Where do you enjoy going on vacation? Our summer family travels took us to the California coast where we enjoyed camping along the beach in our RV motor home. We found so many great spots to go on family hikes and enjoy the sunny warm weather. Of course, summer weather comes with bugs, and hiking with kids comes with scraped knees. I’m excited to share some natural solutions to both of these problems, as well as our fun DIY feather embellished hair accessories!
Natural Healing for Owies
Bug bites or scraped knees? No problem! I recently discovered the Oilogic line of healing products that are made with soothing combinations of 100% Natural Essential Oils.
Oilogic offers a variety of essential oil ointments and roll-ons that naturally soothe and treat skin irritation. Ouchies & Boo Boos essential oil ointment goes on smoothly and helps soothe irritation and redness. We used this natural balm many times on our family California trip to soothe cuts, scrapes and stubbed toes. It doesn’t sting and it smells like peppermint. My daughter made sure she had her natural owie cream in her purse on each of our family hikes. It’s made from 100% Pure Essential Oils diluted with Sunflower Seed Oil and free of petroleum, phthalates, parabens and sulfates. I love that this product naturally comforts ouchies, scrapes and boo boos with a blend of essential oils such as Peppermint Oil, Orange Peel Oil, Clove Leaf Oil, and Tea Tree Leaf Oil just to name a few.
Bug Bites & Itches essential oil roll-on is a concentrated blend of 100% Pure Essential Oils diluted appropriately with Jojoba Oil and Castor Oil. It soothes itchy skin using natural ingredients and it’s a compact size to put in your pocket. We encountered plenty of bugs on our family California trip and a gentle soothing product goes a long way when helping the kids sleep after an adventurous day. This roll-on is easy to quickly apply on bug bites even on squirming kids!
Related Post: Traveling With Kids »
Lavender Bath Products
Oilogic also offers several lavender vapor bath products that help relieve congestion and stuffy noses. We tried out their vapor baths, each made with 100% Pure Essential Oils.
Slumber & Sleep Vapor Bath adds relaxing vapors to a child’s bath that soothe and calm a child before bedtime. You can also use the foaming liquid as a gentle cleanser. I love the smell of lavender and these bath products made with 100% Natural Essential Oils are a great bath time basic and practical gift idea too!
Stuffy Nose & Cough Vapor Bath naturally soothes congestion with a blend of Essential Oils such as Orange Peel Oil, Eucalyptus Leaf Oil, Lavander Oil, and Tea Tree Leaf Oil diluted appropriately to be safe and effective. I definitely recommend giving these products a try for your own family!
Easy DIY Feather Hair Accessories
I made my girls some custom feather hair extensions using DMC embroidery thread, feathers, beads, and charms. These hair accessories are very similar to making those friendship bracelets we all made back in high school.
Loop Lots of Knots
- Cut 3-4 strands of colored embroidery thread that is 4 times as long as you want the hair extension to be. The more colors you choose the thicker the hair extension will be.
- Gather the thread strands together, keeping the ends even, and fold the strands in half.
- Make a knot at the folded end to create a loop.
- Hang the strands of thread by the loop on a key ring so you can attach it to a cabinet knob or handle. You will need to be able to pull the thread strands tight while you work.
- Select one strand and allow the rest of the main strand of thread to hang downward. Loop the single strand around the main strand, keeping the main strand taut. Once looped, tug the single strain upward until it’s knotted tight around the main strand. Continue adding looped knots around the main strand until you’ve created a colored section of looped thread.
- Once you’ve looped a 1/2 inch section of colored thread, continue looping with a different colored strand of thread.
- Continue this process, alternating colors in 1/2 inch sections to create a multi-colored looped hair extension.
You can find a very detailed tutorial of how to make looped thread bracelets or hair extensions here.
Alternate with Braiding
I alternated my looped colored thread sections with braided thread sections to make our DIY feather hair accessories more interesting.
- Once you have some sections of looped colored thread, switch to braiding and use the braided sections to add some feathers, since it’s easier to braid the feather ends into the hair extension.
- Use dots of jewelry glue to secure the feathers in place.
- Continue with colored loop sections and braided sections with feathers until you’ve made the hair extension long enough.
- Tie the ends into a knot and add a charm at the end!
Add Sparkly Beads
Once the hair extension was tied off, I went back and sewed on sparkly bi-cone beads. This is completely optional of course but I think the beads add a gorgeous finishing touch!
The fun thing about these feather hair extensions is that you can make them any color and style you want! My girls have loved wearing their feather hair extensions. I added a tiny elastic band to the loop thread end so these hair accessories are easy to attach to any hair style. What colors will you create?
Pin this to Pinterest
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 3 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, taking photos and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!