Here’s one my new products. This Calendula Oil is more versatile than you think!
🌼 Calendula has anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties, making it not only great to help relieve and calm eczema and rashes, but also to soothe bug bites!
We use Sweet Almond Oil as our carrier oil. It has lots of Vitamin E which is anti-aging and helps soften and smooth fine lines. The fatty acids in it also help the skin to retain its moisture, to heal the skin. Now, I know some of you may be intimidated to use an oil on your face however, Sweet Almond Oil is non-comedogenic and also has Zinc in it which helps to heal acne scars! So you see, this oil is a great go-to for everyone! 🥰
This Calendula Oil makes your skin feel silky soft. And the Sweet Almond Oil absorbs so well and it doesn’t give you that greasy and oily feeling.
🩹Moms, toss it in your handbag for those impromptu scrapes, cuts or bug bites for the kids! Keep another at your vanity, to moisturize your face after cleansing! Keep another in your first aid kit at home! The list goes on with how you can use this product!
It’s packaging is also for easy use, just spray! Clean and simple! 👏🏼
I know you’ll love it and so will your skin. Contact me at tracey@simplymediy.com. I’d love to tell you more.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram @traceysenchantedherbals. Check us out on Facebook to see what all we have to offer.
I love making all that I can from scratch to avoid all the weird stuff in the store bought stuff these days. But sometimes I don’t have time to make it from scratch.
I used to beat myself up a lot because I worked really hard to make it all from scratch. I’d learn something new and I thought, “Now I never have to buy it again”.
Starting supper
But then life would get in the way. Between a full-time job, the drive time to and from work every day and just keeping house, doing laundry and cooking as many meals as I can, there just aren’t enough hours.
It would really bother me when I needed something and I had to buy it because there wasn’t time to make it.
Do you ever feel like that?
I had to work hard at letting that go.
I can’t imagine trying to do all the things I do now if I had kids at home. I’m so in awe of those mothers with one or more kids at home that work a job, take care of a house and still make anything from scratch.
Those moms (and probably some dads too) need some major kudos. If this is you, please share a few tips on how you keep your head above water. I’m sure someone else can use them too.
My view all day long.
It took time to convince myself, it’s okay to not be able to do it all. Although it still frustrates me.
I didn’t want to work frantically to get it all done and then be frazzled from working so hard. What I really wanted, is to get a fair amount done and then sit outside and enjoy our farm.
Evening on the patio.
I work in an office all day. At 8:30 am I get to work and I don’t leave the building until 5:30 pm. I truly have no desire to be inside any more than absolutely necessary when it’s decent outside. Living in Kansas, for the biggest part of the year you can be outside, even if you have to wear a coat.
I like sitting on our patio looking at my garden and the yard and enjoying the feeling that this is ours, watching the dogs run and play and just listening to the birds.
But the guilt I got from spending that time outside enjoying the place, kind of countered my enjoyment of it.
It took some time, but I finally got there.
I read story after story of other people who did homesteading. Constantly making their own stuff and cooking from scratch, growing a garden and tending to animals.
Not all, but a big portion of those people that I read about, were full-time homesteaders and didn’t work an off the farm job. They work, and they work hard, but for the most part they work on their farm.
One of my patio flowers.
The people who do have jobs, aren’t always able to do everything from scratch, just like me. But I didn’t seem to notice that so much.
I ‘d love to be one of those on the farm, full-time homesteaders one day. And that’s my goal …. some day.
But, until then, I’ll do what I can from scratch and when I don’t have the time or the gumption, I’ll just have to buy the best quality I can buy. I’ll enjoy my flowers, watch the dogs play and just enjoy being home.
I’m learning to live seasonally.
That’s not an easy thing to do. I was raised in a grocery store. Mom and dad had a garden and as much as dad didn’t like store bought, mom really didn’t mind it so much.
She cooked from scratch and grew the garden and we ate from the garden most of the time, but when mom wanted something out of season she had no problem going to the store to buy it. I don’t think dad even thought about that too much.
When you’re used to having anything you want and any time of the year you want it, you never actually think about if it’s in season or not.
As I decided I wanted to be more seasonal, working towards growing our own food and being more sustainable, I realized we didn’t eat that way at all. I also realized that took a lot more cooking. The kind of cooking I didn’t know much about.
So I continue to learn, I continue to do what I can and when I can’t get it all done, I get over it.
Some day I hope to be that full-time homesteader, that completely sustainable, able to enjoy the outside during the working hours homesteader, so I can get things done on my schedule.
But until then, I’ll do the best I can and relax and just enjoy the process.
Happy New Year and I really hope the first part of January has treated you great. I know I’m a little late, but better late than never.
You may or may not have noticed, but I’ve been missing for a few months. Sorry about that. The end of the year stuff gets crazy.
We had family stuff and home stuff and grandkids’ stuff and on and on. I’m sure you all did too.
What’s been happening?
Let me know what’s new and good in your life. I’d really would love to hear.
Let me tell you what I’ve been up to recently.
So, I’m starting this business.
I’m making handcrafted skin care products as well as handcrafted herbal tea blends and spice blends. These products have the least amount of ingredients to make an excellent product for your skin.
Right now I’m making lotions and creams, salves and infused oils, facial scrubs and body scrubs. I have ideas of adding more products later.
Enchanted Herbals
For the lotions and creams I’m starting with the basic lotion/cream recipe I’ve posted here. I’m boosting it by infusing oils with specific herbs and infuse the water portion with those herbs too. I guess you could call it a kind of turbo cream.
Those infused oils will make the salves and be the oils as well.
Rose petals infusing in oil
I’m consigning my stuff out of a local shop in a small town near where I live right now and will try and find a few more local shops for that as well.
I’ll start going to the local farmer’s markets and craft shows and such when spring starts. The markets and craft shows are what scare me most.
I’m kind of a home body, not a real fan of busy public places. While I love to teach, I’m just not real great around a lot of people. So the thought of that much interacting is a bit scary for me.
I’ll get over it and do okay, but I’ll have to work at it.
The up side is I have a niece that loves social media. Social media is not my forte. So she’s volunteered to help me. YAY!!! I love my niece.
She’s created an Instagram page and Facebook page so I can write stuff and put it together and then just put those things where she can get to them. Then she can post pick and choose where and when to post something. That works for me.
I’m excited to see where this takes me.
Plans for the coming year.
My plan for the year is to get back to this website more. I’m terrible about taking pictures. I’ll start a new project and get half way through and realize I haven’t taken any pictures. My goal is to get better with that.
Garden vegetables
I have some stuff in mind I’d like to get together for later. Admittedly, most of it is cooking. That’s because I’m cooking more than doing anything else right now.
My grandkids come over and we do crafts, but because most of my cooking is from scratch, I still do a lot more of that than anything else.
I’d like to add some gardening stuff. My plan is to grow as much of the herbs for this business as I can. So there will be a lot of that.
And my husband and I would like to grow as much of our own food as we can. My goal, in time, is to grow and can all of our own veggies. That goal will probably take a few years to get to, but we’ll be working on it.
I’d like to ask a favor, please.
Canning green beans
Let me know what you would like to see. Is there anything specific you would like me to try? Any specific recipes, or canning or anything else. Your suggestions would really help me see where I need to go with this to give you want you want.
I’d love to hear from you.
What are your plans and goals for 2020? Do you have some fun things happening? Are there big plans for your new year?
I look forward to hearing from you and having conversations with you about your plans for the new year.
So, here’s to 2020!!! May it be the best year yet for all of us.
