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October 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Calendula Lotion Bars

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

DIY· Frugal Living· Saving

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Every fall, my skin starts to go through a change.  Hubs likes to call it alligator skin, but let’s be honest.  An alligator’s skin is much more moisturized than mine once October comes.  Yep, I’m talking painfully dry, cracking skin.  I look forward to it every year…. said no one ever!

This year though, I wanted to use a lotion that’s as close to natural as I could get.  I wanted ingredients that I could pronounce rather than a bunch of chemicals.  I wanted a lotion that soaks into my skin nicely without leaving my hands feeling slippery or greasy.  Because let’s be honest, I love to hold onto my cup of coffee while I am drinking it, not feel like it’s going to slip out of my hands and crash all over my kitchen tile.

calendula lotion bars

calendula lotion bars

Over the last few years, I’ve made lots of changes to our diets, and while it’s still not near perfect, but it’s come a long way.  I wanted to do the same to our skin care routine again.  Back when my kids were in diapers, we had used natural skin care items because they didn’t cause build up issues in cloth diapers like a majority of the main stream stuff that you find in big box stores.  So I had started learning how to make our own diaper creams, balms and salves.  Not only did they work, they were also very cost effective too.

Not long after we moved here, I had read up a lot on different herbs that I could grow in our garden,  Now that we had a permanent home, I wanted to grow as many herbs for their various health benefits as I could.  Calendula, along with lemon balm and bee balm, was an herb that kept popping up in the research I was doing.

calendula lotion bars

Calendula is known for it’s healing properties, partly due to antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties within the flower.  It sounded like an excellent first step in getting back into creating our own skin care products, as well as helping my skin be moisturized in the cold PA winters.  I picked up a few packs of seeds on clearance at the end of our growing season.  It worked out to be a beautiful addition to our garden.  I only grew two plants this year, but they both produced really well, and I can’t wait to grow more calendula plants next year.

Before I get started with how to make the lotions bars, I want to mention that this recipe is pretty fool proof.  It doesn’t have to be exact, and you can easily swap out ingredients.  You can skip an infused oil altogether and use coconut oil, or replace shea butter with cocoa butter.  Try different combinations to see what works best for your skin.

What You Need:

calendula lotion bars

  • Calendula infused oil {see instructions below}
  • Shea Butter*
  • Beeswax*
  • **Optional
  • Grapeseed Extract* – for added antifungal and antibacterial properties
  • Vitamin E* – for added moisturization
  • Lavendar essential oil – for scent

To Make the Infused Oil

calendula infused oil

  1. Fill a glass jar with your dried calendula petals.  It’s important that the petals are completely dry to reduce the risk of mold growing in your oil.
  2. Cover the flowers with a carrier oil of your choice.  I used Sweet Almond oil*.
  3. Place in a sunny window for 2 to 3 weeks, shaking at least once a day.
  4. Once infused, strain the oil into a clean glass jar and discard the used petals.

To Make the Lotion Bars

calendula lotion bars

  1. In a double boiler, combine equal parts of calendula infused oil, shea butter and beeswax.  Allow the beeswax and shea butter to melt, and all the ingredients to combine.  {I used 1/3 cup of each, and it made 6 bars}
  2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a minute or two.
  3. Stir in 5 drops grapeseed extract and vitamin E, and 20 drops of lavender essential oil, if using.
  4. Pour into molds {I used old canning rings and lids}.  Allow to cool completely and harden, then pop out of molds.  Store.

calendula lotion bars

Since these were made with fresh ingredients and do not contain preservatives, they will not last as most lotions you can buy at a store.  I recommend using them within 3-6 months.  Since I only use one bar at a time, I store the unused ones in my freezer for a longer shelf life.

Now you can enjoy natural, homemade calendula lotion bars, and have the benefit of knowing what you are putting on, and in, your skin.

A Fresh Start

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makingcentsmatter

This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
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Our district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
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This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
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Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
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Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
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During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
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Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
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In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
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It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
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So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
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Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
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What are some wins you have had lately?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
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Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
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𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
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𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
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This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
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