Day 6: Hanging Diffusers/Little Clay Pots

12 days of Christmas Crafting: Creating Aromatic Gifts with Essential Oils

Day 6:  Hanging Diffusers/Little Clay Pots

Admittedly our little clay pot hanging diffusers are not for therapeutic use but they do bring joy to my heart in little increments throughout the day in my home.  I stash one in the closet doused in Spike Lavender to keep away moths; another is a staple in my laundry room near the dirty clothes, usually filled with Lemon Myrtle or Lemon Rind; yet another hangs near my trash can in the kitchen with spicy Cinnamon type oils; and how could I stand the doggy potty pad disposal area (think dirty diapers!) without Fresh Aire in a clay pot diffuser? 

I cringe every single time I see commercials in print or on television for those synthetic laden scent plug thingy’s (not mentioning the brands but you KNOW what I am saying!).  I’ve gone into some homes where the fake stuff just overwhelms me.  Ugh.  Clay diffusers are not obnoxious, in fact, they are quite cute, and come in several varieties:  Terra Cotta, Glazed White, and Glazed Colors.  I re-douse mine every couple of weeks but you could go several months without freshening them up. 

Oils can be poured inside and a little cork top caps the top.  Each has a little satin ribbon for hanging purposes.  I also disperse drops of oil on the outside (not on the one in the closet) for a stronger scent.  Clay diffusers are very resilient and long lasting.  I’ve never managed to even break one, although I am assuming it is possible.  

I think a nice gift would be clay pot diffusers with a bottle of Holiday Joy Synergy or favorite oil.  Marge has a really neat trick for the holidays: she fills her clay pot diffusers with her favorite Christmas Conifer, Balsam Fir, and hides it within her artificial Christmas tree to enjoy its aroma, reminiscent of her childhood Christmases in New England!  Other Conifers are also great:  White Fir essential oil for our friends in the Southwest and West; Black Spruce for Northeasterner’s, Scotch Pine in the South or a combination. 

These hardy little clay jug diffusers come in a variety of colors (sorry we pick the colors!) including: blue, pink, light green, peach, yellow, lavender, and speckled, as well as the standard Terra Cotta and the White Glazed. From today until October 12th, save 20% on our clay pots and on our Holiday Joy synergy. Simply enter the promotional code craft6 at checkout and press apply. You'll see the discount reflected on screen.

Tomorrow more aromatic Christmas crafting ideas as I share recipes for clay facial masques and introduce a product we are offering for a limited time.

Day 5: Concoctions for Massage Bottles

12 days of Christmas Crafting: Creating Aromatic Gifts with Essential Oils

Easily one of my favorite types of blending is creating concoctions for co-workers, friends, and family in our little 1 oz massage bottles.  Perfect for storing in the fridge or setting on a bedside table, our PET plastic bottles provide a sensible solution for diluted massage-on blends.  It doesn’t just have to be about massage per se, therapeutic blends for ankle or joint pain, bug bites, skincare and nearly anything you can think of will work well in these.

Cobalt or Clear PET one ounce bottles

Our favorite carrier oil for massage blends is Fractionated Coconut Oil for several reasons.  It has the longest shelf life of any of our carrier oils, it has wonderful "slip" for a massage, and it totally washes out of towels, sheets, etc. This makes it our massage base of choice, but you could always use some of our more luxurious facial oils to create a truly luxury blend for facial massages.

You can always refer back to Marge’s handy blending/dilution chart to help with the numbers.  Basically, since these are 1 oz bottles, you will be dealing with 1 oz of carrier or vegetable oil, and select an appropriate dilution from 1-5% for the essential oil or oils.

Normal dilution for a full body massage is 2 to 2.5%, 15 drops of essential oil or synergistic blend to 1 oz carrier oil.

As an extreme example, if you were blending potent and powerful Arnica CO2, it is recommended for use at one half of one percent.  One percent of 1 oz (30 ml) is six drops.  One half of one percent is merely three drops!  This is a good reminder about the less is more rule in aromatherapy.  Some oils should be used with extra special caution.  While Arnica is excellent for joint pain and bruising, our CO2 extraction is quite powerful and deserves respect.  We’ve found a blend of our Arnica Massage Oil (pre-blended) and Helichrysum to be especially helpful with this type of pain.  I personally add Kunzea Ambigua into the mix for its analgesic properties.

Simple helpful blends include:

2.5% facial oil blend for dry winter skin: 15 drops essential oil of Carrot Seed, Neroli, or Geranium to a 1 oz carrier oil such as White Camellia, Squalane, or Avocado.  Our skincare tips page has tons of information about which oils to use for skin types.

A 10% women’s blend I created for painful menses or periods is:Lavandin Grosso 20 drops, German Chamomile Steam Distilled 20 drops, Peppermint Organic 10 drops, Sweet Marjoram 10 drops in 1 oz Evening Primrose Oil.  (Note: I don’t tolerate Clary Sage well, but it would be a good addition to any blend of this type.)

HINT:  Pouring a full 5 ml bottle of one of our Anointing Oils into one of the 30 ml bottles and "topping off" with Fractionated Coconut will give a 1.67% dilution. Quite strong enough for a full body or back massage with some of our luxury blends.

There’s a bit of fun and creativity to blending for massage.  I’ve made blends for Bug Bites (became our After the Bite), anxiety, joint pain, cramps, viral issues, and many others. It is truly a matter of researching which oils are best for each situation and always considering any pertinent safety information plus sensitivities or allergies of the individual for which you are blending.

We offer a package of three 1 oz clear or cobalt blue PET massage bottles  for your creations or if you prefer, simply using them to rebottle a favorite carrier or facial oil to share with others.

A 20% discount is available on our one ounce PET clear bottles with disk lids, and cobalt bottles with treatment pumps and on our Fractionated Coconut Oil until October 12^th.  Enter the promotional code craft5 at checkout, and press apply to see your 20% discount. I’ll be back tomorrow with another aromatherapy Christmas crafting idea.