Fragrance your home the natural way

Today, aromatherpist, Louise Green of Vital Aromatherapy talks to us about how to fragrance your home the natural way.

Most people like to fragrance their homes in some way. Commercial air freshener aerosols, plug-ins and scented paraffin candles are commonly used. These are generally made with synthetic fragrances that mask unwanted odours but can be toxic to our lungs and the environment when used on a regular basis. There is a natural alternative that is effective, affordable, beneficial and creative. You can make your own Aromatherapy home fragrance solutions using Essential Oils!

1. Use a tea-light burner or an electric diffuser
Use up to ten drops of a single essential oil or a blend in the burner or diffuser

* Romantic blend: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Jasmine and Orange
* Sleep blend: Roman Chamomile, Mandarin, Lavender, Vetiver
* De-stress blend: Bergamot, Frankincense, Geranium, Lavender

2. Make your own spritzers. You can use these as room sprays or as linen mists

Room sprays will need approximately 2-3% of essential oil to the base water and linen sprays approximately 1%. I use floral waters, also known as hydrolats, but you can use Spring Water.

Simply add the required amount of essential oil to the hydrolat, bottle in a suitable container with an atomiser, and then shake and spritz every time you use it.

Lemon-balm water with essential oils of Lemongrass and Rosemary clears unwanted smells
Rose Water with a few drops of Rose and Jasmine Absolutes or Geranium essential can be used to delicately fragrance your underwear or you can wear it as a natural perfume.

3. Make Lavender bags to fragrance your drawers or airing cupboard

You can make simple cotton rectangular bags secured with ribbon, hearts to hang or simply fill a pretty organza bag. Save Lavender when you cut it back at the end of the summer, dry it and strip or cut off the petals. Keep in an air tight container until you are ready to make the bags. You could make bags or pouches with other natural materials such as hops or wheat and fragrance the "stuffing" with essential oil. Cedarwood is traditional for keeping moths at bay.

4. Make a natural and contemporary pot pourri with any dried flowers, leaves, fruits, cones, spices etc and fragranced according to the seasons

Use a beautiful bowl to present the pot pourri or make cones for a lovely gift. You will need some Orris root as a fixative and essential oils for the aroma. Geranium, Rose, Lavender and Lemon essential oils would make a beautiful blend for Spring.

5. Make your own fragranced beeswax furniture polish

Make polish with beeswax, pure turpentine and carnauba wax. Add any essential oils you like to the polish base once it has cooled a little, before pouring into your container. Sweet Orange, Patchouli, Pine, Lavender and Cedarwood all smell fantastic in polish or you can make a blend that you love. The polish fragrances the wood, and the aroma will linger in the air every time you use it.

6. Make your own Aromatherapy soy candles with Essential Oils

1. Use sturdy glasses, pretty hexagonal jam jars, vintage tea cups or other suitable container.
2. Measure how much water the container will take leaving approximately 1cm at the top. This is how many ml/g of wax you will need.
3. Weigh out soy wax and melt it in a heat proof jug using a microwave or over a bain-marie.
4. Using a suitable wick for the diameter of the container you are making, glue the wick sustainer to the bottom of the container and centre it with a wick holder, using masking tape to keep the holder in place if necessary.
5. Cool your soy wax before adding essential oils; check with the supplier as to the correct temperature but it will often need cooling at room temperature for about half an hour or till the wax is on the verge of turning slushy and opaque.
6. Add approximately 3% volume of essential oils to wax with a pipette and stir well before carefully pouring the wax into the container.
7. Allow to set until completely solid. Remove the wick holder and trim the wick to about 1cm. Allow to rest for 24 hours before lighting. After the first burn keep the wick trimmed at 0.5cm for optimum burning.

You can use any essential oils but some do seem to hold their fragrance in candles more than others. Anything that smells very intense like Patchouli, Geranium or Lemongrass will work well in a candle and can be blended with lighter oils such as Lavender, Sweet Orange or Grapefruit. You can use Citronella or lemon Eucalyptus oil to http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3765535675833442775#make a candle to keep biting insects at bay.

邀您搭手工藝術列車 卡卡市集廟會獻創意

（檳城／北海5日訊）遊樂於城市街頭的卡卡手創藝術市集（Kaka Art Market），原班人馬將移陣到“好運一條龍”廟會來，誠邀你一起放慢腳步，體驗一次創意能量之旅，把獨一無二最“夯”的手創藝術品帶回家，以最亮麗的心情迎接龍年！
來自中馬的25個手工藝術隊伍已經趕工製作新年為主題的各類藝術品，並於本月14日及15日晚帶到檳城中路及北海斗母宮；不管是用的或是穿的，所有的作品絕對讓您愛不擇手，包您恨不得要通通搬回家。
卡卡手創藝術市集負責人林彥杉（Tuna）說，人味與創意是一般商品最缺乏的元素，該市集匯聚文化、美術、音樂、手工、表演藝術等領域的藝術工作者，北上為大家呈獻作品，大家都滿心期待這25個熱愛藝術的青年攤主給廟會帶來的驚喜。
“這個市集主要是想讓本地手作人有個平台，也讓本地人多了解手作藝術的意義。此外，也會把街頭表演藝術放在這個市集上，讓表演工作者有個展現的平台。”

鼓勵全民動手製作

不僅如此，還以“手工做的用品，多了一股人味，手工做的飾物，多了一股創意”為自我鼓勵的格言。
卡卡手創藝術市集的各類手工作品，全由攤主們親手製作，包括飾品、娃娃、包包、筆記本、首飾、插畫明信片、攝影作品、陶瓷、卡片、恤衫等。現場也可以體驗陶土拉坯，動手做出自己獨一無二的陶杯、陶碗等作品。
值得一提的是，卡卡藝術市集鼓勵全民動手做，回歸自然的生活形態，因此市集現場也有售賣製作手工品的材料，如花布、粘土、軟陶、吊墜、繩線、手工雜貨等，更有多種選擇的造型材料包，民眾可以買回家根據教材學習製作，現場也有提供製作教學和詢問等。
喜歡手工品的朋友，想要搶先獲知更多詳情，也可先瀏覽www.facebook.com/kakaartmarket。

藝術家發揮創意平台

卡卡手創藝術市集結合文化、美術、攝影、陶瓷、表演藝術、音樂、藝術交流等於一屋簷下，每月固定召集各地手工藝術家，於吉隆坡半山芭邵氏廣場為手工藝術者提供平台，也讓民眾一賭藝術作品。
每月不同主題的市集都吸引許多民眾參與，熱愛藝術的北馬朋友也會因為這個市集而特地赴會，如今本報邀得市集北上，絕對是引頸長盼的北馬朋友的好消息。
卡卡手創藝術市集以年輕、創意及獨特性為市集切入點，打造新文創市場的展銷平台，創作分享與藝術交流的新據點，讓本土藝術家、創作人展示作品，亦為藝術與企業間搭建橋樑。市集的成立，也為年輕朋友提供了不少的機會。
卡卡藝術市集是個講究主題性質的市集，例如過去的8月是“馬戲團”，9月“田園風情”，10月“搖滾Kaki”，11月“西部牛仔”及12月“我的聖誕襪”。來到1月份，當然是“新年快樂”才夠應景，風格獨樹一幟，看起來又時尚創新，有夠“夯”。

新年穿衣福 文化時尚兼備

新年穿新衣，如果您打算購買一些富有文化氣息卻又不俗氣的上衣穿過年，不妨到廟會逛一圈， 各種不同設計的“衣福”，說不定會給您帶來意外驚喜。
“衣福”備有各種不同的設計及尺寸，且價錢合理，男女老少都適穿，喜歡的話，還是可以多購買幾件，一家大小家庭裝齊過年。