(photo credit)

Ok some of you might see this and think oh goodness, someone has hijacked Charlene’s blog.

It is not something I would normally do myself- homemade air fresheners that is. But this idea stuck with me after I saw it several months ago on pinterest and I wanted to tell you why I think it is worth all the bother.

You can make these little homemade air fresheners really easily, I think mine took like 5 minutes to do. The original idea, from Smashed Peas and Carrots, is to make one for each room in the house and use it for an air freshener.

Something struck me as very charming about this idea and when I got my little hands on that exact size mason jar I decided today is the day to make homemade air freshener.

So anyway the process is very simple:

- You take baking soda and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil or you might even be able to use cooking vanilla if you don’t have any oils on hand.  I really like Peppermint or Lemon myself.

-Next is to get a piece of cardstock paper- scrapbook paper is usually about $1 per sheet at craft stores or Walmart.  Take the insert out of the lid on your small mason jar and use that to trace a circle on your scrapbook paper.  Cut the circle and insert it on top of the mouth of the jar, screw the outside of the lid back on and you are in business.

-You need a large needle of some sort to punch holes in the top- I used a safety pin at first and when I decided I needed larger holes I just used a sharp pencil to poke.  (That was my make it work moment and you can probably find something that might work a little better in your home.

I personally found the air freshener aspect of this jar doesn’t last very long for us. Maybe a day or two. I actually have mine in my car though so it might work better in a small bathroom.

Now I here is why you might consider this project and why I love this little jar:

• I actually don’t like the smell of normal air freshening products. I much prefer a cleaner scent and not a heavy scent so this has worked great for me.
• I use this as carpet deodorizer. I have children that tend to be walking messes and I need to vacuum constantly. This works great to sprinkle all over the carpet in the car or the house before vacuuming.
• Another thing I have started doing is sprinkling this on cleats and inside my girl’s little shoes that tend to get super stinky.
• You can also sprinkle a little baking soda in vases to keep flowers fresh longer.
• Baking soda helps to remove odor in stinky shirts too (baby spit up, sweat and other issues best left unsaid).
• Sprinkle it on a hairbrush if you skip a day of washing your hair or sprinkle it on the dog’s hairbrush to add a little excitement to their grooming.
• Dump about a cup into the toilet as a cleaner and to absorb any odors.
• Put a little at the bottom of the trash can to absorb odors.
• Sprinkle on car seats and jogging strollers and all those other things you might have for the kiddos.

So really the possibilities are endless and I have found this to be a little magic jar. I have been keeping this thing just rolling around in the backseat of the car. Then it is super handy to sprinkle on the carpets and on the car seats when it is time to clean the car. The great thing is that baking soda is so incredibly cheap- you can really be generous sprinkling this all over the place.

One other benefit is that we spend a lot of time outdoors and baking soda is a great thing to have in case of sunburn, bug bites or bee stings so having it right in the car is perfect.

You can get the specific details on how to make your own little magic jar from Smashed Peas and Carrots.

PS: You can get the scoop on what essential oil to pick for whatever it is you are after here.  Since I keep my magic jar in the car, maybe I should get the oils for anger management .