How to Make an Essential Oil Journal

Meet Lea...   

Lea has one of those super creative yet organized brains.  

I've come to realize that's a rare combination, I envy her :)  

A few months ago Lea sent me photos of how she's journaling her own essential oil discovery.  Her ideas are economical, creative and so smart!  I asked Lea if she would delight you with her expertise, she didn't disappoint, enjoy this oldie but goodie CW guest post!

Journaling Your Essential Oils Journey

Guest Blog by Lea B. from Just a Drop of This

I love to journal. It’s something I’ve done since I was a teenager. I love to collage, too – cut pictures from magazines or print things I find online and tape or glue them to just about everything, especially in my journal. I am also a big list maker; I write notes to myself and paste them all over (any other Virgos recognize this trait?!).

When I first started following Camp Wander, there were so many great ideas that I wanted to keep. Sure I’m on Pinterest, I have a folder on Facebook for all my essential oil pages I ‘like;’ I have a laptop and a Kindle Fire and a smart phone; you’d think that would be enough. But even with all those techy things within my reach, I was writing down ideas from webinars and making notes of things I’d read online, they were stacking up everywhere – in drawers, on my desk, stuck to the wall, in the kitchen where I keep my oils.

*light bulb moment*

I needed a file for all these or even better:

START A JOURNAL!

I happen to have blank journals everywhere. People are always giving me journals for presents. I keep them in stacks in the closet, eventually I find a use for them or re-gift them (*gasp*). If you aren’t lucky enough to have a stock pile of journals lying around, they are everywhere – the grocery store, every big box store, the bookstore (shop local first!). Pick one you love, you’ll be using it all the time so you should have one that speaks to you. I prefer spiral bound for two reasons, you can fold it over to be half size for your lap and you can lay it flat [when you’re following a potion recipe].

On a budget? If you have a paper hole punch, ribbon or O-rings and paper, make your own!

Now the fun begins. I went through all of the archives on Camp Wander, copied them into a Word document so that I could make them fit my journal pages [I did narrow margins and landscape orientation to get two columns on one page] then printed in color. I used my craft supplies – a paper cutter (scissors would totally work) and double sided tape (you can also use a 
glue stick but it may wrinkle your pages). If you want to get fancy you can use colored pens, stickers, accent papers, anything YOU want.

I made labels for three sections: EO: general info, Uses of Oils and Blends, Potions. Then I decided what info should go where and away I went to paste all this new knowledge into my journal.

Rebecca recently mentioned keeping a journal of things that work for you, since our different chemistries can make the oils work differently. This would be a great fourth section: Personal Journey! I think I will add this to mine – making notes about my favorite Shield or OnGuard tea (honey, 2 drops of Shield or OnGuard, and hot water), what I add to my cleaning spray that smells great (lemon in my vinegar/water spray bottle). Oh, recently I started making the travel tins and using roller bottles (seriously changing my life and the way and frequency I use oils!!) and I could write about blends and ratios.

Now you have your very own journal to document your Essential Oils Journey, keep all your information in one place, bring it to the kitchen to create a potion or two, and stuff it in your bag when you head out to spread the word {"I have an oil for that”} with everyone you talk to!

Happy Journaling my EO friends, Lea

Be sure to visit Lea on her blog, A Drop of This for even more inspiration!