Pour into a small spray bottle and spritz any time you need to cool down. Store in the refrigerator to keep cool. Keeps for one week.
- During cold and flu season I love this aromatic blend. Place a pan on the stove about half full of water. Add orange or lemon peels, cinnamon stick (ground if that is all you have) and clove buds (ground is fine here too) to the water. Simmer gently and release the wonderful healing aroma. Orange, cinnamon and clove are all antibacterial and antiviral. Not only that, but it kind of smells like Christmas.
- I am sure that many of you remember the little sachets we made as kids. Take an orange and stick clove buds into the peel. This is kind of a messy process, but it smells wonderful. Cover the orange with cloves. We used to roll it in cinnamon as well. It lasts virtually forever and it smells wonderful. You can place it in a drawer, set it on your desk etc. It is an all natural deodorizer.
- Bring aromatic plants indoors; if you garden, plant a little rosemary or lemon balm. Cut a few snips and place in water on your dinner table. They smell wonderful. If you have evergreen shrubs or trees in your yard. Bring a small sprig inside and set on the counter or table. If you feel creative you can place them on a pretty plate or bowl with other items for a centerpiece.
- Check out the ORANGE PEEL BUG SPRAY.
