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Free Online Herbalist Course: Making Herbal Preparations (with 33 Herbal Recipes)

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July 22, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon Leave a Comment

Are you looking for basic herbalism skills you can practice in your day to day life? Then don’t miss out on this free online herbalist course from the Herbal Academy! Available for a limited time only, this free online herbalist course will teach you how herbs are used and prepared for everyday use. By the end of the course, you can begin making your own herbal recipes at home! Keep reading to learn more about this exciting herbalism course. And don’t forget to enroll by July 31st!

How to Get Started in Herbalism

You may have noticed the covers of major magazines when out on your shopping trips lately. Publishers like National Geographic, Time, Newsweek and almost every home, food & fashion publication are talking about herbs! And with good reason. Herbs and herbalism are more than just trendy hot topic buzz words. Herbs can actually play a very important role in our everyday wellness!

Herbal education offers a number of solutions for living a more natural, healthy lifestyle. With a little help from The Herbal Academy, you’ll learn exciting new information and skills that can follow you throughout your entire lifetime. Discover ways that herbs are used and prepared for everyday use. And start making your own herbal recipes at home. All through their free online herbalist course! This course is the perfect entry point into the wild and wonderful world of herbs, covering basic herbal preparations that will help you build your own repertoire of exciting, nourishing formulas.

Free Online Herbalist Course

Ready to give this free online herbalist course a try? The Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course from The Herbal Academy is only available for free registration through July 31, 2019. Course registration will close after this date – and it won’t reopen until next year. You can choose to enroll in either the free online herbalist course by itself. Or take the opportunity to upgrade your course and receive an incredibly practical laminated recipe and herbal preparation tutorial guides with your registration!

Throughout this course you’ll discover herbalists’ four basic categories of herbal preparations along with 12 everyday safe herbs to use at home, and 33 DIY herbal recipes from teas and tinctures to salves and oils! This free online herbalist course will guide you through 7 convenient and compact lessons that are chock-full of hands-on activities, videos, and helpful herbal charts to guide you on your way to making herbal preparations at home. If you’re a beginning herbalist, then this mini herbal course is for you!

What’s Inside Making Herbal Preparations

Designed to bring the world of herbs right into your kitchen, the Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course, provides you with the information you need to get hands-on with herbs while filling your herbal toolkit and knowledgebase at the same time!

Throughout this course you’ll learn the basics of herbal preparations. What they are, why they work the way that they do, when to use them, and of course, how to make them. This course also covers four categories of herbal preparations. This includes valuable information on water- and sweet-based preparations to alcohol- and oil-based preparations as well as detailed, step-by-step video tutorials for each of these common preparations for everyday use.

Upgrade Your Free Online Herbalist Course

To get even more from this free online herbalist course, The Herbal Academy is also offering an upgrade that comes with a 140 page herbal journey planner. So it’s even easier to bring your studies right into the kitchen with these mess-friendly, durable, and incredibly practical laminated recipe and tutorial guides. They’ve compiled the essential hands-on information from all of the lessons in this program into beautifully convenient guides so you can work offline and in your kitchen, practicing your herbalist skills! Simply upgrade your order with the charts when you sign up!

What’s Inside the Free Online Herbalist Course: Making Herbal Preparations

This free online herbalist course provides 3 months of access to 7 instructional lessons on making herbal preparations. You’ll find recipes and tutorial guides, checklist and assignments, reference charts, resource recommendations, video demonstrations and a printable PDF lesson files. You’ll also receive a completion badge in your student dashboard upon course completion. (Sign up here.)

Here’s a breakdown of the instructional herbalism course lessons included in the course.

Lesson #1

Lesson 1 explores how herbs can help us on an everyday basis with some of our most common complaints. It begins with a brief overview of each herbal preparation category that will be covered in more detail later in the course as well as the various solvents that are used in these preparations.

Lesson #2

Lesson 2 takes us deeper into the world of herbs. It covers some foundational principles regarding herbal safety including the various safety categories of herbs, introduces 12 nutritious herbs that are safe for most people, and discusses how these herbs can be used in a variety of ways for everyday situations!

Lesson #3

Lesson 3 kicks off our first herbal preparation category—water-based herbal preparations. This lesson explores water as a solvent and discusses two of the most common types of water- based herbal preparations: infusions and decoctions. It takes a look at the various ways these preparations can be made, walking you through making them from start to finish as well as touching on shelf life considerations and suggested dosages.

Lesson #4

Lesson 4 looks into our next herbal preparation category—sweet-based herbal preparations. This lesson explores various sweet solvents, such as honey and glycerine, and discuss two common sweet-based preparations: infused honey and glycerites. It offers detailed tutorials on making each of these preparations, and takes a look at the shelf life and suggested dosages for each.

Lesson #5

Lesson 5 investigates another herbal preparation category—alcohol-based herbal preparations. This lesson explores alcohol as a solvent and introduces two common alcohol-based preparations – tinctures and liniments. It explores the extraction process for these preparations, provides detailed steps for making each of these preparations, and discusses shelf life considerations and suggested dosages.

Lesson #6

Lesson 6 introduces the last herbal preparation category of our course—oil-based herbal preparations. It begins by looking into how oil extracts herbal constituents from plants, and then explores two common oil-based preparations: infused oils and salves. Tutorials walk you through how to make each preparation from scratch, and the lesson discusses preparation shelf life and suggested dosages.

Lesson #7

Lesson 7 takes all you’ve learned in this mini course and allows you to apply it with 33 recipes, many featuring the 12 nutritional herbs detailed in this course, that you can use for common conditions. These recipes will not only give you practice in making the herbal preparations you’ve learned about in this course, they will also help you to stock your herbal toolkit and give you some experience using herbs in everyday situations.

By the end of the Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course, you will feel more confident in exploring herbal recipes on your own. You will also build a great beginner’s understanding of 12 herbs that you can incorporate into everyday use! Join us for class, and we’re certain you’ll be making herbal preparations at home in no time!

Don’t delay! Register for this online course while it’s offered for FREE! The Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course is only available for registration for 10 days through July 31st and will not be available again until 2020. Enroll here now.

For more information and ideas on living a healthy lifestyle, be sure to check out my boards on Pinterest board. You can also find me on your favorite social media platforms including Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: education, health and wellness, healthy living, herbal education, herbal infusion, herbal oil infusion, herbal recipes, herbal remedies, herbal remedy, online course

Neem Oil Body Butter Recipe with Arnica Infused Coconut Oil

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September 14, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

This plant based natural neem oil body butter recipe is handmade with arnica infused coconut oil and neem oil to help ease the pain of minor wounds, minimize the appearance of scarring and promote healing. Made with only the finest natural ingredients, this neem oil body butter is sure to become a staple in your bathroom medicine cabinet.

As both arnica and neem oil have analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, I thought they were the perfect fit for this natural body butter recipe. In addition to having pain relieving properties, arnica and neem oil are often used in natural skin care products for a variety of reasons.

Neem oil has been used historically in both medicinal and cosmetic applications for hundreds of years. In addition to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, it also has antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Neem oil is most commonly used topically to fight rheumatism, eczema, ringworm, athlete’s foot, cold sores, psoriasis, warts, chronic syphilitic sores, infected burn wounds, and slow-healing skin ulcers. It has also been shown to help control various skin infections including scabies and candida.

While the smell of natural neem oil is off putting straight out of the bottle, neem oil does also offer remarkable moisturizing and regenerative properties and is rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. Luckily, the nutty garlic like aroma of this prized oil is easily masked with a blend of natural essential oils.

Arnica is a wild flowering plant in the same family as the sunflower. Native to both the western United States and Central Europe, this plant blooms from midsummer into fall. It’s medicinal yellow flowers are typically collected at the end of summer and dried for use in tinctures and infusions.

It’s been shown that arnica can help to relieve pain caused by sprains, bruises and other injuries. However, it is important to note that arnica should not be used on open wounds or broken skin. Additionally, those with allergies to members of the Asteraceae family should exercise caution when using arnica as they experience an allergic reaction.

Natural Neem Oil Body Butter Recipe

Ingredients:

.05 oz. cocoa butter
1.6 oz. shea butter
.6 oz. arnica infused fractionated coconut oil
.4 oz. neem oil
18 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil
1 mL vitamin E oil, optional

Instructions:

Before you get started you’ll need to first make your arnica infused fractionated coconut oil. I infused mine in fractionated coconut oil in order to keep the final product from feeling greasy when applied.

In order to create an herbal oil infusion, simply fill the bottom half of a mason jar with arnica flowers and cover with fractionated coconut oil. Seal and place in a sunny window, turning occasionally for several weeks. (Alternately, you can speed up the process by gently heating the fractionated coconut oil and arnica flowers in a double boiler for several hours on the stove over low to medium-low heat.) Strain with cheesecloth before use.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of making an herbal oil infusion, you can simply substitute the arnica infused fractionated coconut oil with arnica herbal oil.

Once you’ve made your arnica infused fractionated coconut oil, you’ll ready to make my neem oil body butter recipe.

Begin by using a digital scale weigh out the cocoa and shea butter. Combine in a glass Pyrex measuring cup or scientific glass beaker. Heat either in a double boiler or at 40% power in the microwave until melted.

Next, weigh out the arnica infused fractionated coconut oil and the neem oil. Pour the oils into the melted butters mixing well to combine.

Now use a graduated transfer pipette to measure out and add the vitamin E oil as well as to add the drops of both essential oils. Stir well, then pour into your desired container and allow to solidify.

It’s important to note that this is a soft body butter. As such it may take 24-48 hours to reach its final consistency. You can put this in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight to speed up the process.

The final product should be stored in a temperature controlled environment. Otherwise, if you live in a particularly warm climate, you may find it helpful to add a small amount of emulsifying wax or beeswax to your neem oil body butter in order for it stay solid.

To use your neem oil body butter, simply apply to affected area as needed to soothe and calm pain and irritation due to a minor wound, injury, bruise, sprain or skin condition.

If you like my neem oil body butter recipe, then you may also like my honeybush tea & pumpkin seed salve recipe. This homemade salve recipe for eczema is made using all natural ingredients including honeybush tea infused pumpkin seed oil. Prized in skin care for it’s ability to soothe skin irritation, honeybush tea is a wonderful pantry staple for whole body health both inside and out! You can discover my honeybush tea & pumpkin seed salve recipe here.

For more great skin care recipes and natural home remedies, be sure to follow my boards on Pinterest. You can also follow me on all of your favorite social media platforms including G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: arnica, bath and body, body butter recipe, crafts, diy, herbal infusion, home remedy, natural, neem oil, skin care

DIY Favorites to Make and Bake

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

August 19, 2013 By Rebecca D. Dillon

I’m busy in the kitchen and hard at work coming up with some great new soap, bath and beauty recipes to share with you. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few of my newest favorite diy craft projects and bath and body recipes I’ve discovered online in pursuit of all that’s crafty.

1. DIY Personalized Magnets & Tins via Martha Stewart
2. DIY House Plant Cupcakes via Alana Jones-Mann
3. DIY Faux Hot Process Soap Loaf via How Do I Make Soap

1. DIY Felt Covered Soap via Sugar & Cloth
2. DIY Lavender Mint Infused Olive Oil via Delightfully Tacky
3. DIY Mason Jar Foaming Soap Dispenser via Pretty Handy Girl

And while you’re busy exploring, don’t forget to check out my latest crafty post on how to create DIY DIY Homemade Face Creams! These quick and easy face creams can be prepared in about a half hour or less, are made with skin soothing white tea extract and come with free printable product labels! Plus through September 15th, 2013 you can enter to win this face cream along with five other fabulous handmade bath and beauty products valued at over $50! Enter here and pin it to win it!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, DIY Craft Project, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath tutorial, cactus, craft project, crafts, diy, felted soap, food, food recipe, herbal infusion, mason jar, melt and pour soap recipe, photograph, soap dispenser, soap recipe, soapmaking

Natural Allergy Relief from Stinging Nettles

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May 27, 2013 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Allergy season seems to be especially bad this spring with more and more people suffering from allergies even while on allergy medications that are supposed to block symptoms and offer relief. So I decided to do a little bit of research to find alternative methods that are said to offer relief from seasonal allergies. One particularly interesting home remedy that I discovered and plan to try is stinging nettles. Nettle leaves can be steamed and eaten in salads and pastas or used in teas. Folklore has long praised their healing powers. Due to the natural composition of nettle, drinking stinging nettle tea can actually relieve allergic reactions to common pollen as well as relieve hives caused by allergic reactions to plants. Stinging nettles tea is often used to treat respiratory and urinary problems as well as aid in the recovery of conditions such as eczema, asthma, sinusitis and rhinitis and can help to diminish susceptibility to the common cold.

To create a tea comprised of stinging nettle leaves, prepare as you would any other herbal or loose leaf tea and pour 6-8 oz. of boiling water over one Tablespoon of dried organic nettle leaves. Allow to steep 10-15 minutes, sweeten if desired and enjoy. To create an infusion, boil one quart of water and pour over 1oz. of dried nettle leaves allowing to steep four hours to overnight, then strain and consume. Alternately, you can also purchase a natural nettle extract made with a 2:1 ratio from fresh nettle leaves. Or you can buy nettle leaf capsules if you dislike the taste of stinging nettle.

Even more interesting than helping to reduce nasal allergies, is the assumption that nettles can also help to naturally prevent osteoporosis. It’s believed that the silicone naturally present in stinging nettle helps to increase bone density. Crafting a hand blended tea using equal parts horsetail, oat straw, alfalfa and stinging nettle and drinking a cup everyday can offer preventative care. Simply steep one Tablespoon of blended herbs in 6-8 oz. of boiling water for 10 – 15 minutes, strain, sweeten if desired – I love the natural sweetness of the stevia plant – and drink.

Overall however, nettle leaves are rich in nutrients our bodies need and contain many essential minerals including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. Nettle is approved by the German Commission E for internal and external use in the support of inflammation. It is prized for it’s diuretic properties and it’s support of the lower urinary tract and can help to prevent and treat urinary tract infections. However, as with any herb, you should avoid stinging nettles if pregnant. As stinging nettle does act as a diuretic and can lower blood pressure, you should consult a doctor before using stinging nettle if you are taking diuretics or other drugs meant to lower blood pressure.

Also be sure to try my natural home remedy for nasal congestion by crafting your own natural Breathe Easier Salve.

What are some of your favorite natural home remedies for allergies and nasal congestion that you find really do work?

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Handmade Home Tagged With: allergy relief, cold relief, crafts, diy, herbal infusion, herbal remedies, herbs, home remedies, natural, organic, stinging nettle, tea

Natural Bath and Beauty Recipes for Your Lazy Sunday

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

March 24, 2013 By Rebecca D. Dillon

It’s spring, and while I’m not spring cleaning today, I did manage to clean out my drawers and closets yesterday. Now I have two bags full of clothing for The Rescue Mission. Of course today’s weather – hello, snow?! – doesn’t really have me in a spring cleaning sort of mood. Though I did find a diy floor wood polish recipe that I’m hoping to try out here before long. Because of the snow, today feels like more of a stay in and craft day, so I’m planning on working on a salve recipe. But first I wanted to share a few fun diy bath & beauty recipes I’ve come across lately.

DIY Homemade Easter Egg Bath Bomb Recipe and Other Fun DIY Bath and Beauty Projects

Next Sunday is Easter so I thought it only fitting to share these DIY Easter Egg Bath Bombs from Henry Happened. Not only are they fun to make but the kids will have a blast watching them fizz in the tub.

DIY Homemade Lemon Poppy Seed Kitchen Soap Recipe and Other Fun DIY Bath and Beauty Projects

If you find you’re spending more time in the kitchen lately than you really would like to, at least make your work a little brighter. These DIY Homemade Lemon Poppy Seed Kitchen Soaps will make washing your hands a joy. They are simply crafted with a melt and pour goat milk soap base, poppy seeds, lemon verbena fragrance oil, and color in a massage bar shaped soap mold. Personally, I’d substitute the fragrance oil for lemongrass essential oil since it’s not only natural but also smells equally amazing. And since lemongrass essential oil will naturally tint your soaps yellow, there’s no need to add additional color. You can find the tutorial over at Rustic Essentials.

DIY Homemade Warming Chest Rub Recipe and Other Natural Cold Care Recipes

As this past winter seems to have been hard on almost everyone health wise – so many people I know got upper respiratory infections and the flu sometimes two and three times around – and I hear that allergy season is priming up to be especially brutal this year, you may want to keep this recipe for a DIY Warming Chest Rub on hand. This homemade chest rub recipe comes from The Dabblist, a really excellent blog I only just discovered today. Some of the other great diy recipes from this blog you may want to try include a Natural Fire Cider Recipe for colds and congestion, Natural Homemade Peppermint Mouth Wash, Herbal Tired Eye Soother, and After Shower Spritzing Oil. There’s also a recipe for Homemade Cough Syrup which includes marshmallow root powder. I bought some of this last year when I had an especially bad cough and mixed into tea and really does work.

How to Make Herbal Oil Infusions and Other DIY Bath and Body Skin Care Recipes and Tutorials

Whispering Earth has a really excellent Tutorial on How to Make Herbal Infused Oils. The information is very thorough and there are also recipes for making a Comfrey Salve and a Simple St. John’s Wort Lip Balm for Cold Sores.

DIY Homemade Natural Sleep Salve Recipe crafted with natural lavender, tangerine, sandalwood and rosewood essential oils plus other natural diy bath and beauty recipes

If you’re looking for a more restful sleep, then try out this DIY Homemade Sleep Salve Recipe over at Design Sponge. It contains lavender, tangerine, sandalwood, and rosewood essential oils to help you relax your way into dreamland.

And, just in case your weather is on the warmer side of things – I actually got sunburned over St. Patrick’s Day weekend when temps were in the 70’s in stark contrast to the freezing temps and snow we have today – The Beauty Department has a tutorial for using tea to soothe a sunburn.

If you like these recipes, be sure to check out some of my own recipes I’ve crafted lately including my Homemade Lavender Patchouli Deodorant – this one has printable labels you can use, my moisturizing Pink Grapefruit Scented Solid Salt Scrub Cubes, and my Natural Cream Eye Shadow Recipe. Also be sure to check out my DIY Bath and Body Board on Pinterest and follow along for fabulous new recipes every week!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Holiday DIY, Soapmaking Tagged With: bath and beauty, bath and body, bath bomb recipe, bath tutorial, cold relief, crafts, diy, herbal infusion, how to, kitchen soap, melt and pour soapmaking, salve recipe, soapmaking, tutorial