Calendula Infused Oil

Calendula is such an amazing herb for the skin and for kids.  It is super gentle, anti-inflammatory, soothing, tissue repairing and anti-fungal.  Infused into a base oil, like olive oil, you can draw out these healing properties and apply them directly to the skin.  You can use Calendula oil on its own as a moisturizing and healing oil or add it as an ingredient in your body care recipes. I have fallen in love with Calendula oil all over again since my daughter was born a month ago. It it the only moisturizer that I have used on her skin.  It can also be used on cradle cap, to moisturize and protect the diaper area, in the bath and much more.  Calendula infused oil is an ingredient in almost all of my natural baby care products.  It is great in lotions, butters, salves and diaper cream.  All of these recipes will follow, but in order to make them, you will first need to make yourself a nice batch of this lovely oil.  It is quite simple, just follow the steps below…

Tools Needed: Crock Pot, Quart Sized Mason Jar, Herb Grinder, Large Strainer, Large Bowl and Muslin or Cheesecloth

Ingredients:
2 oz net wt. dried Calendula Flowers
4 cups Olive Oil

Directions:

Powder the calendula flowers.  You can do this in a coffee bean grinder, blender or vitamix.  The flowers are even gentle enough to process by hand.  You do not want a fine powder, you just want to break up the plant material a bit to create more surface area, which will ultimately make a stronger oil.

Place the flowers into a quart sized mason jar and fill to the top with olive oil.  Mix well and cap.

Fill a crock pot with water and place the mason jar in the water bath.  Turn the crock pot on low.  Warm the oil for about 4 hours, stirring and checking frequently.  Remove the oil from the crock pot.  Allow it to cool and the flowers to settle to the bottom of the jar.

Strain the oil through muslin cloth or cheesecloth to remove the Calendula flowers.  Squeeze the cloth to remove all the oil from the plant material.

Store the finished oil in a dark glass jar, away from light and heat. Yields approximately 24 fluid ounces of oil.  The shelf life of the oil is about 1 year if stored properly.

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