Infused sugar smells divine, tastes decadent, and makes a beautiful gift. I made up three recipes to share over at the My Own Ideas blog:
Vanilla Spice,
Lavender Dryer Bags
November 14, 2012 by 6 Comments
Lavender dryer bags are a natural way to freshen laundry. They are made simply from lavender scooped into small drawstring muslin bags like these. These bags are typically sold as bouquet garni bags, for adding herbs to soups, stocks, or stews.
When you have filled the bag with lavender, tie it tightly in a few knots and then wrap the string around the top and tie again. This will ensure that it will not come apart in the dryer. Toss a bag in with the laundry to add a light fragrance. Each dryer bag will last for ten loads in the dryer.
Lavender dryer bags will also make a great Handmade Holiday Gift! Present a set of 6 bags in a vintage jar wrapped with ribbon. The sealed jar will help keep the bags fresh.
Lavender Linen Water Recipe and Printable Label
August 22, 2012 by 8 Comments
This lightly-scented lavender linen water is a must for the laundry room. Use it to fill up your iron to freshen while pressing. Pour it into a spray bottle and mist linens fresh from the wash or those that have been stored for a while. All natural ingredients make this a wonderful recipe to add to your home.
Harvesting English Lavender & How To Use It
August 3, 2012 by 17 Comments
Valentine’s Lavender Eye Pillows Printable
February 10, 2012 by 4 Comments
Here a cute printable to romance-up some homemade lavender eye pillows (from this tutorial). Just be careful the soothing scent doesn’t put your Valentine to sleep too early!
Valentines Day Eye Pillow Printable Love
Valentines Day Eye Pillow Printable Amore
Serenity Now! DIY Lavender Eye Pillows
January 27, 2012 by 26 Comments
Now making your own lavender eye pillow is not a unique concept but add linen, popcorn, an ink jet printer, and a just a dash of Seinfeld, and you got yourself a fun & funky Weekend Project, baby!
The concept behind this DIY came from 4 different ideas melded into one relaxing project:
1. The container of lavender that I harvested this year has inspired many a project.
2. I had some left over popcorn from making door socks a few weeks ago. Popcorn has the perfect weight and feel for eye pillows, it doesn’t go rancid like flax and some other fillers, and it’s cheap. Also, you can heat it in the microwave (so I hear) and it won’t pop. Now since I don’t have a microwave, I can only assume that it won’t pop because you won’t heat it long enough. So microwave for only 30 seconds or so and let me know how it turns out.
3. I saw a great tutorial on how to print on fabric on Modern Day Moms that I HAD to try.
Materials for one eye pillow:
- linen or other scrap fabric measuring 10”x 10”
- 1 cup dried popcorn
- 1 heaping tbsp dried lavender
- Ink jet printer
- Freezer Paper
- Sewing machine or needle and thread
Directions:
1. First, fold your fabric in half and print one of the sides following the directions here. That being said, I didn’t follow that tutorial, I just taped the fabric to a sheet of paper and fed it through my printer. Let me be clear, I DO NOT RECOMMEND doing it that way. It worked beautifully for me, but it can really mess up your printer so unless, like me, you want to print on fabric more than you care about your printer, do not try it at home.
2. Fold and iron a hem on the sides of the fabric.
3. Folding the fabric so that the back is on the outside (print inside), sew the long side of the together. Turn right side out and sew one of the ends together.
4. Fill the bag with 1 generous cup of popcorn and 1 heaping tablespoon of lavender. Adjust quantities for your personal tastes.
5. Push all the filling toward the end of the bag, and pin about halfway to help prevent popcorn from creeping towards the open end. Sew the open end closed and you’re all done!
Thanks for visiting for the weekend’s project.
Easy Homemade Bath Salts Recipe
December 16, 2011 by 23 Comments
Making fragrant jars of homemade bath salts couldn’t be easier. In vintage mason jars, bath salts look beautiful on display and make wonderful gifts. Here is a recipe to make your own as part of the Natural Skincare Series.
Materials:
- Epsom salts
- 100% pure lavender essential oil (not fragrance)
- dried lavender
- vintage mason jars
Directions:
1. Fill each mason jar about halfway full of the Epsom salts.
2. Add just 10-15 drops of essential oil, replace lid, and shake.
3. Remove the lid again, add 1 tablespoon of dried lavender flowers, replace lid and shake (again)
4. Add more Epsom salts to full the jar then (you guessed it) replace the lid and shake shake shake.
5. Optional: download and print these freebie canning labels to dress them up
Weekend Project: Dried Lavender Wreath
October 15, 2011 by 9 Comments
It’s no longer possible to deny that it’s autumn (no matter how hard we try) so perhaps it’s best to start winding down along with the temperatures and light. Hanging some dried lavender around the garden could be just the aromatherapy needed to help de-compress after a long day, or perhaps it will just make you smile. Regardless, it’s a quick weekend project that will leave you calm enough for an afternoon read or a good night’s sleep.
Materials:
- wire coat hanger
- scissors
- twine or wire (in a colour that matches your flowers*)
- dried lavender
Instructions:
The best part about this project is that you don’t need any special materials beyond what you can likely find around the house. Start by bending a wire coat hanger into a circular form. The hook of the hanger will be hidden when the wreath is complete, and it makes it easy to hang the wreath when finished.
Gather a bunch of dried lavender and snip the ends with the scissors to get a nice neat edge. Secure the bunch to the form by winding the twine around it a few times and tying a knot. (*We’ve used green gardening wire for demonstration purposes, but a twine or wire colour that matches your dried flowers will have a much cleaner look in the end.)
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Leaving the twine on the roll, wind each new bunch to the form as they are added. Continue adding bunches until you complete the circle. Tuck a final bunch under the first bunch, and secure with twine and tie off.
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Be sure to work on a table or tarp where you can collect the dried flowers that fall of in the wreath-making process. Those wonderfully scented blooms are great for lavender sachets, cooking, or soap-making. We keep a big jar in the house over winter for a variety of uses.
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Lavender Sachets
August 16, 2011 by 5 Comments
Me: I’m making you lavender sachets for your t-shirt drawer.
Husband: But what will my friends think when I show up somewhere smelling like flowers?
Me: That you’re married.
DIY: Easily make these lavender sachets by filling organza bags from craft or discount stores with dried lavender flowers. In addition to freshening up drawers, you can tuck one in your pillow at night and give it a squeeze to release the relaxing fragrance. Ahhhhhh.
Drying Lavender = Garden Decor
August 7, 2011 by 6 Comments
I bought a Kew Red lavender plant at the farmer’s market this past spring at which time I met a Lavender Guru. He told me the secret to beautiful lavender on the West Coast is to harvest the flowers and cut back the shrub by half all before August 15th.
I have eight different lavender plants scattered around the garden, all in bloom now and covered in bees. It’s hard to harvest these gorgeous plants and take the blooms way from the bees, but my plants are leggy, patchy and woody the rest of the year so I’m committed to cutting them back for the greater good.
I started with one plant today, and stumbled upon a problem, what to do with all that lavender? First I will have to dry it, and that leads me to a space issue, which I’m proud to have resolved by decorating the Virginia Creeper that trails along my side fence.
Next up? I’ll harvest the rest and use it to make a dried lavender wreath for the house. Stay tuned for that project.
