Mama's Magic Salve

I love to make things for my family, especially things that are cheaper, yet superior, to items that you would buy at the store.  One of these things is a wonderful healing salve.  It has plantain, comfrey, St. John's wort and calendula, along with olive oil, beeswax and lavender essential oil.
Here's how to make it:

Here are the ingredients.  I got the St. John's Wort and the Comfrey from Mountain House Herbs and the Calendula from Bulk Apothecary.  The plantain, I got from my yard!  How cool is that?  

Now, I am sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the process at the beginning.  I was so excited that it just slipped my mind.  I will do better in the future... I hope.   

Start out by putting 1 1/2 cups of olive oil in a double boiler, then add about a cup of the herbs.  I went heavy on the calendula and plantain because I know about their healing properties and that is what I was really going for.  Don't know too much about the other two plants, but it is on my list to research.  I will be planting comfrey and calendula in my garden in the spring so I won't need to purchase that any more.  Looking into if I can grow St. John's Wort in my area...  Any way back to making salve.  You let the oil and the herbs just warm on the stove - low medium heat - for 1 hour.  Give it a stir every now and again.  It is fun to watch and I think it smells like hay in the summer...  Ahhhh! 

After the hour, strain the oil through a cheese cloth lined colander.  This is what it looks like.  I pull the cheese cloth up into a pouch and squeeze all the oils out of it.  You will need at least 1 cup of the infused oil.  If you have extra (I did), just put it in a jar and you can use it just like the salve, only it is a liquid.  I am going to use it for sore backs and muscles, chapped hands and lips, etc.  

The oil goes back into a clean double boiler along with 1 ounce of beeswax.  The beeswax smells so good!  Heat until the beeswax is melted.

 I have my tins and jars ready for the pour.

Just pour the wax and oil mixture into your containers.  I use a spatula to get all the goodness out of the container.  I also pour it into a measuring cup with a spout, its easier to pour that way. If it gets too solid to pour you can set it back in the double boiler and let it melt again.  I have never had to do this though.  

 

Once you have poured the oil into your containers, add your lavender essential oil.  I put 4 drops in the 1 ounce tins, 8 ounces in the small jar, which is 2 ounces, 16 drops for the 4 ounce jar.  You can more or less depending on your preference for lavender.  

Clean up is my favorite part!  I know weird right?  I like it because I use my fingers and scrape or rub all the extra out of the double boiler (make sure it is cooled) and I rub it into my hands, my hubby's hand, the dog's paws, you get the picture.  It smells so good and softens your skin so nicely! 

I use this for bug bits, scrapes, cuts, chapped skin, anytime really.  It is a lovely salve for so many purposes and very easy to make.  I hope you will try it soon.  

What's happening on your homestead? 

Life on the Homestead this Last Week

I hope that everyone has enjoyed their Christmas and is looking forward to 2014.  2013 has been a rough year for my family and I'm not too broken up about seeing it leave.
I have been spending time with my hubby and kiddos, basically doing whatever they want to do and using the in between times to try out some new things.  Here's what I have been up to lately...

I work with some wonderful ladies at my school.  They are always going above and beyond what they need to do to make life better for the kids.  Our staff does something for them, but I decided that the ladies that work with my kiddos deserved a little extra.  I took some pint jam jars, painted them white, the put some red stripes on it.  I sanded it a little bit to rough it up.  I love the distressed look.  I found some really cute flannel with 2 bears hugging for the top, then spray painted the screw bands white and filled it with mints.  Just a little something to say thanks!  for all they do for out kids!

Next, I made up some of this super easy, yummy bread!  This is from the book Artesian Bread in 5 minutes a Day.  It is delicious!  I will take pictures and share the recipe when I make it next time.  It make four loaves.  I gave one to my mother in law, along with a basket of canned and frozen goodies.  I forgot to take a picture of it, gotta get better at that...LOL

I tried to make some felted soap.  This is with a  bar of Ivory soap that I had in the cupboard.  I have a couple more that I am going to practice on before I use my good scented soap from Melaleuca.  I like the way it turned out and enjoy using it in the shower.  The wool is supposed to be a good exfoliater and the lanolin in the wool, makes it a softener.  Also wool is supposed to be anti-microbial so the soap doesn't get all smelling.  I'm just not real satisfied with the way it looks.  The stripes are too... stripey!  I will keep you up dated as I perfect my technique.  

Well, this is just a bit of what I have been up to this last week.  What have you been doing on your homestead?