Missy, here. And I'm a huge fan of fragrances--for me and for our home. I love to smell perfumes, body lotions, body wash, shampoos and conditioners. I love to smell soaps, air fresheners, potpourri, candles, and essential oils. I'm even crazy for fabric softeners! :)
So when I got a newsletter from Martha Stewart Whole Living about making your own natural air fresheners, I was intrigued. They list several simple "recipes." Just use 30-40 drops of essential oils (total combined) and add to a spray bottle with 1 cup of water. I have a lot of oils I love, so I plan to make this! Check out some of the recipes by clicking here. They give directions for making smaller amounts as well.
One easy way I love to scent our home (and us!) at the holidays is with hand soaps. It's sometimes tough to find fragrances that each of us enjoys. This year, I struck gold. Even my husband likes it:
Bath & Body Works Pumpkin Caramel Latte. Oh, it's so yummy! I went to find a photo to use, and it must be sold out. The only thing they have left is the Wallflower refill. But be sure to keep your eye out for it next year!
Another Bath & Body Works hand soap fragrance I adore (I use it at my bathroom sink since hubby isn't so crazy about it) is the Winter Caramel Apple. It smells good enough to eat! :)
This week, a friend let me try her antibacterial hand gel, and I fell in love with the it. It's Twisted Peppermint. Fresh and holiday-y (is that a word?). :) I hope to buy some this weekend before they run out.
I'm just hoping they'll eventually bring back one of my all time favorites, Toasted Hazelnut. You can find it on e-bay, but it costs an arm and a leg. Maybe someday...
Do any of you love scents like I do, especially at the holidays? What's your favorite?
Oh, Missy I love the scents. And I love using fall/winter scents, but my buddy Stacey bought me a two-fer of Coconut Pineapple for my birthday in August... Oh my stars, I smell like a beach, mid-winter, but it's delicious! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI use candles and try not to burn the house down. The The Master's Hand (near Mary Connealy) in Nebraska is my favorite candle manufacturer now. They send them made in lovely pint jars and the candles are beyond perfect. The burn time, the lack of smoke and soot... I just love them. And Mary hooked me up with them, so they can't possibly be bad, right? ;)
Ruthy, I remember Mary talking about them. Once I use the gazillion candles I have around here, I'll give them a try!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered a new candle company yesterday--at the jewelry store, no less. Habersham Candle Company. They are the most gorgeous, great-smelling things ever! And they're made in a town not too far from here, up in the mountains. I can't wait to try one of them sometime. They also make wax balls that don't light. They just smell good. And safer for me--who forgets about candles sometimes!
I just found their website. They're also on Amazon.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.habershamcandle.com/
We like Yankee Candle's "Balsam and Cedar" candle. It will have to do for that piney scent until we go up into the Hills to cut our Christmas tree this weekend (and yes, we do have a permit!).
ReplyDeleteI like the candles that smell like vanilla or cookies baking, but for some reason I get hungry when I burn them...
I always set the burning candle either on top of a bookcase, on a ceramic tile at least 6 inches from anything else, or in the middle of the table. Since we rarely use a candle with an open flame (always in jars), I don't worry too much about fire danger.
One thing I miss as we move around is leaving behind the great local stores - "The Masters Hand" reminds me of the candle store in our town in Kansas. The next time we make the trip to see the kids we left behind, we'll be going right past "The Masters Hand" - maybe I can get the driver to stop in!
And Missy, what a great idea to change out the hand soaps for the season! I'll be at the mall tonight (walking off yesterday's cheese cake - see the comment I made last night on yesterday's post) and I'll have to stop by Bath and Body Works!
Jan, good for you for walking it off! At least you did that. :) I ate Japanese at lunch yesterday and stuffed myself with rice! I did go to Zumba last night, but I hurt my knee and couldn't go all out like usual. Y'all please pray my knee heals up! I'm going to buy a brace today. We're having a fund raiser Zumba event tonight to raise money for needy local kids' Christmas gifts. I donated a door prize and will make a donation to take part in the class. But I want to be able dance! Not sit and watch. (yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself today as I sit her with ice packs).
ReplyDeleteLike you said, Jan, I love the change soaps with the seasons. We go through the bottle in the kitchen very quickly. In the spring, I'll be craving the White Citrus or the Kitchen Lemon. :)
Sit HERE with ice packs. Typos drive me nuts.
ReplyDeleteI love scents but don't usually bother with them except every so often (guess I need to start with a clean odorfree house to begin with so I can actually smell them!) ok it's not that bad -b ut the scent usually travels to another spot in the house and I haven't found where to stick the candle so I can smell it when I'm sewing - in the kitchen I smell it in the back...anywhere else downstairs the scent is upstairs...bathroom I have to shut the door to keep the scent there..
ReplyDeletea coworker loves scentsy I think it's called - one of her sisters sold it at least for a while and she said that's the only thing she'll buy from her LOL but that she knew about them before her sister started selling them and likes them a lot.
my fave scent was the old watermelon yankee candle had many years ago - also like sugar cookie - anything vanilla or sugary I like - not too wild about pine scent.
think I need a calmness mood candle -just got the first price quote on a new hot water heater(thank goodness mine is still running ok or I'd be on the floor in shock because they'd know I was desperate!) I should've married into a huge family with lots of skills! :-)
Susanna
Susanna, I'm sorry about the water heater! Yes, that's a necessity!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I love Scentsy! I just bought my first order from another writer (and fellow blog member with me), Christy Smith, who just started her business! So far, I've put a scent circle in my car that I love. It's called Black Ruby.
Here's her site if anyone is interested. I love supporting other writers, even if it's not in writing! :)
https://christysmith.scentsy.us/Home
By the way, you can order from her by clicking on her "launch party."
ReplyDeleteBath and Body Works is my all time favorite! Since I can't wear perfumes and even a lot of body sprays, I stick with what I know works for me. The classic fragrances like Freesia and Cotton Blossom are among my favorites.
ReplyDeleteScentsy??? For real?
ReplyDeleteOh my stars.
Fig and Rose at Yankee Candle is a great Christmas candle. Deep red color and awesome scent while burning. Love it.
But nothing smells as good as apple pie baking. Or pumpkin pie... Or chocolate chip cookies.
But the candles have NO CALORIES, so I'm all in, Missy. Sorry about your knee. Ouch. Stupid joints. Dagnabbit. I'm blowing you a kiss from here: Mwwwwaaaaaaaahhhhh!
It will get better now. It works on the 18 month-olds. :)
Missy, I think Ruthy is threatening you. Do you know what she does to the 18 month-olds when a kiss doesn't work? /whisper/ she makes them bake things....
ReplyDeleteI DO hope your knee starts feeling better soon! Or is there a way to Zumba with one leg? No? Hmmm.
On another topic - I made Ruthy's Dill Dip today, and oh, my, it's as good as she says.
My biggest problem was finding Beau Monde seasoning. The lady at Walmart suggested that I have Ruthy send me some...but I didn't want to wait, so I Googled it.
The internet has everything. I may have to sell my Britannica.
No, I won't.
Anyway - here's the recipe:
1 T. allspice
1 T. bay leaf, ground
1 tsp. celery seed
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 T. cloves
1 tsp. mace
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 T. black pepper
2 T. white pepper
1 T. salt
I cheated and just put in a little dash or a bigger dash to make about 1 tsp. of the mix, and it worked fine.
It must have. That stuff is GOOD. And I don't like cucumbers!
I also made little appetizers out of it - I cut the cucumber slices into quarters, then put a dollop of dill dip on a cracker and put a cucumber wedge on top of the dip.
Oh. My. Stars. (to quote a famous author). It was scrumptious!
These may even make a strained knee feel better!
Hey, that kiss must've worked! I was able to dance the whole 2 hours! :) Thanks, Mama Ruthy. :) And best of all, we raised $750 for Christmas presents for needy children. :)
ReplyDeleteJan, I'll have to give that at try! But mace?? I don't even know if I have that. If I do, it's probably 10 years old. :) I love the idea of the cracker appetizers! I need to make something for next week. That'll be easy!
Missy, I didn't have mace, either. I left it out, and I don't know if I even noticed. It was still good.
ReplyDeleteWent to the mall, put in my 30 minutes of walking, and bought a new Yankee Candle (Balsam and Cedar) and then stopped at Bath & Body Works for peppermint foaming soap. Lovin' it!
I'm glad to hear it, Jan. I won't worry about the mace.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to hit the mall! I had hoped to go today, but my knee wouldn't allow that walking this morning. So I'll plan to do some shopping next weekend. Enjoy your new scents!!
I must get to the mall. I need me some of that foaming hand soap. The kids will PLAY with it, but that might make them wash up quicker after using the necessary. ;)
ReplyDeleteJan, great job on creating Beau Monde! Here we have it in the spice sections of the grocery store... Mine is "McCormick"'s brand, a cutesie jar, green top, pricey UPC code. But I love that you came up with your own recipe! I hadn't thought of that. Smarty-britches.
And MISSY IS HEALED! AND DANCING!!! ;) Good girl, Ms. Tippens!
We're looking at 50+ degrees today here in upstate. The same curve that kept hurricanes out to sea this year has the jet stream dipping and rising further west than normal... which means Ruthy hasn't seen snow on the ground and only a few flakes in the air. Oh my stars, I love strange weather patterns!
Thanks for the plug, Missy! I'm a big fan of Bath & Body Works. Love their Cherry Blossom. I'll bet they've retired it by now :(
ReplyDeleteI was always a candle fan until I found Scentsy :)
At Scentsy, we've got 10% off the December warmer which is a pretty white with snowflake impressions on it. The Comfort and Joy is the scent of the month. A pretty blue that smells a little sweet and a little spicey! www.christysmith.scentsy.us
Order by December 19th to get it by Christmas!