I was tossing some old essential oil out of a diffuser last week, and I poured it into an old terracotta planter in the yard. Ah Ha!!!! That gave me the idea for these little terracotta diffusers. Terracotta is the perfect medium because it soaks up all the oil, and acts as a fixative (retains the scent). I wanted to create something that I could hang in closets, so I played around with some terracotta craft clay and came up with my DIY terracotta aromatherapy diffusers.
You simply add your essential oil of choice to the disk and because the Terracotta is porous, it will infuse throughout. When you hang or stick it to the fridge in your home, it will gently diffuse its scent.
You will need
Terracotta Clay https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GAP4Y0/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498497489&sr=sr-1&keywords=terra+cotta+clay
Cookie Cutters
A chopstick
Stamps (0ptional)
Popsicle sticks
Rolling pin
Parchment Paper
Magnets (0nly if you are creating magnets)
Hot glue gun (only if you are creating magnets)
A large bowl of water
Instructions
Pull on gloves because this gets messy!
Cut off about a quarter of the block of clay (depending on how many diffusers you want to make),
Set out a few sheets of parchment paper to work on (it can get messy)
Wet your rolling pin with water, and push down/slide the pin across the clay. I tried rolling it as you would pastry, but it actually works better to press it down and then slide the pin back and forth.
Have water to hand at all times because this will help you work with the clay – constantly smoothing it out.
When you have rolled/smoothed it out to about ¼ inch thick, use your cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
Use the popsicle stick to create groves and designs, or use the stamps. The deeper the grooves, the better because this is where the essential oil with gather.
If creating hanging diffusers, press the thin end of the chopstick through the disk to create a hole.
Set you terracotta disks on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and leave somewhere warm to dry. It takes about 24 hours for them to fully dry.
When dry, either insert cord or ribbon through the hole to hang, or use a hot glue gun to adhere magnets on the back.
To use, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the diffuser. It will initially stain, but after 12 hours the stain will fade. I recommend adding fresh essential oil every 2-4 weeks.
Essential Oil Suggestions
Lavender to relax (in bedroom)
Pine and Eucalyptus for fridge magnets (great for the Holidays)
Geranium (uplifting – lovely to hang in your closet)
Peppermint (focus and headache relief – great to hand on rear view mirror in car, or on fridge magnet to decrease appetite!).
Cedarwood to repel moths
As a gift, I recommend pairing one or two diffusers with a bottle of pure essential oil, and popping them in a little gift bag. This is a great hostess gift, or you can start stockpiling for the holidays.
