We love homemade granola in this house. This last batch we decided to replace the cinnamon with cinnamon bark oil and it really kicked it up a notch! Cinnamon Oil Granola Ingredients 3 cups rolled oats 1/4 cup honey 1/8 cup canola oil 3 tbsp brown sugar pinch of salt 3/4 cup dried cherries 1/2 cup raw pecans, walnuts or almonds 2 drops Cinnamon bark oil ( OR click here to buy Young Living Essential Oils at a discount) 2 drop Nutmeg Oil Optional: 1 drop Clove essential oil Cinnamon Oil Granola Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients by hand except the essential oil in a large bowl until well coated. Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in oven approximately 30 mins. Stir oats every ten minutes to make sure the granola is evenly browned. Once cool, place granola in 12 oz mason jars leaving about 1/2 inch headroom. Drop in your essential oils while stirring vigorously (to spread it around) on top of granola, seal jar, and shake rigorously. Let sit for at least 12 hours. Shake occasionally and enjoy! The amount of oil in this batch is low to give people a starting place. Feel free to add what ...
Time To Trade-In Those Gift Cards
Now that the holidays are over, let's be honest. Grandma may not quite get you anymore. What you would have loved 5 & 10 years ago...probably not what you are loving now. She loves you. She tries hard. But she just can't seem to get that what you really want is cold, hard cash. Especially if you are in the college crowd. That's OK. Coinstar has an answer to that drawer full of unused gift cards from well meaning Santa's everywhere with their new gift card exchange machines. They sent me the two above to try it out and see how easy it really is. I started by locating a Coinstar Exchange Kiosk on their locator page. Make sure and filter for the exchange kiosks. They are different machines. You want: At my store they were in completely different locations. I put in the two gift cards sent to me by Edelman PR. I was offered $16.25 cash for the Toy's R Us one and $16 for the Applebee's. After accepting the offers, I had to insert my drivers license and a credit card to prove that I was really me before my happy little voucher was produced. Which I took to the counter with my drivers license and exchanged for this: Honestly, this post took me longer to ...
DIY Reed Diffuser With Essential Oils
This is a simple and easy DIY craft to help diffuse the smell of essential oils in your home. This DIY Reed Diffuser is the perfect fix for those rooms that don't have a home diffuser machine and can help you replace commercial sprays or toxic candles. You will need: Rattan Reeds- I bought the ones in this picture at IKEA. Because they are painted they tend to tint liquid they sit in. Ones like these from Amazon will not tint the water. Fractionated Coconut Oil- 1/4 cup Unflavored Vodka- 1 tsp. You can totally use the cheap stuff. It helps the mixture travel up the reeds. Jar with a narrow opening- I bought this one at IKEA as well. Essential Oils-as always I only use Young Living. You can get a discount on Young Living Oils here. You will need 20 drops and you can do a combination of two or just a single fragrance like Lavender for the bedroom. I have some combination ideas below. Mix the fractionated coconut oil, vodka and essential oils in the jar. Arrange your reeds. Flip the reeds after a few hours to help the fragrance travel up the reeds. Then flip them every few days to renew the scent. DIY Reed Diffuser Essential Oil Combinations to try: ...
DIY Essential Oil Fragrance Stones
These DIY Essential Oil Fragrance Stones are a versatile, inexpensive and super easy gift. With just two ingredients, water and baking soda, you can have some cute holiday gifts wrapped up in no time. Uses for Essential Oil Fragrance Stones: Place a few drops of Purification on a stone and slip into stinky shoes. Drop Eucalyptus Blue or Idaho Blue Spruce on a stone and place it on the floor of the shower (not in direct spray). Add a few drops of Lemon or Purification and throw one in the beginning of the laundry cycle. Jade Lemon or Citrus Fresh on a stone makes a great car freshener. Add 1/4 cup Epsom Salts and one stone with Peppermint or Lavender for a foot soak. Double this for a bath. Use Purification or your favorite scent on a stone and place it in the bottom of your trash can. Essential Oil Fragrance Stone Ingredients: 1 cup baking soda 1/4 cup water Gingerbread Man or Christmas tree silicone mold. This will only work with a silicone mold. I bought mine at Micheal's for $10 but affiliate linked you to some on Amazon if you can't find any locally. In a bowl mix the baking soda and water slowly. I found it was best mixed with my ...
Peppermint Bark Snowflakes
Last year I made some Chocolate Peppermint Bark Snowflakes for our Christmas Cookie Exchange. They were a big hit and I decided to re-make the recipe this year to replace the peppermint extract with peppermint essential oils. Peppermint Bark Snowflakes Recipe (makes 6 snowflakes): 1 cup white melting wafers 1 cup dark melting wafers 4-8 drops Peppermint Essential Oil. Click here if you just want to buy a bottle of Peppermint Essential oil. Click here to buy a Young Living Premium Starter Kit for a great price that includes Peppermint and a 24% discount on all your future YL Oil Orders. 2 candy canes or about 8 peppermints smashed (put it in a ziplock bag to control mess) 1 silicone snowflake mold (affiliate link) Step 1: Microwave the dark chocolate chips. I did mine in batches of 18 snowflakes. I microwaved 3 cups of Ghirardelli wafer chips on 50% power for 3 minutes, stirring each minute. You can melt these over a double boiler as well if you prefer. Step 2: Stir in 2-4 drops Young Living Peppermint essential oil into the dark chocolate. Pour into the mold about 1/4 inch thick. Be careful not to spill any of the chocolate onto the sides ...