Valuing common household objects

I'm finally reading the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up by Marie Kondo and it's inspiring me to whittle our belongings down to the things I love and the ones that work hard for our family, and to value those things even more.

To that end, today I gave some much needed love and attention to things made of wood that can be found in our kitchen - tongs, spoons, cutting boards and bowls. Just as our skin needs moisturizing, especially in the winter, so does wood.  So I made some board butter and gave everything  a good slathering. 

Just that little bit of attention made such a difference. Everything has a healthy lustre.

How to make board butter:

Recipe consists of two parts coconut oil and one part beeswax.

Chop beeswax and put in in a mason jar with coconut oil.

Place jar in a pot with about an inch of water and set over low heat.

Let it melt slowly until it turns a pale yellow, like creamy butter.

Allow to cool. 

Use clean hands to rub and slather butter on wooden kitchen tools. No need to wear rubber gloves for this job; the butter is wonderful for softening hands too and the scent is subtle and fresh.

Let the butter rest for a bit or overnight for best results.

Buff with a rag.