Practical Magic Blog Party! Let The Magic Begin!

Practical Magic has always been and always will be my favorite movie of all time. The character I most resonate with is Sally Owens. I love her style, love her personality but most of all I love her botanical shop aka Verbena Botanicals! I dream of having a shop like she had in the movie.

"We were going to open a botanical shop. Where Mike would get all the ingredients and I'd make the stuff. He really loved my mint-oatmeal shaving cream. He couldn't stop eating it."

And I bet you all didn't know that I have one of her recipes on hand. ;)

Try this stimulating body scrub with sea salt to soothe your dry hands this Fall. Who's to say Sally didn't have this recipe in one of those beautiful bottles that lined her shop. :)

Grapefruit Exfoliating Paste

4-ounce glass jar

1 1/2 ounches almond oil

25 drops grapefruit essential oil

6 drops lavender essential oil

10 drops lime essential oil

14 drops tangerine essential oil

3 ounces coarse sea salt

Combine almond oil and essential oils in a glass jar and shake vigorously to disperse the oils. pour mixture into a glass bowl and add the sea salts a little at a time, stirring until you have a thick paste. Of course, always stir clockwise when making your potions. Let it sit for 1 hour. Pour into glass jar. This will last for 6 months if covered and stored in a dark glass container.

And always remember....

"Always throw salt over your left shoulder; keep rosemary by your garden gate; plant lavender for luck; and fall in love whenever you can."

Lavender and Sage Smudge Stick

Yesterday I was working on my small deck garden and noticed how beautiful my sage and lavender were. Then an idea popped in my head. I had never made my own smudge stick before so I stopped pruning my plants, dropped everything and began to make it. :) See how ADD I can be?

Cut as close to the base as possible so you have a long stem...

Cut a little lavender, long sprigs...

Gather them in a bunch...

Get a little twine....

Start wrapping from the base...

Keep wrapping until you reach the top and go back the other direction making sure you bind as many leaves as possible. If there are any sticking out I just trim them.

Get some newspaper...

Wrap it up....

Bind with rubberband, I used some hair ties.

Then let it dry for a few weeks and your smudge stick will be ready for use!

Drying mint leaves for tea!

"As for the garden of mint, the very smell of it alone recovers and refreshes our spirits, as the taste stirs up our appetite for meat." ~ Pliny

Drinking Healthy

So I was in Whole Foods yesterday trying to be good and I came across this great drink. If any of you out there like Chai, like I do, you've got to give this a try! This is a protein drink by Bolthouse Farms, but seriously, it doesn't have that funky protein taste. It has 40 grams of protein along with tons of vitamins and green tea. Now I haven't tried all of their products yet but you can checkout their website here. They also have a section for recipes that sound delicious!

I'm ashamed to say I drank their largest bottle in one sitting. It's one of those drinks that you can't stop drinking once you start (and I mean in one sitting). It's especially good REALLY cold. I actually froze mine a little (even better). You can still see a solid chunk up towards the top. That chunk tasted icy good! :)

Giveaway!

There's a wonderful giveaway going on over at Lost in Astral Space blog. She's giving away these wonderful self-made gifts. Aren't they gorgeous? If you haven't heard of Lost in Astral Space you've got to swing over to her blog and follow her. She's wise, a lost traveler like most of us and weaves magic into her everyday life!

Aren't these prayers beads beautiful?

Whoever wins this giveaway will be so lucky because these were obviously made with a little magic and alot of love! :) Good luck all!

The Magical Hydrangea

Not many people talk about the magical properties of the hydrangea. According to folklore, if a (bad) witch put a curse on an unlucky man or woman the hydrangea could be used to break the curse.

In general the hydrangea stands for friendship, devotion, and understanding.

Hydrangea is also used medicinally. Native Americans used the root as a diuretic and detoxifier. The bark of the hydrangea was used to ease muscle sprains and burns. It is still used today in alternative medicine as a tonic herb.

I cut these from my girlfriend's garden yesterday. The colors are magnificent...or should I say magical? :) I'm going to dry the petals to use later.

I am going to bundle some of my sage today to make a smudge stick. I'll let you guys see when I'm done. :)

A Magical Party!

Did you hear? La Boheme Magique and Frosted Petunias are having a Practical Magic blog party! Now you all know that Practical Magic is my FAVORITE movie of all time. I mean come on...love spells, margaritas, bad boys, good boys, romance, two old eclectic and whimsical aunts. What's not to love? Well, I'm gonna be there. How about you? Click on the link above and it will take you right over!