Adventures in salve making

Last year I started calendula seeds because these beautiful flowers have wonderful healing properties and I wanted to make a salve for my eczema. I've suffered for 20 years with the painful affliction and very few pharms that I've tried help. Yesterday I finally got some beeswax and started my adventure.

First let's start off by saying I should have used olive oil. I went to the store to get food for dinner and forgot my olive oil. My Back to Eden book said I could use vegetable oil and I had a full bottle in the pantry so off I went. I added 3 cups of dried calendula petals and enough vegetable oil to cover them (which took about 1/2 the bottle) and turned my crock pot on low. I left it for just about 3 hours and sifted out all the petals. I used an old tshirt to strain out the rest of the petals that my spoon couldn't get and returned the oil to the crock pot.

I started off using 2 ounces of beeswax but I was nervous about the amount of oil I had used so I added another 2 ounces once the first pieces had melted. I stirred it all about and set my spoon to the side, wondering "how will I know there is enough beeswax if it's all liquified?" Then I saw my spoon where the salve was solidifying and realized I could take a cool sample from there to ensure my oil/beeswax balance was right. And it was, right on the money. I ladeled out the oil into 1 cup glass bowls and let it harded overnight. There is a faint scent of veggie oil that I'd rather not have, but I'll know better next time.

Now what to do with FOUR cups of salve!?!