Category Archives: herbs

a gentleman’s sleeve pine sachet

January 10, 2010 – 5:01 pm

By the time we were ready to take the Yule tree outside, we had little fir needles all over the place. They still had a delicious aroma and I knew tossing them outside just wouldn’t do. A special fir needle and lavender sachet, using a sleeve from my husband’s old dress shirt, was in the making. You could easily hand-sew this sachet using a backstitch; but we chose to use the sewing machine this time (a goal of mine this year is learning to sew on a machine).

You need:
-long sleeve shirt with buttoned cuffs
-2 cups of herbs- we used evergreen needles and lavender but of course you could use any herb mixture for this sachet; I think fir needles, dried orange peel, and cloves will be our next mix
-thread
-needle or sewing machine

To do:
1. Cut a sleeve off the shirt making it 15 inches long from the bottom of the buttoned cuff.
2. Leave the sleeve right-side out, sew a straight seam close to the cut, making a pocket for the herbs.

3. Turn the sleeve inside out and unbutton.

4. Stuff with about 2 cups of herbs.

4. Sew a straight seam to close up the herb pocket. This is a little tricky because the herbs will want to spill out, decrease the amount of herbs if need be.

5. Pull the cuff over the herb pillow so the right side of the cuff is showing, then button the cuff.

There you have it, a sachet for the gentlemen in your life. Now, Dave just laughed when I told him it was a gentleman’s sachet, and the little ladies took off with them and put them under their pillows. They were pretty sentimental about them because they were made from Dave’s old shirts.

Another idea using evergreen needles is Julia Daby’s balsam squirrel, directions at the wonderful Rhythm of the Home online publication. Be sure to visit all the wonderful articles there! Enjoy!

Tags handmade gifts, herbs, sewing, trees | Permalink | Comments (25)

activities felt herbs homemade gifts

wool roving balls- washing machine method

December 2, 2009 – 2:28 pm

We have been busy making lots of little kitty jingle toys. We have made these using the hot water in a bowl method, which is so time consuming and takes forever if you want to make a lot of these. Then there is the short cut method- the washing machine. Using the washing machine does a pretty good job forming the balls and aiding in the felting process. This method is so much faster and easier!

What you need:
wool roving (we purchased ours at a fiber fair)
jingle bells (small or medium size)
top loader washing machine- (top-loading machines work the best for this)
nylon tights (child sized)
yarn or string

1. Layer the wool, place the bell at one end and roll into a ball.

A mess of loose balls ready to put into the nylon tights.

2. Place the balls in the tights, tie a piece of yarn tightly between each ball. Make it tight! This is what forms those balls.
3. Place the links of wool into the washing machine. I put in three or four “links” at a time (each link has 12-14 balls). Set the water setting on HOT, small load, and add 1 tablespoon washing soap. Set on the longest cycle, the more these are agitated the better.
4. I put the balls through 3 washing cycles. Each wash you do, the tighter the balls become.

5. After 3 cycles they still come out of the tights kind of soft with the machine method; so we do the manual method to tighten them up a bit and shrink them more. We put them in a bowl of hot soapy water and roll them in our palms for about a minute until we reach the desired size.
6. When you are happy with the size, set them aside to dry. I was in a rush with this last week, so I tied them up individually into the tights and threw them in the dryer for about 20 min. This really speeds up the drying if you are anxious for them to dry.

out of the washer

This is how the little ladies are packaging the toys. They threw in some dry catnip for that extra bit of kitty love! They cut apart cardboard cereal boxes to make the labels and refer to their “shop” as “Little Spud.” I love it! Hopefully these will be a hit at the fair this weekend!

Instead of kitty toys, skip the bells, add an acorn top and you have cute little acorns. We will add ribbon as a hanger to put these on the Yule tree. (The cats love these too by the way, so they must be put up high on the tree).

Now I’m off to help make cinnamon ornaments and peanut butter kiss cookies. The holidays are so busy but I love every tradition and minute of it!!!! Enjoy your day!

Tags felt, handmade gifts, nature activity | Permalink | Comments (24)

herbs homemade gifts

homemade peppermint extract

November 23, 2009 – 8:48 pm

I tried making peppermint cookies a few years ago. They were very festive to look at- dark chocolate cookies with pieces of candy cane spread throughout; but they tasted TERRIBLE! The peppermint flavor was way off and I blame the peppermint extract I used. This year I am making my own and know the cookies will taste much better with homemade peppermint extract in them!

It is so EASY to make! All you need is a few sprigs of fresh peppermint and vodka.

Wash the peppermint, let it dry, bruise it up a little bit with your fingers and put it in a glass jar. The little jar I used is holding about 3/4 cups of vodka with 5 small sprigs of fresh peppermint. Make sure the vodka covers the peppermint. Store out of direct sunlight for 4-6 weeks. Mine has been sitting for 2 weeks now and has a mild peppermint taste already. When the peppermint flavor is at the strength you want, strain out the peppermint and you have the extract left behind to use for cooking. Store it in the cupboard for future use.

You can also do this with vanilla pods to make vanilla extract. Check out my friend Renee’s (FIMBY) wonderful post on how to do it (and then look around her FANTASTIC site for more inspiration if it’s your first visit)!

Tags handmade gifts, herbs | Permalink | Comments (28)

health herbs lavender

easing flu symptoms

October 26, 2009 – 7:35 pm

Well, the bad germs hit us this weekend. Saturday morning the little ladies both got up with high fevers, sore throats- “like I’ve never felt before,” claimed Fauna, and swollen glands. The day continued with Fauna not talking and barely moving, she couldn’t even watch the silly Halloween shows we had running. Araina sat in a daze, staring at the TV, but she would interact with Dave and me. Araina’s fever got over 103, not quite 104; however, she actually seemed better off than Fauna although Fauna’s temp never went above 102. 8! Fauna started throwing up late that evening; ” just lovely,” I thought to myself. Fauna slept on the couch that night with Dave close by on the recliner. I slept with Araina; constantly getting up to check heads and administer fever reducing meds to both girls. Araina woke up Sunday morning screaming of a horrible stomach ache; she ended up with diarrhea that day (thank goodness there was not more vomit)! Fevers were lower as the day went on, color came back to their cheeks, little lady laughs could be heard. Shoooo, the worst was over! Now, I can’t tell you for sure if this is H1N1, we haven’t gotten the little ladies tested. The doctor’s over the phone weekend diagnosis was…..”banking on H1N1, that is the dominate virus going around here right now and they have all the symptoms.”

I love knowing flu traditions of other people; what they do to help ease the symptoms. Here are some of mine-

1. Essential oils- tea tree, lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus. I mix 5 drops lavender, 5 drops eucalyptus and 5 drops tea tree into 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil. I rub a little of this mixture onto necks and swollen glands. Mmmm, it smells so medicinal. The little ladies also love eucalyptus and rosemary baths. The eucalyptus opens the nasal passages and the rosemary is a great pneumonia preventative. I also like to simmer rosemary and eucalyptus in a pot of water on the stove to cleanse the air.

2. A cozy patchwork blanket made of cotten flannel. My mom has made each of us many of these amazing quilts! We snuggle in them on the couch in front of a warm wood fire. A hot water bottle under the blanket is comforting when a fever brings the chills too.

3. Warm tea made of lemon, thyme, sage, ginger, peppermint and lemonbalm in these cute owl mugs given to us by my sister Robin. We add 1 tablespoon of our elderberry syrup to each cup. It tastes great and we drink it throughout the day when we are sick. After this weekend we have used up half of our elderberry syrup reserves already. I think I’m going to have to make some more. We drank a lot and I really believe it cut the girls sick time in half! Can’t forget the cinnamon toast to eat with the tea! Cinnamon toast is a flu tradition passed down from my grandma to my mom, to my sisters and me, and now to my little ladies.

4. When an appetite hits, we eat Amy’s No Chicken Noodle Soup, with a cup of garbanzo beans added to it. Being vegetarians this is the best thing to replace grandma’s chicken noodle soup. It is delicious and always hits the spot! For some fantastic homemade soup recipes visit Annie at Sensible Living.

5. And finally, herbal ice pops are one of our favorite ways to help reduce fevers and increase liquid intake. We also have the store bought sugar free ones on hand.

Today the little ladies are off the couch, playing outside, doing yoga and eating like they haven’t eaten for weeks! I can’t believe how quickly they have recovered!

Fauna is not quite her usual self though, she is very congested and always has a tissue box nearby. Araina is great, you would have never known she was even sick. Dave has been running low fevers, bones ache, and swollen glands. I’m very tired with swollen glands but no fevers…..maybe Dave should have been drinking the tea with elderberry syrup with us!

*Note: I am not a doctor and don’t claim to be. These methods are what work for my family and are not substituted for seeing a doctor.

Tags herbal remedy, herbs | Permalink | Comments (42)

herb herbs homemade gifts lavender natural cleaners science

ivory soap experiment (ptoe, oxygen)

September 30, 2009 – 8:17 pm

Do you know what this is?????? Nope, it’s not shaving cream.

It’s a bar of Ivory soap after being cooked in the microwave for a couple of minutes! It’s a very cool experiment that you must try with your little ones! I developed a little booklet to guide this experiment. This is also a great experiment to do with the PTOE when discussing Oxygen.

For the experiment you need:

a bar of Ivory soap

downloadable booklet- cut pages in half then assemble and staple

large bowl of water

math cubes

newspaper or wax paper to protect table

Our little friend Emma had all kinds of great questions about this experiment. She even wondered if the bar was hollow.

After completing most of the booklet, it’s time to put the soap into the microwave:

1. Put the soap in the center of a large plate.

2. Cook the bar of soap on HIGH for 2 minutes. DON”T take your eyes off the soap, it’s very cool to see it expand into fluffy clouds.

3. Let it cool before touching, it can be VERY HOT!

So why does Ivory blow up in the microwave??

All soap contains water; both in the form of water vapor (inside trapped air bubbles) and water that is caught up in the matrix of soap itself. The soap expanding is caused by the heating of the water that is inside of the soap. The water vaporizes, making bubbles, while the heat also causes trapped air to expand. The heat also causes the soap to soften and become pliable. This effect is actually a demonstration of Charles’ Law. When the soap is heated the molecules of air in the soap move faster causing them to move far away from each other. This causes the soap to puff up and expand to an enormous size. Charles’ Law states that as the temperature of the gas increases so does its volume. Try a non-whipped bar of soap and see if Charles’ Law effects it too.

A little history of Ivory soap:

The concept of soap that floats was rumored to have been encountered by accident. The story goes that Harley Procter named the soap ‘Ivory’ from a biblical verse (Psalm 45) church: “All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made me glad.” In 1878, the formula for the “White Soap” was created. Several months later the accident occurred. Without thinking one of the workmen left to go to lunch and the machinery was still running. Since the machinery was left in operation, air would work its way into the mixture. The workman decided not to discard the mixture after discussing with his supervisor. Instead he poured mixture into frames and the soap hardened. Interestingly enough it was cut, packaged, and shipped. Amazingly, Procter & Gamble began to receive letters from buyers of this “accidental” soap. They wanted more of the soap that floats! Even though this interesting formula was one of their best products, they were perplexed as to how this happened. The mysterious formula for the floating soap was resolved when the lunchtime accident was revealed. The error the workman made became Procter & Gamble’s new product. Why was this product so popular? Some people were known to bathe in the Ohio River and the floating soap would never get lost. Ivory Soap became a best seller due to a workman’s error. Proctor & Gamble makes the floating soap by intentionally adding a small amount of air in the formula. Naturally, this allows the soap to be lighter than water (from essortment.com).

What to do with the soap bits:

1. After the experiment it’s time to play with the soap- Ivory soap sculptures! Have a small bowl of water available to wet hands, this helps in the molding of the fluffy soap. If the soap is too dry it will not form well.

Here are some of the lovely creations that the three little ladies made from the soap- a cave, a house,

and a little kitty!

2. Add pieces to warm water and do some felting with wool roving. We are planning on making cocoons tomorrow!

3. Make a new bar of soap- melt the soap in a pan, add a bit of water, add oatmeal and lavender buds. Pour into a mold.

4. Make soap balls (the little ladies love these)- put the soap bits in a bowl, add a touch of water, add lavender or other dried flowers, and roll the mixture into a ball. Place on waxed paper to dry overnight.