Easy Homemade Reed Diffuser for Essential Oils

How to Make Your Own Reed Diffuser

It was not too long ago that I actually learned how to make a Reed diffuser. I love these little things. What a great alternative way to diffuse your essential oils! Don't get me wrong, these are traditionally used as an ornament around the holidays. I must admit, I have been using them all year round! I actually put one of these in every bathroom simply because they smell amazing. Further, they are actually a great decoration piece and provide a nice clean look around the bathroom. 

I have had several people ask why they would use a Reed Diffuser over a traditional ultrasonic diffuser. I have found that they are great small spaces and areas without outlets.  Once I made my first one, I realized these make a great little gift too! This is a nice and simple little DIY project that is actually pretty fun to complete. It does not take very much time and you can customize it the way that you want. For example, perhaps you select a glass container that will hold the reeds that is unique to your style or the style of the person you are gifting it to. Make sure to use a blend of oils that you or the person you are gifting it to truly enjoys. You can even add a nice little twist by including a favorite color ribbon at the top. ​

I have gifted these diffusers to several people around the holidays or special occasions. I have seen them make their way onto a colleague's desk at work. I have even used them as a party favor or as a gift to a friend before they head home for the holidays.

The reason for making your own Reed diffuser is not just so that you can get your DIY fix. For those of you who are not aware, a very popular brand recently discontinued their reed diffuser for unspecified reasons. If you click the link you will see what likely caused this. Check out some of the ingredients and their associated health concerns according to some fairly high-level agencies. Most of my regular readers are probably aware of the EWS website by now. For those who are not, this website was a major selling point for my husband and I to switch to using essential oils. Please take a moment to look up some of your common household products and be prepared for what you might learn!

A common question I get asked (especially after scaring the bejesus out of people with the EWS website) is "do I have to use Young Living essential oils or can I get them from any other company?". Ultimately, the choice is yours. I feel it is important however to take a moment to explain why we chose Young Living essential oils (for those of you who just want to make the Reed diffuser... please skip ahead). 

• Why do I only trust Young Living essential oils? The reason why is Young Living's Seed to Seal promise. The Seed to Seal promise assures you that Young Living owns every part of the essential oil manufacturing process from seed, to plant, to distillation, to bottling. My husband and I have personally visited their farms in Mona, Utah several times and you will see pictures of us all over the site that were taking at various Young Living facilities.
  
• Right now, we feel there is no other company that provides this much transparency about their process! Trust me, we have called and messaged other leading manufacturers of essential oils to ask where their farms are located so that we can take a visit and guess what... THE OTHER COMPANIES EITHER DID NOT ALLOW US TO VISIT OR DID NOT KNOW WHERE THEIR OWN FARMS WERE LOCATED! This is very important as most essential oils on the market are fragrance grade whereas Young Living essential oils are therapeutic grade. This is an important distinction, do not take it lightly!

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To make the Reed Diffuser you need a few supplies:  
Use a glass container with a narrow opening to ensure that the essential oils do not evaporate quickly. You may have some around the house that you can use again for this craft or here are some really cute glass jars that would make the perfect diffuser:

• Glass Diffuser Bottles - These are simple and have lids which would be easy for your gift. 
• Set of 4 Glass Diffuser Bottles
• Vintage Diamond-Faceted Glass Diffuser Bottles with Cork Lids, Set of 2 - these are adorable pieces for decoration. 

Once you have your glass diffuser jar, you will also need:

• 5 reed diffuser sticks (You may want to get extra sticks as replacements for the future) 
• 1/4 cup sweet almond oil; we use almond oil because its a light oil which will allows the blend to efficiently travel up the diffuser sticks
• 10 drops of your favorite essential oil(s)

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Here is how to put it together: 

1. Mix the essential oils and carrier oil together in the glass container.
2. Place the diffuser sticks in the container.
3. Allow the essential oil mixture to travel up the reed diffuser sticks.  It may take awhile for the blend to travel up the sticks, you can speed up the process by flipping the sticks after several hours or also by adding a dash of Witch Hazel to speed up the process of the mixture moving through the reeds

• Continue to flip the sticks every few days to refresh the scent.
• Replace the reeds when they become completely saturated.
• Replenish the oil supply eventually too, this will depend on what type of essential oils, container, and carrier oil you are using 

If you are making this as a gift, here are a few tips: 
I would include a couple replacement diffuser sticks with the gift and an information card with details on the type of essential oil, the recipe you included, and how to use the reed diffuser.  You can order a few essential oils by creating an account, use my referral link to gain extra education and resources at no added cost! 

Gift idea: A cute Reed Diffuser container, carrier oil, and a 5 ml bottle of Christmas Spirit or Lavender. To finish off your gift add a cute decorative ribbon to the top of the jar like you see in our video.  

Try Our Favorite Seasonal Reed Diffuser Blends:
Summer Fresh:

• Lemon or Lavender
• Citrus Fresh 
• Stress Away
• Orange

Fall Feels:

• Cinnamon, Clove, Nutmeg, or Ginger 
• Thieves
• Lemon

Winter Snow: 

• Christmas Spirit 
• Believe 

Spring Fling:

• Lemon
• Lavender
• Peppermint ​

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Related Essentially Well Posts:

• How to Make Pine Cone Diffusers with Essential Oils
• 6 Incredible Homemade Gift Ideas Using Essential Oils
• Top 5 Natural Recipes to Transform Your Home!
• How to Make Foam Hand soap with Essential Oils 
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As always, if you are new to essential oils and do not have any of your own, consider a premium starter kit from Young Living. This is widely regarded as the simplest way to get started with essential oils. When signing up for your first kit, you will have the opportunity to choose one of our leaders. This is an important step as they will provide you with ongoing support for the lifetime of your Young Living journey at no added cost to you! You can do this simply by visiting the our team page and selecting the individual you would like as your direct upline.

Further, by signing up as a member you will also receive additional promotions such as saving 24% off retail pricing on future purchases of Young Living products.
 
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