Kitchen Herbalism-Pine Needle Oxymel

I have read of oxymels before and it always brought to memory this beverage my Grandmother would give me when I was sick with a cold. She called it a Hot Toddy and I could taste vinegar and honey always. It always seemed to help.
 I have wanted to make an oxymel out of the childlike curiousity but had not until yesterday. I was inspired by Rosalee de Foret's book on tastes/energetics and it is a free ebook for anyone who may be interested. You can see her on facebook here.
In this ebook she was sharing about Pine Needle Oxymel and I decided it was time to get my groove on and make it, especially since we are a dealing with allergy and cold symptoms this time of year.

To get started, I cut some pine needles from a tree outside.

I added a handful of needles to 1 cup of apple cider vinegar with the mother. I decocted this until the liquid was reduced to half. Strain.

Oxymels call for 3-5 parts honey to the strained liquid. This helps it preserve well. I choose the lesser amount.

So to 1/2 cup pine needle vinegar decocotion I added 1 1/2 cup honey.

I then warmed on my woodstove gently and stirred it well.

The end result is a yummy sweet syrup, useful for colds, and wet coughs and sore throats. Pine needles contain a high amount of vitamin c.

Take a teaspoon as needed.

This is now stored in the fridge for my family to use when needed.

And my childlike curiosity is satisfied. This is what grandma did give to me in a little hot water with lemon.

Introducing my kids line-Camping Soap

My children have created their own line at Dreamseeds.
These are made from cut offs and hand shaped into palm sized boulder shapes. They call it camping soap because it is environmentally friendly, biodegradable, with natural organic ingredients like shea butter, cocoa butter, extra virgin olive oil, and insect repelling essential oils, mainly citronella. Each boulder is 6-8 oz. They are big. One can feel confident using this in the wild, even for dishwashing. Just apply some soap to a cloth and wash dishes. Use for hands, body, and other types of cleaning needs, or keep on your person as you hike so the aroma can ward of insects.

Camping Soap   Here is where you can find their latest creation.

Dreamseeds Giveaway Winner!!! YAY

I selected the winner of the Dreamseeds Giveaway package last night. Thank you all and Congratulation to the winner of the package. Hope you love it!!!

Dreamseeds Giveaway-ONE MORE TIME

Hey! Thanks to all of you showing your support and sharing my work with people in your world. It has been so fun to be part of this with you and to hear your favorite products. After yesterday on Facebook, I think I determined I better devote a portion of supply money to getting some amber in for body butters before the heat of late spring arrives. I really do appreciate all of you!
And since there is room for one more little gem in the giveaway box, I am including a sampler size of Beautiful Face Unscented Cream. I dont know if you have experience with my cream, but these are 100 chemical free, I use herbal extracts, organic oils, essential oils, aloe vera gel, plant hydrosols, all to support the health of face and body. Dreamseeds creams are silky feeling and assist elasticity and softness to the skin, along with adding nutritional components and wrinkle fighting herbs and plants. The list goes on and on with our creams, and I hope the winner will enjoy all the items they receive in thier box.

Ok today, we will combine ways to enter. Share my work with your friends, comment on your favorite items up to 3 products by Dreamseeds to get an entry for each thing you share. Have a lovely weekend and I will be back tomorrow I am hoping to announce the winner.

Dreamseeds Gift Set Giveaway-Wait! There is something else:)

I have a little more room in the giveaway box, so I am going to extend this until Saturday Night at Midnight.

But today, I am asking for something new to get your name entered.

To enter today, please share with me, or on your facebook wall, your favorite item from Dreamseeds.

I will allow up to 3 of your favorite items, and for each item you speak of, I will enter you name.

Our beautiful ceramic bowl is full of names already and I thank you so much for participating.

I am getting excited thinking of drawing that name for the gift set.

As you may have noticed, there is a little of each thing I create, so today I am adding to the giveaway box a packet of Cleansing Grains.

This creation is inspired by Rosemary Gladstar, using plants of all types and works gently yet effectively in cleaning the face. The clays I have added gently dislodge dirt and impurities from the pores and is not drying like most commercial cleaners can be.
To use the grains, it is suggested to start with 1 tsp of Cleansing Grains and put into a small bowl. At this point your creativity kicks in. Add honey, yogurt, herbal infusion, hydrosol or water to create a paste. With fingertips, massage the Cleansing Grain paste onto the face and in circular motions, you will be cleaning your skin, removing old skin cells, drawing our dirt and trapped matter in the pores and conditioning the skin at the same time. Blood circulation will flow to the face and is a healthy self care ritual that will leave your skin glowing and rosy, without roughness as in other cleansers with things like apricot kernels and such.

Ok friends, please share with me today on your favorite Dreamseeds products and I will enter your name for each item you share with me, or on your facebook wall, up to 3 times.
For example say you have a few favorites and you narrow it down to 3 items:
Bergamot Spice Soap
Empower Chakra Soap
Kali Perfume Solid

I will enter your name 3 times.

Or if your favorite item is Catnip Insect Repellant and that is all you have ever ordered,
You will receive one entry for speaking about the one item you like.

And remember to tag my name if you share this on your facebook wall, so  I see your post and can get your entries written and put into the vessel for the drawing on Sunday.

YAY!!! I am so excited!!!

I hope you have a fantastic, beautiful and blissful day with a weekend of fun and recuperation. Communication and deep insight, especially about money matters seems to be the theme of the weekend, so don't be surprised if some things come up or you begin a new plan moving forward. I feel like I have been in this place several weeks, and I suppose if things are chill, I will streamline more on the ideas I have been working with. Thank you all for being part of this drawing. Let me know via facebook, or comments on your faves.

In Love~Kristena

Day 5 Win Dreamseeds Gift Set

Ok to clarify, this is how to enter into the drawing:
Share my work via my web stores
http://hyenacart.com/dreamseeds

http://dreamseeds.etsy.com

Share any of my products or my work as an herbalist on your blog or facebook page

Share with your friends my blog and I will enter new subscribers and you if you let me know you are the one who shared my work and also let your friend know to comment on the blog that they are a new subscriber and I will enter them

New likes to my facebook page will receive an entry as well and if you have shared my facebook page with people please let me know
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dreamseeds-Organics/132935852113?fref=ts

Basically this drawing is a way I can say thank you for helping me get the word out about my work, and that we are full swing back into business after a brutal year. There will be one winner and I will draw the name of the winner after midnight tonite.

Today I am adding a sample of our bath boulders, which are basically bath fizzies or bath bombs. I dont care for the term bomb and fizzie is overused, so we call these bath boulders and they are made with essential oils, shea butter, cocoa butter, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and exotic salts. This makes for a therapeutic, skin softening, delightful experience for the bath.

On occassion I offer these little ones like what I am placing into the drawing, and most times I offer huge 7-8 oz boulders. Since they need to be shipped in a box to prevent breakage, I dont offer them alot since it costs almost as much to ship as it does to buy them. However for a person ordering a large amount, if I flat rate the box, then it does not cost much at all.
I wanted to offer a variety of my work in the drawing, so these little flower boulders are today's edition sitting in a bed of crushed bath boulders, so you get to add the content of the box they are contained in, into your bath as well in lavender essential oil blend.

Have a beautiful day! Thank you for your continued support of work at home, single mama, artisans.

Win Dreamseeds- Day 4

Today I am offering something along the Valentines vein, although it will arrive to the winner late, so that person can have 2 Valentines days! This is a massage oil, fractionated coconut oil that is infused with Damiana, Jasmine Flowers and other erotic herbs. When damiana is taken internally it stimulates the blood to the pelvic region bringing more oxygen to the tissues, and enhancing libido. Used externally, the properties will be absorbed through the skin and move through the blood to assist the pelvis in massage type application.
Fractionated coconut oil does not stain the sheets and is a favorite for massage therapist for this reason. So if you get a little messy, it will wash out. Also, to make this a little more kinky, chocolate has been infused as well to give it a light flavor, chocolate also being a refuted aphrodisiac, so you can kiss and love on your partner with a natural product to support lovemaking and pleasure. And massage and ease tension.

3 oz container for the gift set. I think it may have sat in the box too close to the wood stove as it just does not want to stand straight very well, so the winner may want to put it into another container if this is a problem. I will have a few for sale on my webstores in larger sizes. Some will have essential oils, to promote desire and sexuality. This one for this set is purely unscented, save for the aroma of the oil, herbs and chocolate itself, which is light.

So reminder:share my work, enter into the drawing. Our last day is tomorrow, and as soon as I confirm I have all names entered I will draw one winner from the bowl of names and send this off to some lucky person to try a variety of my work.

Thank you for supporting my work, passion and desire to work hard at home to be present for my family and offer natural products to the world. I could not be here without your love and kindness, encouragement and passing the word along to others. A gift drawing is the best way I can think of to say thank you right now, and we will do fun things like this again in the future.

So share and let me know in the comments, or link back to my name on facebook. Have a blessed and wonderful day good peeps!!!