Homemade Dandelion Salve

I love that so many people want to know how to make the Dandelion Salve.

I wish I had taken before pictures of my daughters hands to show you what a difference this stuff made in just 2 days, but hopefully we won't ever let them get that bad again.

In the next week or so I'll revamp this post and make it all pretty and full of information but for now I just wanted to hurry and type this up so that I could get it to all of you who asked for the instructions. There are two steps to this and I did the fast version of everything because I am the type of person that once I get it in my mind to do something, having to wait can really drive me bonkers and give me enough time to move onto my next project without finishing my first. Anyone else out there like me?

This is a two step process: first you need to make the infused dandelion oil, second you will use that to create the salve.

Dandelion Infused Oil

From all my research there are a few different ways to prep (dry) the dandelions and infuse the oil.

For those of us who want to get in and get this started here is the fast version. 

• Pick those dandelion heads. Just the head not the stem. Make sure that the area you are picking from has not been treated with any chemicals like weed killers. This will end up on your skin so we want clean flowers.
• Let them dry. Dandelion heads have a lot of water so they need to dry out first otherwise the oil will spoil and get gross. 
• Either lay them out in a single layer on a towel in the sun for a few days.
• Or I placed them in a single layer on some parchment paper. At the lowest temperature our oven/toaster oven could go (200) and placed the dandelions in there for 45-50 minutes. I let them sit until the next day where they could finish drying in the sun.

Now it's time to infuse the oil!

• For fast infusion use a double boiler system. You don't need anything fancy, I just used a glass bowl over a pot with a bit of water, it doesn't need to touch the bottom of the glass bowl. With a ratio of 1:2 add 1 C dried dandelions to the glass bowl and 2 C of carrier oil. I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• Heat the water to just before it bowls, heat the oil and dandelions for a few hours, make sure the water doesn't evaporate away while this is going. I did this in the evening for about 3 hours then placed a lid over the bowl to let it sit overnight.
• Strain. I did it twice: once with a mesh kitchen strainer and then again with a terry cloth. But once is fine. 
• Dandelions can be put in the compost. Doing this whole process I didn't have any waste go in the garbage. Another awesome bonus about this salve.

Shelf life is around 1 year.

Dandelion Salve

Now it's time to get your other ingredients. For a very simple salve that I did all you'll need is your Dandelion Infused Oil and Beeswax. If you have any lavender or other essential oils you would like to add for other benefits or even just to add an appealing scent, those can be added as well.

One thing I have realized as I have been making our own homemade items is that the ratios can vary a bit to fit you best. For example lotion bars are great but depending on your location you may need to add more beeswax in warmer climates or less for cooler climates. 

*If making something like soap with lye then those do require more specific ratios.

In a double boiler set up add the Dandelion Infused Oil and beeswax. The ratio I used was 7:1 and this is done BY WEIGHT. 

When I tried it first I did 

1.75 oz Dandelion Infused Oil

.25 oz Beeswax

You can stir or not as the beeswax melts. Once it's all mixed not is the perfect time to add a scent. My daughter like the Apple Jack Peel and I'll admit it smells pretty good. Now pour into your jars or tins. This amount almost filled a 4 oz mason jar.

My next batch was 

7 oz Dandelion Infused Oil

1 oz Beeswax

This filled three 4 oz mason jars.

I typed this up really quick after bedtime. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to ask.

I added links, because I don't have photos to add, to better help show you what items I used.

Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links. This means if you use these links I may earn a small commission but that price is never added onto the costumer.

Yearly Savings Schedule

With the New Year comes new goals. One for us as a family, along with using our Budget Binder to help us to stay on track and pay off debt, is to start saving money too.

To help with this, and so it would not seem like such a big task I came up with a weekly chart to help save a little at a time instead of trying to do larger amounts every once in awhile. I actually saw this idea float around FaceBook a year or so ago and am excited to try it now.

A savings plan would be great for the kids to get involved in too. At a young age it can teach them discipline and self confidence.

To make your own Yearly Savings Plan you will need the same items used for the Budget Binder, at the very least a binder and these free printables. You can also use dividers, page protectors, laminator {yes I'm a dork and love mine} with pouches, hole punch and pens.

The pages included in the Yearly Savings Plan are:
Binder Cover and Spin Slip {in 3 different widths}
3 Black and White pages
4 Colored pages

The first plan starts at $52 a week and every week decreases by $1. Total = $1378

Next, $25 each week {orange chart only}. Total = $1300

One for the kids that starts at $26 and decreases by $0.50 each week. Total = $689

Finally a blank sheet.

Pick a savings plan that works for you {in our case we are doing one for each of our girls as well}. Then decide on which day of the week you will put that money aside. There is a spot on the top to fill in a name on the charts, you know, incase you are doing more than one so you can keep them all straight. Follow the chart to create a savings for the end of the year. Right now we will be using ours to help pay of those yearly expenses that come up once a year or every few months.

If there is a certain amount you are trying to reach after a year of saving, use the blank form. For example, let's say you want to save $1500 by the end of the year. 

Simply take $1500/52 weeks = $28.846..... per week.

Fill in the cart and set aside $29 each week and that will be $1508 for the year.

I sure hope this helps you in coming up with a savings plan that will work best for you!

What are some of your goals this year? We seem to be focusing on financial and physical ones this year, yes I even got my husband to commit to it. Here is to a great 2016, I hope you achieve all you set out to do.

Here are some of my other binder printables

Our Budget Binder

Check out our Moving Binder

Here is my Checklist for Weathering the Storms 

Our Budget Binder

Since being married we have ALWAYS been college students. We both did our undergrad at Utah State University then Paul was accepted to UConn as a lighting design Grad student. He was able to get his tuition paid but fees and living expenses were up to us. As a new mom and in a new area with no contacts and babysitters we decided to have me stay at home.

After doing all that we could we still needed to take out some student loans. We have heard from others about what they owe, and oh my goodness! People it's OK to take out loans, when we use them as a tool to help us move forward, just remember to be smart. You WILL have to pay those back and they will be with you like a nasty cough until they are paid off.

Now that Paul has been working full time this last year and a half, it has been an eye opener. We can not just go take out $1-2K in loans anymore when we need it. This has really made me wish I had done better about our budget during school but grateful we were pretty frugal during that time too.

As we are trying to pay off debt and not go into more debt I have come to appreciate having a budget for the family and how much it can really help us. When we first moved to KY we met some friends {OK, basically I looked them up from our church and said we were moving to the area and when we were planning on being there} and they shared a website they use to track their budget. We really liked the idea behind it but it was a bit too much for us. And for some reason it kept counting the money from one of our accounts twice so the numbers were always off.

There are also some things I do better with when I can write it down and see it right in front of me. So I came up with a budget binder!!!

I remember growing up seeing my mom sitting at the kitchen table with their processed checks, bank statements, CC bills, etc and balancing their accounts. I really love math and numbers, in college I took extra math classes for fun, and so it was great to see everything balance out by the time my mom had gotten done. It made my little OCD heart happy! 

Now, I am no professional by any means, but I have put together these printable sheets to create our Budget Binder. They have been great!!!! Over the last two months we have been using this to keep track of our budget and I have made a couple of tweaks to the pages. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

To make your own budget binder you will need at the very least a binder and these free printables. You can also use dividers, page protectors, laminator {yes I'm a dork and love mine} with pouches, hole punch and pens {you could even do colored ones to go one step further and color code your spending to help you see where your money is going}.

Here are the pages I have available with this free printable:

Binder cover and spine slip

Year at a Glance

Perpetual Yearly Spending

Perpetual Monthly Spending

Monthly Spending

Debt Tracker

Savings Tracker

We filled in the perpetual monthly and yearly expenses then laminated the sheets. This way as I continually handle them and look at them through the year, they won't get ruined. This is also great to keep in the back cover of the binder so I can take a quick glance at it when I need to see which bills are coming up.

Now, once a weekend Paul and I sit down and look over the accounts, making sure everything adds up correctly. Using a budget has helped us a lot, mostly in being able to keep from adding to our debt while also being able to start paying it off. Yippy! One step closer to financial freedom.

There it is. A few simple sheets, a little bit of discipline and we are getting our budget in order.

Start a Yearly Savings Plan with this printable

Check out our Moving Binder

Here is my Checklist for Weathering the Storms

I was FEATURED!!!

Silhouette Ornaments

Remember that tutorial I shared on how to create a silhouette using Adobe PhotoShop? Well, now we are going to create a project with it.

Be sure to look over my tutorial on how to use Photoshop to create a Silhouette. Don't forget that Amazon has a free 30 trial that comes with access to their Creative Cloud. I am over the moon excited about how these turned out!!!

Ok, that is enough. Now to show you how I did it.

: : : : : : : : Material/Supplies : : : : : : : : 

Glass/Plastic clear ornament bulbs {I used the flat ones, the image stays better in them}

Printed image

: : : : : : : : Tools : : : : : : : : 

Martha Stewart Circle Cutter {I love mine}

Cutting Mat

X-acto Knife {or scissors}

: : : : : : : : How To : : : : : : : : 

Once you have your silhouette created, open up a blank page in PhotoShop, bring the image over onto the new page and scale to a size that will fit within the clear ornament, mine are 3" bulbs. Create duplicates if you need them.

Print out on normal printer paper. 

Cut out the silhouette image.

Here is how I did it:

Mark on the circle cutter for the size you want {3"}. Place on the silhouette image then spin the tray to make sure the image is centered in your 3" diameter.

NOTE: I only moved the cutting wheel once I had it marked to take a photo and show you how it looked. Normally I would not move it because lining it back up takes too much time.

Cut the circle around the silhouette leaving a small section at the top. Take the x-acto knife {or scissors} and cut a 'neck' on top.

TIP: This will help keep the paper from rolling around in the bulb and keep the image upright instead of sideways.

Roll the cut out around the handle of the x-acto knife {or pencil}.

NOTE: I kept the image facing out because once it is placed in a bulb it will keep a little bit of a curl.

Stick the handle of the x-acto knife {or pencil} in and help to unroll and flatten the paper.

Use an ornament hook or ribbon to hang the bulbs.

Sometimes simple really is easy and best. I love how these look on the tree, will treasure them forever and we are so excited to send some to grandparents as well.

I would love to hear from you and see your projects. Leave a comment or #AlwaysCreate on your photos in Instagram. Find me on Instagram {@AlwaysCreate} and follow along for behind the scenes.

Other Handmade Ornaments

Fast and simple ornaments

Pony Bed Ornaments

Pony Bead Ornaments

Have you ever tried melting pony beads?

Well, it is fun, easy, the kids can join in on it and it doesn't cost a lot.

I know that the girls will want to play with the tree and all the decorations once we set it up so I decided to get a head of them and made some ornaments that would be ok for them to play with.

: : : : : : : : : MATERIALS/SUPPLIES : : : : : : : : :

9 mm Pony beads {check here for a huge range of colors}

: : : : : : : : : TOOLS : : : : : : : : :

Muffin tin {any metal baking sheet will work, even metal cookie cutters on a a metal sheet}
TIP: My tin was an old one I had. A second hand store would also be a great place to find a muffin tin.

: : : : : : : : : INSTRUCTIONS : : : : : : : : :

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place a single layer or beads in the bottom of the tin.

Bake for 25 minutes @ 400F.

Place the tin outside to cool. This will help keep the smell outside instead of in your kitchen and house.

When the beads are cooled, simply turn the muffin tin upside down, press on the back-center of each space where the beads are. They will simply pop out.

TIP: Depending on your oven you may not need to bake it that long, or you may need longer. Basically you need to bake it long enough that the bumps from the beads as the melt will smooth out.

TIP: Be sure to do this when you can open the windows and vent the space. Those beads stink when they are melting.

TIP: I have also heard of others who have baked it on the grill, outside, so it doesn't stink up the house.

Drill the holes where you would like.
String some ribbon in and Viola!!!!

My daughters love these little ornaments and so do I. We had some friends over to make some with us a few weeks ago and they were all so pleased with their own personal ornaments.

Other handmade ornaments

Rub-Ons

Silhouette Ornaments