How to use Arnica

Earlier this year I had surgery. I was lucky to get a doctor that believes in supporting modern medicine with natural methods. She prescribed arnica and pineapple as ways to support my body as it was healing. I have used arnica for years, but had never thought to use it after a major medical event like this.

Mostly I use arnica for bruising. I have a cream made with arnica and I have some homeopathic tablets and I would use one or both to help myself heal from bruising or muscle strain. 

My stepdad had a really bad injury on his arm a few years ago and I decided to get him some arnica cream to help it clear up more quickly, so I looked online and I found that there is a whole line of arnica products and these are now sold in every major grocery store! 

I find that absolutely amazing because the last time I had to buy it, I had to go to a specialty herbal shop because I couldn't find it anywhere else.

How to make a corn heat bag

Today I'm going to put together a simple tutorial on how to make a corn heat bag. I have several of these in different sizes and they are amazing used hot or cold for basically any injury you might have. I've had my original one for over 20 years and other than the fabric getting kinda dingy, it still works great!

I've made several more since that original one and I keep a smaller one in the freezer and the larger ones just in the cupboard to warm up when needed. Depending where you're at in an injury, you could use hot or cold, so I like to have a few ready. I swear I get hurt more living on a farm than any other time of my life! But I digress...

Let's talk heat packs!

Cranberry almond bars

This recipe is one I make every single year when cranberries start showing up in stores! There aren't many recipes you can make using fresh cranberries, and it seems that their tartness means they always get relegated to cranberry sauce. These cranberry almond bars will make you change the way you think of cranberries though!

I think people are afraid to use cranberries in a lot of baking solely because of that tartness. Whatever goes on as this recipe bakes though, turns the cranberries super sweet! I like to add almonds because I like the unique cranberry almond flavor, but they are just as good with pecans.

I cut these into cranberry almond bars or squares, but you could also just serve it as a cake. 

How to make an Aromatherapy Bedroom Gnome with Lavender!

When my kids were little I had typical screwed up, parents sleep schedule. I was often trying to fall asleep when I had time to sleep and not necessarily when I was tired! Yeah, that! I got this cute little sleepy time teddy bear with a little lilac colored robe on and he was filled with lavender. I would set it on my pillow next to my face and it would help me fall asleep.

The kids knew this and if they couldn't fall asleep they would ask me to bring them "smell my butt teddy". That was the teddy bears name because the lavender scent was strongest at his butt. lol Kids are funny. 

Well it's many years later and I still use a lavender spray or lavender eye pillow to help me fall asleep some nights.

So I started thinking that a lavender gnome would be super easy to make and really cute, plus ya know, gnomes are trendy right now! I've made a lot of gnomes as décor, so I decided to write out the way I do it and show you how I make this cute little gnome to help you fall asleep faster. 

Since gnomes are small, this is a perfect project to use up scraps of fabric and notions. 

How to plant bulbs in fall

Autumn has arrived and that means it's time to put the bulbs in so next year's flowers will pop up in the spring! The first couple times I planted bulbs I did it all wrong! I planted them too shallow, I planted them too close together and I planted them at the wrong time of year.

I learned the hard way that if you plant them too shallow the chipmunks will dig them up and eat them. If you plant them too close together as certain bulbs multiply you're going to have to thin them out, and soon. And if you plant them in the wrong season well you might not get anything for a year if at all.

So today I want to talk about what I've learned and put into practice since the first disastrous set of bulbs I planted.