Going-Away Presents

There are so many people who are going away. With seemingly no thought to how I feel about any of it.  When I think about it I really can't blame them.  Living in the deepest pits of hell (aka Phoenix) really isn't what it's cracked up to be.  

So I will suck it up, be the bigger person and wish them well.  But they're leaving all at the same time pretty much!  Thank goodness Pinterest was here to guide me in getting them a little something to say goodbye.  

I am inexplicably drawn to these type of cups, they just make me happy.  So I got each one of them a cup and am filling it with things that will be nice to have for traveling (drink mixes, hand sanitizer, snacks, and a Starbucks gift card).   My flag making could use a little work, but overall, I like them.  

Homemade Lip Balm

I am a girl who loves her lip balm.  I always have.  As long as I remember I always use vaseline on my lips before I go to bed, or I just can't sleep.  (OCD perhaps?)  But is vaseline the best product to use, being all full of pesky chemicals and such?  After all, I suppose it is a by-product of making petroleum.  (please don't quote me, as I have no idea what I'm talking about).   Anyway, since I spend all my free (and un-free) time on pinterest, I started seeing people are making their own lip balm, and I thought HEY, that's something I'd like to do.

I wanted to make a recipe that used shea butter and cocoa butter, but this was cheaper.  I'll still try the other at some point.  And SO easy.  I really loved the end result.  Although it's just slightly firmer than I would have liked, which can most likely be remedied by using more of the oils in ratio to the beeswax.  

And it's totally *chemical free!

Here's the recipe if you want to try it too:

from delia creates

1-2 TBSP. grated beeswax
2-3 TBSP. coconut oil
1/2 TBSP. sweet almond oil
5-10 drops of essential oil {added off heat}

I found it kinda difficult to grate the beeswax, so instead just cut it into small chunks.  You probably want to use a cheap knife or grater that you don't care about because the beeswax really sticks.  Same goes for melting it (which you want to do in some small double boiler type thing).  

I didn't add any essential oils, I kinda like it plain, but if you do, the directions say to do that after the melting process or the essential oils will burn off.  

The hard part is finding suitable containers.  The ones I used are some re-purposed sample containers I already had, so I'm still on the search.  

So there ya go, hope you get a chance to make some for yourself :)

*as far as I know everything contains chemicals