Building your own herbal kit is fun and easier than you’d think. Here is a gallery of kits we’ve built over the years and hopefully it will give you some ideas for kits of your own!
The Original Herbalista Tincture Kit!
Kits not only carry your medicines, but make it much easier to work. Lay your kits out that you can clearly see the choices of medicines.
Have medicine kits - will travel!
Summer 2013
Photo by Lou Bopp
I made this first kit in an old computer dad that belonged to my dad. These old laptops were quite large and so the cases that held them can easily accommodate the tincture bottles. I covered foam from the fabric store in a bright blue corduroy and then spent HOURS grommeting the elastics into place. One padded piece was attached in the middle to make sure the bottles don't clank against each other when in transit.
On the original run kit we chose to use grommets to secure the elastic to the padding.
From left to right: tincture kit, wound care kit, pill and potions kit.
From left to right: 4 oz bottle tincture chest; 8 oz bottle tincture chest; oils and aromatics kit; pills and potions kit.
Our kits allow us to quickly set up clinics anywhere - on the street, in a cabin, in the woods...
We color code the chart for our tincture kits to let folks know which tinctures are alcoholic (blue) and which are non-alcoholic (green). Back in the day we had only a few non-alcoholic tinctures (as you can see from this picture.) Now some of our clinics are completely non-alcoholic, such as the Dublin Herb Bike!
This is our wound care kit. It was a tool chest purchased from a hardward store. We like it because it is very strong and is made to be stood on so can be used as a chair, stepping stool, or to prop something or someone up.
Pills and Potions Kit: This kit is great to hold capsules and other formulas. The gold duct tape pockets I made for the top were made to hold a selection of tea bags. I also keep dispensary items in here (such as dose cups, measuring spoons, etc.)
Oils & Aromatics Case: This case holds our essential oils, hydrosols, alcohol spritzers (for cleaning) and fixed oil blends. It also holds our favorite essential oil reference books and blank aromatic inhalers.
Our raw herbs chest is a converted file box from the office supply store.
Scene from the Rainbow Gathering in Michigan. Working in a first aid station comes with its own difficulties, finding your medicine shouldn't add to the pain.
All of the medicines on the Herb Cart live in their own kits that can be closed for weather proofing. We used plastic shoeboxes for several kits, as well as basic tuperware containers.
The Herb Cart finally gets its very own tincture kit! Made by Corinne based on the original Herbalista Kit, we used an old computer case from the thrift store and sewed elastic bands to hold the tincture bottles in place. This time we set it up to hold 2 oz bottles.
Our new Dublin Herb Bike Tincture Kit. This one was fashioned from another old school computer case from the thrift shop. We again covered foam in fabric (a fun blue corduroy) and sewed elastic band to hold the bottles. This one is set up for 50 mL and 100 mL bottles. A big shout out to Kimmy Coburn of the Homestead Atlanta for sewing this sweet kit for us!
Foot Care Kit - This was the case I brought to work in Calais at the Refugee Camp. It was my parents old canvas bag from the 70's and I'll tell you, they don't make em like they used to. These zippers are strong and it really holds up under difficult conditions.
The Foot Care Kit set up to work from. Having extra trays is so helpful when you work in the field. They keep your medicines and bandages clean and can be easily sanitized between use. I order light stainless trays from piercing and tattoo supply shops. Enameled butcher's trays are also very serviceable.
These Medicine Kits were made for the Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies School in St. Petersburg, Florida. The kits we built for the students represented the tools they use so we made a kit for powders, for moxabustion, and for patent tea pills.
Patent Kit for the Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies School.
Powders Kit for the Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies School.
Moxa and Ear Seeding Kit for the Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies School. It's best to include everything you will use, from the lighter to the moxa sticks to the moxa extinguisher.
Building the cardboard dividers for the Tincture Chest. To keep bottles from banging, separate them with a cardboard grid. I always save the cardboard grids that come when I order my bottles, but if you don't have any, you can simply make your own!
These are some of the kits we made at a workshop for Five Flavors Apothecary, back in 2015. As they are located in the Bay Area, it seemed only fitting that the tincture chest be made from a wooden wine case! (Thanks to my sister Karen for the wine box!)
My cousin Richard donated an old record case to the cause. We turned it into the Patents Kit for TCM Patent Formulas.
Putting together our kits for the Dublin Herb Bike! Make it your business to always keep an eye out for the old fashioned train cases your grandmother would have used. They are extremely handy!
An inside shot of a tincture kit we built with the students from Sacred Traditions (an herbal school in Charlottesville, VA.)
These kits we built at Sacred Plant were the brightest and liveliest kits I've ever seen! So much fun! The one on the left was the tincture kit and the one on the right held raw herbs and teas. These kits are now used in the Botanica Mobile Clinic!