Organic Calendula OIl for Herbal Soaps

~Spooky's enjoying the Summertime Rays~

Instead of just drying Calendula flowers this year, I decided to make Calendula oil as well. I planted a large crop of organic Calendula seeds (Johnny seeds company) early this spring and I'm very pleased with the results.

I picked the flowers first thing in the morning, choosing only the healthy newly open buds. I washed them and made sure they were completely dried before filling a sterile jar of extra virgin olive oil with them. The jar of Calendula Oil was left on the window sill for only a few days, then I strained and discarded the flowers and keep the oil stored in the refrigerator.I'll be adding this Organic Calendula Oil to my Homemade Soaps & Salves.

Calendula is well known for it's healing properties.

Organic Lavender Salve

My Organic Lavender Salve is ready for sale! It's been a real joy formulating, packaging and of course "testing" the salve on myself and my family! I LOVE it!!
Because the salve contains Shea Butter and Coconut oil I knew it would soothe and soften the skin but I didn't know how quick it would work on really dry cracked skin. For the past few nights I've been putting a small amount on my cracked heals and even after the FIRST application I noticed a huge difference.
This weekend I'm planning on making a large batch of sample size Organic Lavender Salve and mailing them out to all the new customers that sign up for the Crow's Nest Mailing List. I'd love to hear your feedback! Thanks again for all your support~ http://www.crowsnestprimitiveshoppe.com/

Crow's Nest Primitive Shoppe Blog

What a productive weekend! The Car-barn got cleaned out and I was able to create an area just for my gardening supplies. I have this old wooden drawer that I stack small clay pots in, I use a small tin trash can to store my potting soil and I like to either have something growing on the table or at least dried bunches hanging nearby. It's so much better to work in an area that is pleasing to the eye then just a dirty old table~

The Chive vinegar also got bottled today. It smells and tastes Wonderful! Think I'll marinade the chicken in it for tomorrows supper. If your not sure what to do with some of the Herbs in your garden, herb vinegars are the way to go. Super easy to make and a great gift to give!

Here's a picture of the dragonfly that came to visit today~

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Flower Arrangements~Crow's Nest Primitive Shoppe

What a beatiful time of year! I forgot how much I enjoy making cut flower arrangements. Here's some peonies, valerian, coreopsis and bridal bush I just brought into the house. They smell wonderful!!

For the past few years I've been able to pick buckets full of flowers in the morning, bring them into work and make arrangements to sell. I just use mason jars as vases- it works out great! Whatever I don't sell get's dried and turned into Potpourri~

I thought I'd share some pictures of the fields as well. Everything looks so green & healthy you can't help but feel good:)

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Springtime Presents~

The Chive vinegar is almost ready to bottle. This is a blend of Chive Blossoms, Sage Leaves & Blossoms in a base of White Vinegar.

When I saw how nice the Sage plant was this year I decided to add sprigs of the leaves with the pink blossoms attached.

As soon as the Chive stems get a light green color and the blossoms fade to white, it'll be time to strain the herbs and bottle the vinegar. I'll add fresh herbs to the new bottles as well.

I came across "Mama" Robin this morning when I was gathering flowers~ This bush is right outside our living room window, can't wait to watch her babies grow up~

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Organic Herbal Soap

A new batch of Homemade Herbal Soap is ready. I'll be sending out samples of it to new customers that sign up on the Crow's Nest mailing list for the next week. The response from cusomers has been extremely positive! They have been impressed with how much the soap lathers, makes their skin soft and really lasts!! I use Organic Vegetable oils and pure Therapeutic grade Essential Oils~ Super Clean!!

Another beautiful day up in the Hilltowns~ The Statice plants, Globe amaranth, A variety of Rubeckia plants, Artemesia and tons of Snapdragons are finally in the ground. Besides selling the fresh Snapdragons this year, I'm experimenting with drying them as well. We'll See~~





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Chive Vinegar

What a beautiful day it is today! I decided to poke around outside as much as possible before heading into work (Spooky decided to join me-she ended up at the Catmint) and I noticed some of the Chive blossoms are ready to pick for Chive Vinegar. This is so easy to make and looks great tucked into a gift basket!



All I do is sterilize a glass gallon jar, fill it with white vinegar and then add my Chive blossoms and stems into the vinegar. You want to make sure the Chives have just opened and that they still have their nice pink color. It usually takes a couple of days to collect them, since the chives don't all open at once.To speed things up you can place the jar out in the sun, when the vinegar is a nice pink color (3-7 days). I strain out the chives and pour the vinegar into sterilized vinegar bottles. I like to use the mini-sized vinegar bottles, you could even use mason jars-just make sure they are sterilized. Then I add a few fresh chives to the finished vinegar. Tie the bottle w/twine and add my homemade label~ SUPER CUTE!!

Of course you can add other herbs if you'd like. This year I'm going to experiment with Purple Basil and maybe a few cloves of fresh garlic added to the Chives.

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Primitive Votive Pots & Flower Pots

The Primitive Votive pots are all done and they came out sooo cute!! So far we came up with the Berry & Vine design, Crow & Star, Willow & Heart and a sheep design. I love them all! Besides using them for votive candles I have one on my desk to hold pens & pencils. The other new item for the Crow's Nest is Primitive Flower Pots. I wanted something very simple with a touch of "herb" and of course Primitive. Well I got it!

These Flower pots are made with the basic Primitive Glaze like our other pottery but without a sponged rim. Then a Lavender plant with a touch of blue is painted around each piece. Just enough design without taking away from the plant. They all come with their own saucer as well. I just need a little more patience and wait for my plant order to come into the shop so I can fill some of these pots up~ www.crowsnestprimitiveshoppe.com

Organic Herbal Soap~Crow's Nest Primitive Shoppe

Here’s a picture of a recent batch of Herbal Soap that my mother and I enjoyed making. They’ve been carefully taken out of the mold and left to cure for at least a month before I wrap each bar in tissue and tie it w/ a sprig of organic Lavender. These soaps are kept in there own special room at my home with the door kept shut and no one is allowed to peek at them until they’re ready. When I open the door to check on them, I’m greeted with the strong scent of Lavender and Rosemary~~~ Awesome! Can’t wait to see how the new Fresh Mint, and Gardeners Soaps come out. Besides creating a Pure & Natural product for my family and customers to enjoy, soap-making has been a wonderful experience that I’m grateful to be able to share with my mother ~ www.crowsnestprimitiveshoppe.com