Potpourri

Making Herbal Dream Pillows : Secret Blends for Pleasant Dreams (The Spirit of Aromatherapy)

A lavish book offering step-by-step instructions for creating herbal-scented pillows for custom-made dreams.

Essentially Soap: The Elegant Art of Handmade Soap Making, Scenting, Coloring & Shaping

Consumers are no longer satisfied with the industrial types of soap available at the grocery store. They want specialty soaps with just the right scent, emollients, and eye-appeal. They want to pamper themselves and their loved ones with personal soaps made to suit their own tastes and preferences. Now they can get that perfect custom-made soap by making it themselves.

Drawing on years of experimentation and fine-tuning, author and chemist Dr. Robert McDaniel has developed simple instructions and recipes for making a wide variety of cold process soaps as well as melt and pour and rebatched soaps for the beginner. McDaniel instructs on how to work with fragrances, skin treatments, colors, and shapes, and discusses the aromatherapy benefits associated with many essential oils.

-25 recipes for cold process soapmaking.
-Easy to follow step-by-step instructions.
-Time-saving melt and pour and rebatch techniques.

Making Soaps & Scents : Soaps, Shampoos, Perfumes & Splashes You Can Make At Home

With this book, it is easy to create soothing suds and a wide variety of perfumes, colognes and splashes that moisturize, revitalize and aromatize skin and hair.

Following the simple step-by-step directions, readers can make all the body products of their dreams, from Buttermilk Oatmeal Soap and Tangerine Cocoa Bar to Lemon Lavender Shampoo. Each recipe also points out how readers can improvise and create their own special soaps and scents.

A special section details the techniques of the world's most famous fragrance producers and traces perfume history. The book includes a resource directory, safety hints and ways to make your soaps more earth-friendly.

The Good Earth Bath, Beauty & Health Book

You don't have to spend a fortune at upscale toiletries shops to amass a wonderful collection of soul-satisfying beauty products. Beauty consultant Casey Kellar has filled The Good Earth: Bath, Beauty, & Health Book with simple formulas for cleansers, masks, perfumes, lotions, toners, hair care materials, bath items, herbal remedies, eye balms, hand and foot treatments, soaps, and even mouthwash. Tempting recipes and lovely photos help you transform your home into a mini-spa using common household goods like baking soda, vanilla, and spices, and some readily available specialty articles like essential oils, glycerin, and beeswax (which are available at pharmacies and health food stores). Most products have a shelf life of at least a few months, so you can concoct lots of potions at once and then enjoy them for some time to come, and you'll know exactly what you're pampering yourself with, since everything's all natural. If you can bear to part with any of these goodies, you can also assemble one of the suggested gift packages for a friend. --Amy Handy

In this practical guide to beauty and well-being, readers will learn how to make Mother Nature their Fairy Godmother! With remedies and toiletries made with natural, simple formulas and ingredients found in health food, drug, and grocery stores, people of all ages can learn how to pamper themselves.

Casey Kellar, the founder and CEO of RainShadow Labs and RainCountry Naturals, is also the author of The Natural Beauty & Bath Book and Natural Cleaning for Your Home.

- More than 75 simple formulas enhance well-being and produce spa-quality beauty results
- Learn to make lotions, toothpaste, bubble bath, massage oils, cough syrup, lip balm, perfume, and hair care with readily available ingredients
- Special section on creating gift bags for loved ones

Raku

The Japanese art of Raku, a challenging pottery firing

technique that uses fire and smoke to form unique patterns on

the glaze, has long been a favorite of ceramists. This

comprehensive overview of Raku explores the fascinating art

and its history in full detail.

Inside, readers will find information on the clay types used in

Raku and the subsequent firing process, as well as the glazes,

techniques and reproduction processes common to the art.

This new edition has been completely re-written and updated

with over 200 all new, full-color photos of beautiful Raku

pottery. It also contains an in-depth history of the origins of

Raku, its development over the last 20 years, and the changes

in techniques and perception of the art during that time.

Relax to the Max: 60 Candles, Scents, Soaps & Potpourri Crafts to Create Your Own Bliss

Georgia Bonesteel's Patchwork Potpourri

Potpourri and fragrant crafts

Making Candles & Potpourri: Illuminate and Infuse Your Home

With a brief but compelling history of the candle, Catherine Bardey introduces us to a once-essential source of light that has lost none of its charm through the ages. We may no longer depend on candles for everyday illumination, but we still rely on them to create atmosphere, evoke a mood, or enhance our decor. Excellent descriptions of the various materials and techniques (molding, dipping, pouring, rolling, decorating) and extensive recipes for many types of candles ensure that even the novice can create beautiful designs.

The book's second half is devoted to potpourri, which is given the same careful treatment. A short introduction to scent in history--touching concisely upon perfumes, incense, and aromatherapy--leads into explanations of several methods for creating potpourri (fixatives, drying, storing, displaying). This is followed by specific recipes for, among others, spring, summer, and autumn medleys; energy-boosting, relaxing, and romantic scents; and themed potpourris for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. A final section charts botanicals to grow for potpourri making, explores essential oils and their useful properties, and offers additional candle-decorating ideas. Pretty photos enhance the presentation. --Amy Handy

Create a relaxing oasis of serenity, comfort or romance in any room. Step-by-step directions explain the techniques of candle and potpourri making--from scented, hand-dipped tapers to decorative column candles to aromatic mood enhancing rose petals that readers can use to decorate and fragrance their homes.

Readers will find recipes for all occasions, seasons and places including spicy Christmas potpourris and elegant Hanukkah candles--all made from herbs, flowers and oils. A resource directory, safety hints and decorating advice help readers enjoy and explore the relaxing and soothing world of mood lighting and fragrances.

Thirty Herbal Gifts (Thirty Projects)