I love fresh air. I’d rather be cold and have the windows open than be boxed in a stuffy house. And commercial perfumes tend to aggravate my asthma, so if I can avoid them I will.
Spring is ALMOST at hand in Newfoundland, but the days when I can justify turning off the heat and leaving the windows wide open have yet to come. And having an active dog and an active man in the house, coupled with the variety of things I cook, means our house could use a bit of fresh air during the winter months.
I saw this post from Smashed Peas and Carrots a while back and I thought it might be worth a try.
Basically all you need is a small jar, some baking soda, and some essential oils. The original post required a mason-jar style lid, where the lid itself could be replaced with perforated scrapbook paper, a great way to personalize the jar. I don’t have any scrapbook paper, so I decided to use fabric and elastics instead.
I also didn’t have any spare jars at the moment, but I had some large ramekins that were sitting around so I thought I’d use those instead.
So it’s simple: take about 1/2 cup baking soda and plop it in your jar. Or bowl. Or whatever.
Shake about 8-12 drops essential oil of your choice onto the baking soda.
Affix your lid, which could really be anything, provided it has holes for air to flow through. I have a small patch of fabric here (charming thrifted vintage handkerchiefs) that I fixed in place with an elastic band. Give the contents a gentle shake to mix them up a bit.
I made four separate bowls, for the main activity rooms in our house: tea tree for the bathroom, lavender for the bedroom, and orange for the living room.
As an experiment, I also tried some rose water in baking soda and put that in my office. I doubt it will last as long as the ones with the essential oils in it, but it still smells lovely!
Keep the jars or bowls out of the sun in a place that gets good air circulation and I think they’ll probably last you at least a month, maybe two!
