Thursday, June 20, 2013

Making Lip Balm


I am lip balm crazy.  I have so many different flavors, and when I see the cute lip balms sitting there at the cash register, I have to restrain myself from buying one of every flavor.  If I had known it was so easy to make, I would have been making it for years!

This is what I did...

Materials:

1 ounce beeswax (I used beeswax pellets because they melt faster)
1 ounce of coconut oil
1 ounce of shea butter
essential oil of your choice (or a combination of oils)
containers for your lip balm (I used 0.15oz containers - same size and Chapstick.  This recipe )
glass pyrex bowl
saucepan
dropper

I weighed the ingredients on a kitchen scale.  The ingredients don't have to be exact though, so if you don't have a scale, you can put in about the same amount of each ingredient.  Play around with the ingredients.  There are a ton of different recipes.  I'll post some at the bottom of the page.

Where to get this stuff?  I got my coconut oil, shea butter and essential oils at Vitamin Cottage (a local health food store).    It bought the beeswax pellets and containers on Etsy.

Procedure:

Before starting, I cleaned all of my lip balm containers and let them dry.

Melting

Instead of using a double boiler, I used a pyrex glass bowl that I set over a saucepan.  I used the glass bowl because clean up was easier than using a double boiler.



I boiled some water in the sauce pan, then placed the glass bowl on top.

I left the stove on high and let the water continue to boil.  Then I took 1 ounce of beeswax and placed it in the bowl.  I melted the beeswax first because it takes longer to melt.



After the beeswax is liquid, I added 1 ounce of coconut oil and 1 ounce of shea butter.  Then I stirred and melted all of the ingredients together.



Adding Essential Oil

After the ingredients were completely melted, I lowered the stove to medium.
Then I added the essential oil.  I used about 30 drops.  Then I stirred it.

I made a few different kinds, orange, grapefruit, and lemon-lime.

Put it all together

Now that it is all melted and you've added the essential oil, it is ready to put in the containers.  I used a dropper.  I tried a syringe, but that didn't work very well.  The dropper works really well.



Keep your lip balm mixture on the heat (I put mine on medium).  That way it won't cool while you're filling the containers.  Just suck some liquid into the dropper and squeeze it out into the container.

I used these containers, and it look about 4-5 squeezes to fill each one up. 
Then allow the lip balm to cool for a few minutes.  It will shrink and leave space at the top.  So I went back and topped them all off.

You're Finished

That is it.  When the lip balm is cooled it is ready to go.  Also I noticed that the fragrance gets stronger the next day.  If you are disappointed with the strength of the fragrance, I'd recommend waiting until the next day.  If it is still not what you wanted, the good things is you can just remelt it and add more essential oil.

You can also have fun with labels.  I used address labels.  The transparent labels stuck to the containers really well.


Clean Up Tips

Clean up wasn't too bad with the glass bowl.  I wiped out the glass bowl with a paper towel while the bowl was still hot.  This cleaned it pretty well.  Then I cleaned it with some dawn.  Done!

Also if any lip balm mixture gets on your hands you can just rub it into your skin.  Nice and moisturizing.

Have fun making lip balm!

Other Recipes

There are a ton of lip balm recipes out there.  Here are some interesting ones that I found.

Burts Bees Copycat Recipe

This one looks interesting.  Also has a nice price breakdown at the bottom.
http://happymoneysaver.com/burts-bees-lip-balm-recipe/

Mountain Rose Recipes

This page has several different recipes for lip balm.  http://mountainroseherbs.com/newsletter/06/Lip%20Balm%20Article_files/image001.jpg

Lip Stain


This recipe was very interesting.  Lip stain and only 2 ingredients, Crystal Light and Un-petroleum Jelly (you can also use petroleum jelly if you want to).  http://www.loveumadly.com/2012/08/crystal-light-beauty-products/

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Favorite Baby Things

My baby girl is transitioning into a toddler before my eyes.  It made me start thinking back on some of the baby stuff we really liked.  Here is a list of some of those things.

Miracle Blanket

This swaddling blanket worked really well with our baby girl.  She loved being swaddled.  Also she couldn't get out of this one.
http://www.miracleblanket.com/





Happiest Baby on the Block

A friend told me about this DVD, and we were so happy we watched it.  The methods were very effective.  There is also a book, but I didn't read the book.  We watched the DVD before Hailey was born, and it was very helpful.












Be Prepared - Book for Dads


This book is very good.  It is very funny, and has a lot of actually useful information.  So entertaining to read. We love it.
We bought ours on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Be-Prepared-Gary-Greenberg/dp/0743251547/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371659371&sr=8-1&keywords=be+prepared
They also have a website
http://www.beprepared.net/

Eagle Creek Half-Cube - for diaper bag organization

We love Eagle Creek packing cubes.  I've been using them for years when I travel.  I bought a half-cube to organize the diaper bag, and it works really well.  I keep core of the diaper bag in it, so if I have to run out really fast, I can just grab the cube.  It is also nice, if I'm using a different bag.  The best thing about the packing cube is that it is very sturdy.  I've had some of my Eagle Creek packing cubes for over 10 years, and they are in great shape (believe me I have pushed them to the limit).



Boon Animal Bag


This bag is like a bean bag, but instead of beans, it hold stuffed animals.  It keeps all of the stuffed animals contained, and you can also use it to sit on.  Just make sure you don't put things that can break in it.


Boon Squirt

I got one of these as a hand-me-down.  If I hadn't, I never would have known it existed.  I really like it a lot. So convenient when I'm out or traveling.  You just have to make sure you do not put anything that has chunks in it.  The hole is pretty small, so only purees or yogurt.
http://www.booninc.com/products/Squirt


Stokke Tripp Trapp

We really like the simple design of this chair.  We are using it as a high chair, and like that we can keep using it as Hailey grows.  When she was really little we had it in adult position, and used it for ourselves. There are also some other brands that make similar chairs.  http://www.stokke.com/en-us/highchair/tripp-trapp-product-concept.aspx


Rumparooz Diaper Covers

We have many different types and brands of diaper covers.  These are my favorite.  I haven't had leak problems with them.  They are one-size (6-35 lbs), so you don't have to buy any other covers.  I even use them over disposables when I'm out or traveling.  They can be washed with the dirty diapers.  I prefer the snap version so I don't have to deal with velcro.  They are durable, cute, and don't leak.






Sleep Sheep

We had the travel version of this.  Our baby loved it.  Sometimes we could just turn it on, and she was doze off.  It was great.
http://cloudb.com/sleep-sheep-on-the-go













Phil & Teds Metoo

We got this high chair as a hand-me-down.  It is very handy for traveling.  It folds flat.  It is pretty light.  It clips on to most tables.  We used it with Hailey before she was big enough to sit in her Tripp Trapp.  Now we just use it when we travel.  Max load is 33 lbs, so we will be able to use it for a while.  If you get this chair as a hand-me-down, make sure you check the recall page.  It has a fix.  They will send you a free repair kit.
Recall page http://philandteds.com/us/Support/Upgrades-Recalls#metoohighchair
You don't have to worry about it if you buy a new one.
http://philandteds.com/us/Products/Feed/Metoo#Specs



Go Crib

This Go Crib has been very nice for traveling.  It is inflatable, so it can squish down into a backpack.  It is definitely lighter and easier to carry around than a Pack 'n Play.  It also has a mosquito net and sun cover that can fit on to it.  The side unzips, so baby can go in and out of it if you want.  When it is inflated it takes up probably about the same amount of space as a Pack 'n Play (maybe a little more).  The legs are angled out for stability, so it has a wide base.  It has been a nice travel crib for us though.
http://www.guavafamily.com/products/gocrib




Go Pod

The Go Pod (not related to Go Crib) was very nice for us.  It is portable enough that you can take it to a friend's house if you're visiting.  It folds up like a camping chair, and it is about the size of a camping chair when it is folded.  There are nice straps on it so you can hook on toys.  The height is adjustable.  It would be great for someone who has a small space, and doesn't want a giant exersaucer. You can just fold it up and throw it in the closet.  We used ours a lot.  It was also stable enough for her to cruise on too.
http://www.kidco.com/products-page/go-pods/