SC Flood and DIY Dryer Balls with Essential Oils

Our great state of South Carolina experienced a thousand year flood in October. Of course meteorologists predicted that there would be a lot of rain. But who really ever puts much stock in that?!......Welllll, let's just say their predictions were correct this time.

We live about 30 minutes outside of Columbia, and we never thought we would be affected by flooding.

My husband woke me up around 8:15 on that Sunday morning saying, "Babe you won't believe this rain. Come look!" This guy was sooo excited! We had never seen anything like this before!

 These pictures of our backyard were taken at 8:30 am. Like a child on Christmas Day!

This was a one-hour difference. These were taken at 9:30 am:

And that's when it started to get real. It continued to pour and pour and pour some more. Needless to say, his excitement was no more. I kept asking him, "What's our plan? What are we going to do?"   

We thought we could do something to prevent it from coming in the house. HA!! Yeah...right!

These were the last pictures we took before grabbing some things and leaving to go stay at my parents' house. We threw out every towel we had in the entire house. I know. Good one. Like that would really help. 

These are our rugs and towels floating around. 

 

We had everything back in place, and our home was back to normal right before Christmas. With the mold and mildew, and dust from sanding the new walls, we knew we would have to wash every piece of laundry in the house. I had been wanting to make dryer balls with Essential Oils for a little bit at that point and had even already purchased the yarn to do so. Knowing how much laundry we would have to do, I decided it was the perfect time to make the dryer balls. I followed the instruction here to make them. She has lots of great ideas on using Essential Oils!

I threw out my dryer sheets and have forever replaced them with dryer balls! These dryer balls have significantly decreased our drying time which is what I really love about them! Less drying time = lower energy bill! These balls will also last years. So, there's one less thing I have to buy at the grocery store. #win #ihategroceryshopping

Here's more on the benefits of using dryer balls! 

 I made a ball with the yarn, stuffed them and tied them off in old panty hose, and washed and dried them a few times to ensure felting. Then they were ready to go! Make sure you use 100% wool. Go to the Overthrow Martha blog link above to see pictures of the process. I followed those pictures step-by-step. I use Geranium, Lavender, and Joy on mine. I have also used Citrus Fresh a few times. I put about 3 drops on each ball. After drying a few loads, you will want to reapply some oils if you want a light scent. What's neat is that you can change things up each time. Use Lavender on a few loads, then Joy on a few, or none if you don't want a scent (like when washing your husbands' hunting clothes...smh). I use all 5 balls in my dryer, but you don't have to. Some people only use two or three. Our dryer takes forrreevveerr, so that's why I use all of mine each time. 

Click here if you want to purchase your own Premium Starter Kit which includes 11 oils, a Diffuser, and samples of other goodies. This is the best deal if you are wanting to get started with Young Living Essential Oils (only the best oils in the history of ever...duh!).

DIY Lip Balm using Essential Oils

Two years ago, one of my students' parents gave me some homemade gifts as Christmas presents - one of which was lip balm with essential oils. At the time, I had no idea what essential oils were, but I DID know that that lip balm was dabomb.com.

Fast forward two years. I got in touch with that parent, and she sent me the recipe she uses.

I made my first batch of lip balm with Young Living's Essential Oils over Christmas break. The recipe I used made about 24 tubes. To make yours you will need lip balm tubes (ordered from amazon), beeswax, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, pipettes (ordered from amazon), and essential oils of your choice. I used the same oils that the parent used in the one she gave me - 5 drops each of Rosemary, Peppermint, and Lavender.

The recipe is here!


Add some glitter tape, washi tape, or a cute ribbon, and you're done! Or leave some plain so the man in your life can enjoy. That's what I think is great about it - the smell, taste, and look of this chap stick is very neutral...there's no red color, strawberry/cherry taste to it.

Let me know if you're interested in ordering the best essential oils. Young Living offers the opportunity for customers to get 24% off all orders, simply by becoming a wholesale customer. There's no monthly fee or minimum, no obligations. By becoming a wholesale customer, you're also eligible for exclusive specials and promotions every month. 

As a wholesale customer you're also able to buy Starter Kits which is how most people (including myself) get started with essential oils. The Premium Starter Kit will give you the most bang for your buck. Here's the link if you would like to order your kit! My member number is automatically filled in so I'll know when you order and can help you get started or answer any questions you may have!

DIY Dry Skin Sugar Scrub with Essential Oils

I made a sugar scrub with essential oils to give as gifts to some friends and family. I read through several different recipes and decided to go with this one. It calls for 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil, and essential oils of your choice.

I decided to use Lavender and Eucalyptus. I used Lavender because..well, because it's Lavender! Who doesn't love Lavender?! It's relaxing, calming, and helps dry skin. I used Eucalyptus Globulus because it's refreshing and is good for sore muscles.

Here's all the ingredients needed for this sugar scrub:

I found the cute red glass jars at Target - they came as a 3-pack.  The recipe was enough to fill the 3 jars plus a little left over for me! This took no time to make. I used the sugar scrub on my feet, but it can be used anywhere that's dry. Just scrub it on your skin, let it sit for a little bit, then rinse off. Soft skin for days! I will definitely be making more in the Spring when it's flip-flop-wearing time. Wait..what am I talking about?! It's South Carolina. Flip-Flop season is year-round!  After all - it was 80 degrees here on Christmas!!

Let me know if you're interested in getting started with Essential Oils! I'm so glad I did!

The BEST Face Wash..and it's DIY!

My husband asked me to make travel-sized face wash for him to take on trips. Yes, this face soap is that good! I made some yesterday for the two of us and to give to some family and friends. I followed the same recipe I used before, but I added Geranium this time to a couple of bottles to see how I liked it.

You can find info on the first batch of face soap I made for my husband and I here. We started using it at the end of July, and we are just now finishing it up, so I will be making more soon in a regular sized bottle. Our skin has never looked or felt so good. We love it and have often said we won't be buying store-bought face wash again.

I did not have Geranium the last time I made it. Click on the image below to read about some of the  benefits and uses of Geranium.

I filled about 1/3 of the bottles with Pure Castile Soap in Lavender. I then added 3-4 drops of oils (2 Tea Tree, 1 Frankincense, and 1 Geranium) and filled the rest of the way with distilled water. That's it! 

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information represents what I, an Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, have chosen to do to change my lifestyle and personal health. Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.