Quietly Content at Home

 I first made a mild healing salve in 2020 for our Boo Boo Bag which lives in the car. I remember it had olive oil, beeswax and a few other things in it and it worked a treat for minor scratches, cuts, mozzie bites and even a mild burn or two. But the blog I got the recipe from is gone. After some research and reading through my amazing books from Love Thy Oils  I came up with this recipe which is working well so far. Homemade healing salve 1 tb beeswax pellets 3 tb extra virgin olive oil 10 drops each of lavender, lemon, peppermint and frankincense Tins or small jar Method Melt together oil and beeswax using a double boiler or bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Add your essential oils. Decant into the tin using a dropper or your preferred method for transferring hot liquids without burning yourself.  This is a very small batch, less than 100 mls.  The dilution is very mild but please decrease the amount of oils even further if using for children under 5 years ol...

 Every year I try and make a batch of Farmhouse on Boone's Organic Peppermint Cocoa lip balm. I didn't get around to it in 2023 so I am very excited to get a new batch going. My last batch filled about 20 tubes and lasted 18 months. This is my husband's favourite and the peppermint cocoa flavour is such a winner. I cut the recipe in half this time and filled nine tubes to the brim. These make great Christmas presents and stocking stuffers or even teacher gifts bundled with a gift card or handwritten letter. Using organic ingredients not only improves the quality of the lip balm but gives you peace of mind that your lip balm is one less thing adding up exposure to questionable ingredients that can irritate skin. Small easy swaps add up over time. I am not that concerned over the plastic tube as beeswax is inert, I opt for BPA free/non toxic and the lip balm has never really melted even in school bags on warm days but paper tubes are a great way to make it even safer. My eld...

Originally published 19 September 2022 under my crochet business, Liz & Lottie. These crochet King's Guards are made in one piece with almost no sewing! Suitable for beginners with just a 4mm hook and some 8ply/DK yarn, make a set of these soldiers for a castle play set. I started drafting this pattern back in 2015, hoping to make a set of little soldiers for a toddler's Grand Old Duke of York play set. My amigurumi skills were not quite up to it and I made a set of peg dolls instead. With the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I thought it might be time to finish it off. We have not been to visit our girls' grandmother's home in England since 2016. The youngest has never seen the Grenadier guards in person before but was very interested in the soldiers when watching the tv coverage of the proclamation of King Charles III. I had barely cut the threads on my draft prototype of this pattern before she toddled off with it to play with her castle...