Tuestorial: Hand Salve

This week, Cheyenne Barr of Deconstruction Crafts is guest blogging for Tuestorial and showing us how to make your own hand salve. Cheyenne recently joined the SF Etsy team and is jumping in head-first to all we have to offer! Be sure to check out her Etsy store and blog. 

I'm a new member to the SFetsy team and recently went full time on my crafty enterprise with my Etsy store, Deconstruction Crafts. I'm here to share a recipe that treats your hardworking hands, and could also double as a last minute gift for others this season.

Hi, Cheyenne! Welcome!

Winter can be a time of stress and anxiety for many of us, especially as shop sales boom. I feel that the natural rhythm during the cold season is to slow down and go inward. The weather pushes us inside, the cold keeps us huddled around each other. This is a time to get close and enjoy peace.  

Sometimes I think that we take for granted how precious our bodies are, and fail to take care of ourselves this season. We're running from place to place for gifts, creating mass inventories for shows, and braving the weather to get to the post office. Truth be told, last night I spent three hours stressing out trying to make the perfect sugar cookie for a party. This isn't sustainable for our health and wellbeing!

So I'm sharing with you a little concoction that will outsmart our modern-day inclinations to go faster and faster. Treat your hardworking hands that are the stars of your handmade business, and throw in some yummy aromatherapy oils to bring you back down to earth. This salve is so delicious I made myself an extra big batch to encourage a full body massage with the stuff.

Glass containers for the amazing salve you are about to make!

Materials Needed:

• 2 Tbs Coconut oil (I used Lanka Sun brand)
• 3 Tbs Shea butter (I used Now Solutions brand)
• 1 oz Cocoa butter (I used a small tube from Queen Helene)
• Orange and Cedarwood essential oils (I used Now Solutions brand)
• 1 small stovetop pot
• 1 pyrex pour-spout measuring device
• Stirring apparatus (I like using chopsticks)
• Little glass containers (I collect little jars leftover from used lipgloss, jams, and single-serving jars of honey. You can buy some new containers from a bath & body place or department. I find them at Rainbow Grocery in SF).

Step 1:

Okay, are you ready for this?

First, I recommend going down a step on the caffeine   If you've gotten dependent on coffee, make a cup of decaf for yourself. If you're staying afloat with your black tea, make a cup of green tea. 

 By Appleware Pottery

Fill your pot halfway with water and set your pyrex measuring cup inside to create a double boiler. Burning your oils are the worst! Bring your water to simmer, then lower the heat to low or medium/low.

P.S. - While you wait, take a look around your house and admire what an awesome community Etsy is. I found eight Etsy stars just on my stovetop!

I spy Jen Oaks, Appleware Pottery, Bean Forrest, Cathy McMurray, Plant Oddities,Elizabeth Ocean, LolaBot, my own Deconstruction Crafts jar and I'm wearing a shirt from Hola Crystal!

Step 2:

Drop 2 rounded Tablespoons of coconut oil in the measuring cup and stir until fully melted.

Before being melted...

After!

Step 3: 

Drop 3 rounded Tablespoons of Shea butter in and stir until melted.

Before being melted...

After!

Step 4:

Now either put in your whole tube worth of Cocoa butter, or measure out 28 grams or 1oz of cocoa butter and stir until fully melted.

Step 5:

I wasn't quite sure how to measure the essential oils, so this is how I can translate it to you: shake the cedarwood about 25 times into the mixture, and the orange about 15 times.

Using a spoon, drip over one of your containers a little to test of what you've made.  Put it in the fridge for 2 minutes and then test the consistency and see if you love it or if it needs adjustments.

Making test sample of hand salve

Step 6:

When your full batch is just right for you, use a towel to take the pyrex out of the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes to bring down the temperature and not burst your little containers with sudden extreme heat when you pour it in.

Waiting for salve to cool

Step 7:

When ready, pour into containers, and put in the fridge to harden.

Ready to pour into containers

If you are in an especially hot area, the natural state of your creation might be liquidy, to which you can alter the recipe by melting in some pure beeswax.  I find that 99% of the year in Berkeley that this concoction stays solid.

 Get one of my chalkboard tops for your favorite jar here!

Step 8:

Last step, apply some of it to your hands and breathe in. Breathe out. Take care of yourself!

Enjoy!

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