Tips and Recipes for a Fresh-Smelling Home

When throwing a party, the bulk of my planning revolves around three main things: the tasty foods and craft cocktails/mocktails I will be serving; the parts of my home that need deep cleaning before the big day; and how to make the space smell and feel fresh and inviting. On this list, my favorite part is choosing my home fragrance! People often underestimate the power of scent or just don’t know where to start. With that in mind, I'm sharing some of my favorite tricks and recipes for freshening up a space.

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Posted by Jessicka

Cookies and Cream Lip Balm Recipe

Each year around the holidays, I create a new lip balm recipe to share on both the Mountain Rose Herbs blog and with my friends and family. They make a great stocking stuffer and the people in my life enjoy seeing what I’ve come up with for the season. I love that lip balms can be made in bulk for sharing, and I love this fun and useful expression of my craft.

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Posted by Jessicka

Chocolate Chip Mint Bath Truffles

A few months back, our friend Janice Cox shared a luscious bath truffle recipe from her book, Beautiful Flowers. After making it several times, I embarked on a journey to create other fun variations from the base recipe. Historically, I have loved making bath bombs, and they make exceptional gifts, but they can also be finicky, even for the well-trained bath bomber. Bath truffles, on the other hand, are a bit easier to work with and contain more rich and hydrating oils and butters. Like bath bombs, bath truffles still fizz and can be customized with different scents, but they hold their shape easier.

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Posted by Jessicka

Boot and Shoe Deodorizer: Baking Soda, Sage, & Rosemary to the Rescue

 

My mother used to tie dried lavender flowers into squares of cloth to make little lavender pouches and then she tucked them into her shoes. Not only did this freshen her footwear, it also meant that every time anyone opened her closet door, the lovely, calming scent of lavender drifted out into the room. This botanical shoe-freshening method was a charming fix for her professional office shoes, but wouldn’t have been enough for the boots and shoes I wear to work in my yard or to go hiking in. At the end of a long winter day outside in the Western Oregon rain and mud, my rubber homestead boots and hearty hiking boots need more than a freshener; they need a deodorizer. That’s where this time-tested, natural boot and shoe deodorizer is a godsend. It works on the same principle as the lovely lavender packets my mother used, but brings the deodorizing power of baking soda, rosemary, and sage to the task.

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Posted by Heidi

Frosted Gingerbread Essential Oil Blend + Wax Melt Recipe


Gingerbread is a nostalgic aroma for me. It takes me back to my childhood in New Jersey, where I grew up appreciating our family holiday celebrations and traditions. One of the many fun memories of my childhood was decorating gingerbread houses and people. I even carried that seasonal practice into college, where my best friend and I crafted some pretty over-the-top gingerbread houses. Now, being three thousand miles away from my family and my closest friends can be difficult, especially around the holidays. But bringing in nostalgic elements of these precious childhood memories helps me to feel closer to them. One of the most transformative ways I have found to do this is through aromatherapy

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Posted by Jessicka

Small Gifts & Stocking Stuffers Under $20



Gift-giving can be difficult, especially during the holidays. Finding the right gift at the right price is hard enough, but then layer on crowded parking lots, long shopping lines, and inclement weather, and you have yourself a recipe for holiday stress! We just don’t need that added pressure in our already hectic lives.

With this in mind, I curated a simple list of budget-friendly gift ideas that you can have delivered right to your doorstep. You’ll find the perfect gifts for the health enthusiast, foodie, tea lover, or fragrance connoisseur in your life. (Or for yourself; you also deserve it!)

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Posted by Jessicka

Sweater Weather Roll-On Perfume Recipe

Homemade perfumes are wonderful for a myriad of reasons. From the ability to try new things without an enormous price tag to the pleasure of crafting something both beautiful and useful, perfume making is a pastime that I’ve grown to truly love. I custom tailor fragrances to match my mood or emotional needs or to harness the energetics of certain plants. But I also have a fondness for crafting blends that match the seasons.

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Posted by Jessicka

2022 DIY Gift Guide + Free Herb-Inspired Gift Tag Template

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Each year as I make my holiday gift list, I have a certain set of criteria that I aim for. Offerings that are thoughtful, personal, and useful are my top priorities. I have generally found that homemade gifts are more appreciated than things that I can find in mass at any big box store. Small-batch DIY gifts also allow for customization and are great for keeping waste out of landfills.

I want to share some of my favorite recipe ideas that hail from a variety of different masterminds on the Mountain Rose Herbs team. I recommend using these as a baseline and tailoring them for the person you are gifting.

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Posted by Jessicka

Homemade Candles + Winter Bloom Essential Oil Blend (and Vegan Option)

Candlelight is good anytime, but during the winter holidays, it’s part of human traditions that date back thousands of years. This year, as the cost of everything, including candles, has skyrocketed, it makes more sense than ever to make our own. Ive made candles for fun over the years, including holiday candles, but I’m definitely not a candle-making artisan. Fortunately, we dont have to be experts to produce simple, lovely poured candles. Making our own gives us the freedom to customize the scent with pure essential oils. Candle making is also a wonderful activity with kids, so the winter school holidays are a great time to pull out the wicks, wax, and your favorite upcycled jars. Developing some old-fashioned skills like this one means inflation doesn’t have to put a damper on what you love most this time of year: traditions and family.

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Posted by Heidi

DIY Toilet Deodorizer – Forest Blend


As we prepare to have guests over through the holiday months, it’s important that our friends and family feel comfortable when nature calls. After all, the key to life is not letting anyone know that you, in fact, have bowel movements. All kidding aside, it’s a sensitive subject for many, so giving your guest options that don’t involve heavy synthetic fragrances or noisy and environmentally harmful aerosol cans is both considerate and helpful.

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Posted by Jessicka

Autumn Breeze Wax Melt Recipe

 

When you think of autumn, what comes to mind? Is it the colorful masterpiece of the treescape, or the sound of crunching leaves? Possibly the taste of a pumpkin spice latte or warm mulled cider? For me, it’s the aromas whirling through the air that herald the coming of fall.

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Posted by Jessicka

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Tips and Recipes for a Fresh-Smelling Home

If you are looking to learn some new ways to freshen up the smell of your home, these tips are recipes will be a handy resource for years to come! Discover new ways to make your home smell warm and inviting; or fresh and invigorating.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

December 28, 2022

Cookies and Cream Lip Balm Recipe

This hydrating lip balm pairs the emollient qualities of shea butter with the intoxicating aromas of “Cookies and Cream.” Stock up for the winter or make some fun gifts for your favorite humans!
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

December 20, 2022

Chocolate Chip Mint Bath Truffles

Make up a batch of these chocolate chip mint bath truffles for some uplifting self-care. These cute little scoops of skin-loving goodness make fun gifts and provide aromatherapy support from the winter blues.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

December 16, 2022

Boot and Shoe Deodorizer: Baking Soda, Sage, & Rosemary to the Rescue

This easy, natural boot and shoe deodorizer brings the power of baking soda, rosemary, and sage to the task of freshening your boots and shoes!
WRITTEN BY Heidi

December 12, 2022

Frosted Gingerbread Essential Oil Blend + Wax Melt Recipe

Bring natural fragrance to your holiday celebration! This essential oil blend smells like a fresh batch of frosted gingerbread and can be used in a diffuser or made into homemade wax melts.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

December 9, 2022

Small Gifts & Stocking Stuffers Under $20

If you are looking for budget-friendly gift ideas for the health enthusiast, foodie, tea lover, or fragrance connoisseur in your life, then look no further than our 2023 small gift guide. All items are between 3 and 20 dollars, making them ideal for small gifts or stocking stuffers!
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

December 2, 2022

Sweater Weather Roll-On Perfume Recipe

This warming and comforting perfume blend was created to make you feel the way you do when are donning your favorite cozy sweater. Celebrate the season with this DIY perfume blend for fall and winter.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

November 29, 2022

2022 DIY Gift Guide + Free Herb-Inspired Gift Tag Template

Find DIY gift inspiration with this 2022 DIY gift guide, complete with a FREE gift tag template. Choose from 35 homemade gifts ideas for foodies, herbalists, essential oil lovers, and natural product enthusiasts.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

November 28, 2022

Homemade Candles + Winter Bloom Essential Oil Blend (and Vegan Option)

Bring the comforting scents of the winter season to your space this year with DIY candles. Scented with pure essential oils, the Winter Bloom candle blend will delight you and your holiday guests.
WRITTEN BY Heidi

November 17, 2022

DIY Toilet Deodorizer – Forest Blend

An easy, inexpensive, and effective “Poo-Pourri™” spray is a handy recipe to have in your DIY toolkit. Learn how you can craft up a quick batch so you will be prepared when nature calls. Spray a few pumps in the toilet bowl before you go and odors will be significantly reduced, if not eliminated.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

October 12, 2022

Autumn Breeze Wax Melt Recipe

As we begin to incorporate elements of autumn into our homes, one important component is scent. This spiced autumn breeze wax melt recipe brings in the elements of fallen leaves with warming seasonal spices.
WRITTEN BY Jessicka

September 29, 2022