Allergies and Sinuses

Oh the lovely time of year when leaves start changing, the weather starts cooling down, pumpkins everywhere, and everyone just waiting for the first day it MIGHT be cool enough for boots and a scarf....like 85! its LOVELY

all of it except.....

ALLERGIES......ICK!!!!!

So what oily advice do I have for Sinus Infections and Allergies?!?!!

Well thankfully I have not had to deal with either of these in a few years......but I found these recipes and thought you (all of you poor allergy sufferers) might find them very useful::

{Allergies}

{Sinus Infections}

-By April Pointer-

8 Tbsp sea salt

10 drops of Young Living Rosemary essential oil

10 drops Young living Myrtle essential oil

OPTIONAL substitutes or additions:

 -a couple drops of Young Living Eucalyptus (any kind)

 -Melaleuca Alternifolia

 -Lavender -Purification -Lemon (not much)

Drop the oils into a small container already filled with 8 Tbsp sea salt.  Mix it into the salt well.  Add 1/2 to 1 tsp of the salt mixture to warm distilled or filtered water in a neti pot/nasal irrigation bottle and use a few times a day for a sinus infection.  Keep salt in a container with a lid.  It's a good amount and should last you quite a while.  Mine has kept well over a year.

I also use any of the above oils on my nose, forehead and neck topically and diluted a little if it's warm.

Must do for Fall!

In honor of October first, I thought I would write a post about some of our favorite things to do in the fall! We love fall, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't! So here are some of our favorite things to do that make fall even that much better!!! 

1. Visit a pumpkin patch - even if you don't have kids! 

2. Sit outside on a cool afternoon and enjoy your fall drink of choice! 

{This is my favorite homemade fall drink}

3. Watch at least one football game, or go to one if you can! Even if you don't like sports, chose a team and cheer em on!

4. Walk a college campus. Find a college campus near you and just take a stroll - the atmosphere is contageous and one of my favorite things to enjoy in the fall, especially if it happens to be in Norman, Ok!

5. Find a street or a park with gorgeous foleage and take a long walk, with the only intention being to soak up the changing colors and enjoy the cool breeze. Take a picnic along and enjoy it even longer!

6. Buy a fall scented candle and fill your house with its yumminess! These are some of my favorites! (i'm slightly addicted to the smell of fall)

7. Buy a pumpkin!

8. Eat at least one bag of Candy Corn! (I say bag to make myself feel better, I am so addicted and cannot stop once I start)

9. Have a cookout with friends!

10. Build a bonfire! Roast marshmallows!

11. Paint your nails a 'fun' fall color!

12. Enjoy every day that it doesn't reach 90 outside! For us Texan's thats a big deal and definitly something to be celebrated!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Coffee at Home

I get as eager as anyone for that first day that Starbucks has their Pumpkin Spice available! But, I wanted to learn how to make something similar at home, a little more healthy, and a little less sweet! And this has become my daily cup this fall!!! 

1. Start with your favorite coffee! 

2. Add the grinds to the filter (Can also be done in a K-cup)

3. Add Cinnamon, and if you want Pumpkin Pie Spice! 

4. While it brews, I zap my milk in the microwave!

5. That's it! 

6. I also do this with my K-cup filler. I just add the cinnamon and or pumpkin pie spice before I put the lid on! It is so easy and adds just the right amount of flavor! And because the flavors are brewed with the coffee it mixes a lot better than adding the flavors after it has already brewed! 

Fall

I don't know anyone who doesn't love fall and really look forward to that first day where it feels like fall outside - when pumpkin spice makes its return, all the yummy fall scents hit the candle isles and of course football!! 

My fall decorating started with a trip to Hobby Lobby, only to return home and realize I had bought almost all the same stuff last year in the after season clearance sale. I returned the items and went to Dollar Tree to see if they had anything different and found a lot of stuff to compliment what I already had! 

A few of the details: 

• A cupcake holder with a sparkly pumpkin on dry beans. 
• The vase and all the decor came from Dollar Tree, I just added a little gold paint to the leaves to make them stand out a little more! 

This frame came from a flea market and I had been looking for the perfect place to use it! I started to make a wreath for the front door and decided the frame would be more fun! I bought the sign at Hobby Lobby for .99 and painted it with some paint I had at the house!  I had saved the yellow yarn from an Anthro gift I had received and drilled two holes in the sign and there it was! I used floral wire to attach the flower pieces and then just added the burlap ribbon bow! It was so much fun and ubber simple to make! 

The vases on this table came from Dollar Tree as well as the pumpkins! I cut up an old coffee bag on some books to set the center piece on! Again, super cheap and a lot of fun! {I will admit that the first bag of candy corns ended up all eaten and I had to buy another bag, but goodness they were delicious}

I got this chair for free at a garage sale last fall and decided to use it as part of my fall decorations this year! I had this small canvas with a eurpoean painting on it but had never used it so decided to just paint over it! I also wanted a burlap pumpkin so I decided to try to make one! 
I took a small bucket we had left over from our wedding and put newspaper all round it! I used the other side of the coffee bag and bunched it up around the newspaper! I took safety pins and pinned, from the inside, so that it stayed bunched up then put a rubberband around the top! I found a piece of bark out of our yard and used it for the 'stem'! 

I got this shutter at a garage sale last year and decided to paint it using Annie Sloan chalk paint! (this was my first experiment with the paint and I fell in love) I had it as my centerpiece on the table, but once the table got a facelift for fall, I decided to use it here! I have been collecting acorns from our yard and adding them to the small floaral arrangement! I had found the green and orange mini gourds at Dollar Tree, but adding the acorns makes it look a lot richer! 

These branches came from Dollar Tree and I wrapped part of a coffee bean bag around an oatmeal container! 

I have almost completely burned through 2 candles since I got it all decorated. I just love the smell of fall!