process: DIY oils & salves pics

[On a wooden tabletop: a four-cup glass measuring bowl, filled halfway with pale green oil. Three amber glass jars, one large, two small, all empty. In front of them, a scattering of metal measuring spoons.]

Once I had an idea what I wanted to do for the Design It Yourself pics, the rest went pretty easily. I’d already got caught up on oils by the time it occurred to me to get pictures of the process for the DIY oils listing, so I kinda faked it; fortunately it’s easy enough to pour the grapeseed oil right back in the bottle once I’ve taken a good picture or two.

oils diy 1

[The same glass measuring cup, now seen from above; behind it is a green plastic bottle, also filled with oil, and a large amber glass bottle; next to it are four small amber glass bottles, and a black plastic lid that looks to fit the big bottle.]

Totally staged, but that’s the name of the game, isn’t it?

I staged the salve process pics, too, though in this case I was partway through a batch of Ma Cobb’s (the roommates being conveniently out of the house for the day) so I just stopped a couple times partway through & arranged things in an aesthetic manner.

salves diy 1

[The same glass measuring cup, this time filled with with pale yellow oil, a couple white clumps of shea butter, and a cupcake-shaped cake of beeswax. To the left is a box with more cakes of beeswax; in front of it are three clear glass jars; and behind it are a big bottle of the same oil and a white plastic container filled with shea butter.]

I love the beautiful orange the Ma Cobb’s gets, even though it’s from the capsicum which means that I can’t use it & my roommates can’t even be in the house when it’s being made. But just SO PRETTY.