Coconut Oil as Lotion

The two places I've lived for most of my life are Southern California and Colorado and if you've ever been to either of these states, you know that your skin needs loads of extra help because it is dry, dry, dry! This means in both summer and winter, some sort of moisturizer is a must. 

You may have noticed that I use coconut oil for almost everything body related.  But the first thing I used it for, other than for cooking, was lotion!  I discovered this in college and have been waffling back and forth between natural lotion and coconut oil since. But now I'm committing to the option that doesn't come in a plastic bottle or take a multitude of ingredients to make: coconut oil.

Using coconut oil

So, if you want, you can just scoop coconut oil out of the jar it comes in and put it directly on your skin, I have done this many times and still do quite frequently.  It smells nice and is super effective.

The following is basically making it into a scented mousse-type lotion and is about as simple as it gets for a homemade body product.

This shouldn't take you longer than 5 min!

Ingredients / Supplies

1. Coconut Oil
2. Essential oil of your choice (optional)
   • I recommend lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, or whatever floats your boat
3. 1 small jar, clean and dry

Instructions

1. Scoop the appropriate amount of coconut oil for the jar you're going to put it in and place it in a bowl.
2. Mix/whip the coconut oil with a fork until it has more of a mousse-like texture.
3. Add about 3-6 drops of essential oil per 1 oz of coconut oil and whip again until fully mixed.
   • My jar is about 4 oz and I add 15-20 drops to it.
4. Put your awesomely scented and whipped coconut oil in your jar, and that's it!

To use: apply it the same way you would regular lotion! I use coconut oil both on my face and body.

Variations

Some people prefer the coconut oil to be a bit harder/more compact as opposed to the whipped texture like I do. If you are this way, or think you may be this way here is your solution:

Simply put the coconut oil in a small pot over low heat until it melts.  Pour it into your jar (make sure its not too hot!) and then mix in your essential oils.  The coconut oil will mold perfectly to the jar and come out less light and fluffy.  Use the exact same way as above.

DIY Old-Fashioned Popcorn Garland

SUPPLIES

• Popcorn

• Thread

• Needle

• Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make your popcorn. You can do this day of or a few days before.

   • Prepping popcorn in advance allows it to get a bit stale so it isn't so brittle when you're stringing it!

2. Thread your needle, I like to double mine up. Be sure to tie a solid knot at the end and leave extra thread on each end for attaching to your tree!

3. Thread a piece and push it all the way to the end, test if your knot is secure. Continue adding popcorn kernels, pushing them down the string once you get a several threaded - it saves time to push several, rather than one-by-one.

4. Continue threading until you have the desired length. Tie another knot at the end.

5. Add these garlands to your tree, or hang on your wall and enjoy!

The Hunt for a Christmas Tree

This weekend, Peter, Piper, and I woke up early, put some hot coffee in our insulated coffee mugs, and hopped into the car, bound for the mountains.

The goal: acquire this years Christmas Tree!

Fir the Forests! 

Here in Colorado, you're allowed to chop down your own Christmas tree! The permit is usually about $10 (ya, it's super cheap!) and you get to have a day outside hiking, enjoying some fresh winter air, in search of your tree!

This is far and away my favorite way to get a tree. They're small and practical, very inexpensive, 100% organic, and you get to go into the mountains instead of some random parking lot where someone's going to try and get $100 out of you.

Some may wonder: isn't it good to not cut down trees in our national forest?

The answer is yes, but you have to remember that federal forests and parks are heavily managed. Forestry work is constantly being done to mitigate fire risk, and Christmas tree chopping actually aids this work! You can only take trees  6 inches or less in diameter, so you're not taking any oldies, and selectively cutting the smaller trees can help limit the amount of forestry work that needs to be done in a location.

The Hike

We found ourselves in Winter Park, CO, buying our permit and heading into a few of the approved chopping areas in the  Arapaho National Forest.

This area is well maintained for Christmas tree cutting. The forest service roads are plowed and there are designated parking lots. Even though the roads were plowed, they were still quite an adventure to travel! When we reached the spot we wanted to head into, there were a few other families around. I realized that lots of people have been doing this for many years. They bring stoves and roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate.

We put on our jackets and started off into the woods. Our dog, Piper, absolutely adores the snow and was having an amazing time romping around in the forest! We ended up finding a tree that was growing under a large stretch of power lines. This is an area that is going to be cleared one way or another by the power company to maintain the lines properly. We hope our tree would prefer to be a Christmas tree than just chopped down to protect the lines.

Our tree fit perfectly into our small, one bedroom apartment! It's about 8 feet tall, but thinner than traditional Doug Firs and Nobles. It's some sort of pine, though I haven't ID'd it to species. It's about 8 feet tall and probably 3 across at breast height. We're incredibly happy with it, and now our apartment smells amazing!