DIY Simmer Pot Recipe.

Disclosure: I did receive product samples to facilitate my review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Many of you know that I love handmade things, and I especially love natural bath and beauty products, so I’m really excited to share a post from my friend Becky today! She owns the Etsy shop Reclaim Essentials, and I love her products. When she offered to do a guest post and giveaway for my readers, I jumped at the chance! I knew that you all would love to learn about her all natural products.

Some of my favorite products from her shop are the deodorant (I love the scent, and it works!), the lotion bar, and the lavender hand soap. The lotion bar has been a true lifesaver – as the weather is cooling off my skin is becoming drier, and it is really keeping my skin moisturized. I love how easy it is to apply, too.

It’s important to me to know what is in the products that I put on my body – I don’t want any parabens or phthalates, thank you anyway!

Everything made by Becky is all natural and gluten free, and many of the products are vegan as well. And bonus, they all smell amazing. The essential oil combinations she comes up with are really wonderful and smell lovely without being overpowering.

Okay, I’m going to step aside now…take it away, Becky!

My name is Becky and I have a confession…I love, love, love great smelling products! Research has shown that our sense of smell can affect our mood. I am living proof of that. As soon as I got my own place in college, I burned strong scented candles and constantly used plug-in air fresheners. Fall and Christmas are times when the spicy scents of cinnamon and clove are in my home. There’s just something nostalgic about them that brings me back to my childhood!

When I started to research how to have a more healthy and natural lifestyle, you can imagine how upsetting it was to discover that those synthetic fragrances in my beloved candles and air fresheners were doing more harm than good for my family and my health. I have to admit, at first I wished that I didn’t know about that information and could just go on using my smelly products without feeling guilty.

Enter essential oils! I kept coming across articles showing how essential oils could be beneficial for your mood and health. So I asked a trusted friend, who is a nurse in the natural medicine realm, what she thought about essential oils. She had just started using them and was very excited to share their benefits with me. Best of all, you could buy a diffuser that would fill a room with the lovely aroma of these little beauties AND they actually clean the air and are beneficial to you! I was ecstatic! Throwing away all those store bought candles and air fresheners, I started making my own candles with essential oils and my friend also introduced me to simmer pots.

These Simmer Pots are so great for your own home during the holiday season and also make wonderful gifts. You place the ingredients in a large mason jar, put some baker’s twine as well as a tag on it and you have a great, thoughtful gift!

Here are two of my favorite recipes:

Citrus Clove Simmer Pot

Ingredients

2 teaspoons clove buds
2 lemons, sliced
2 teaspoons mulling spices
3 or 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 drops DoTERRA clove essential oil
5 drops DoTERRA lemon essential oil
2 Cups of water (or enough to fill the mason jar after you add rest of ingredients)

Directions

Add all the ingredients to a pot or slow cooker and heat with low heat. Enjoy!

Note: you do need to pay attention if you put it in a pot on the stove because the mixture will eventually evaporate and then it can leave a very burnt bottom to your pan… I speak from experience on this!

Wild Orange and Cinnamon Simmer Pot

Ingredients

4 Cinnamon sticks
1 large orange, sliced
1 teaspoon mulling spices
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 drops DoTERRA Cinnamon Essential Oil
5 drops DoTERRA Wild Orange Essential Oil
2 Cups of water (or enough to fill mason jar after you add rest of ingredients)

Directions same as above recipe

As you may have guessed, I am a DIY kind of girl. So after I discovered essential oils, I started making all sorts of natural products out of them, such as candles, sprays, cleaning products, lotion bars, beauty products and much more. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to open my own Etsy store: Reclaim Essentials. I opened about a year ago and have loved coming up with different recipes for my handmade items. My items are gluten free and most are vegan.

My most popular sellers are the deodorant creams. I struggled for a long time trying to find a natural deodorant that actually did the job. It took a lot of batches to come up with my currant recipe but I love it! It comes in two scents: Refreshing Citrus and Cedarwood Bergamot. Another popular seller are my essential oil roller bottle blends. My favorite roller blend is the “insomnia” blend. I keep it by my bedside and roll it on my wrists and the bottoms of my feel every night and it smells amazing!

I also have started making some Reclaimed Wood signs for my shop. If you saw my house you would know my love for reclaimed wood and barn wood because it is everywhere! I love creating rustic, distressed signs for your home! There are many Fall and Holiday styles available.

I love that Etsy gives Moms like me a chance to share my creativity with others while still being able to spend time with my family and have flexibility with my schedule. I’m so thankful for this opportunity!