Category Archives: lavender

scented herbal play dough

January 16, 2011 – 6:22 pm

I really love this time of year. There is no holiday let down for me, we keep the twinkle lights up so we can enjoy their sparkle during these dark and gray Ohio days and decorate the mantle with hearts where the stockings used to be. I love the fires in the fireplace, snow on the ground, pink cheeks, hot chocolate, and the pink and red colors of Valentine’s day coming up. I really love Valentine’s Day and making it special for my little ladies.

We felt the need to bring a little spring into the holiday this year with scented herbal dough. I made a batch of pink rose petal scented dough and Fauna made a batch of purple lavender scented dough.

You need:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon canola oil (or any other oil you have on hand)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3-4 drops essential oil (we used rose and lavender)
food coloring (we used purple and red)
2 tablespoons dry herbal leaves or flowers (we used lavender buds and rose petals)

To make:

1. Add a couple drops of the food coloring into the 1 cup of water.
2. Put flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and tinted water into a medium sauce pan.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it bubbles, stirring constantly until it thickens.
4. Remove from heat then stir in a few drops of essential oil and the dried herbs or flowers.
5. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
6. You can store any leftover dough in an airtight container or leave the creations out to airdry.
*They take about a week to dry and they will fade in color a little bit. The lavender dough has kept its scent the best.

Fauna made some snails, Araina made a cat with a bed and ball of string, and we all made hearts.

We strung the hearts to hang in our windows and on bookcase knobs (don’t forget to add holes if you want to string them).

“That’s all,”
Lisa

Tags arts and crafts, handmade gifts, nature activity, nature play | Permalink | Comments (25)

felt herb herbs homemade gifts lavender moon sewing

how to make a dream pillow- moon phases free pattern

December 15, 2010 – 4:28 pm

I like to give my little ladies new dream pillows every year on the night of the winter solstice. I started this tutorial back in July of 2009, but never got around to finishing it. Seriously, this post has been sitting, partially finished, in my dashboard for over a year! I felt now was a great time to share the pattern and how to.

What you need:
gray felt
yellow felt
black cotton emb. floss
yellow cotton emb. floss

silver shiny emb. floss
straight pins
scissors

dry herbs

wool or polyfill stuffing

dream pillow patterns

Step 1- Cutting out the moon shapes

You should have 3 pieces: 2 full moons and one crescent moon. Pin the crescent moon onto one of the gray circles. Leave the other gray circle as is, this will be your full moon piece.

Step 2: The detailing **Click on the orange links for “stitch how to”

I used the split stitch for the details in the moon. Split stitch the eye and craters on the crescent moon side of the pillow.

Now split stitch the eyes and craters on the full moon piece.

Whip stitch the crescent moon to it’s gray backing.

Step 3: Stitching the moons together

Put right sides together of both moons now. Blanket stitch or whip stitch the moons together, leaving a small opening for stuffing and the herbs. I did a blanket stitch here.

Step 4: Add dried herbs and filling. Stitch closed.

I like to add dried lavender buds or rosemary to their pillows because we grow it organically in our garden. Here’s a little list to work with, you can mix and match but make sure the odor is pleasant and not over bearing.

Herbs for the pillow-

angelica : prophetic dreams and visions
anise: use a little to repel nightmares
bay laurel: inspiration; repels negativity
cedar: repel bad dreams
cloves: retrieves buried memories; use sparingly
hops: restful sleep and healing
lavender: calming and helps to fall asleep
marjoram: relieves depression
mugwort: visions and prophetic dreams
mullein: repels bad dreams
rosemary: avoid nightmares and headaches; great for memory; use sparingly
st. johns wort: banishes spirits

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Little Etsy shop update- I have a new kitty design, there is still free shipping and the 15% off total purchase sale will go on through the week until Sunday evening (for 5orangepotatoes blog readers only). Type in SNOW15 at checkout to get the 15% off the total purchase. I will ship daily until the 19Th- there is still time to order and receive before Christmas. If you don’t see something in my shop that you had your eye on or want a different color let me know, I can possibly take custom orders through Friday (hit the contact button under my fox picture at the shop). Thank you all who have made my shop so successful through this giving time of the year! I really appreciate your business and have loved getting to know a lot of you!

“That’s all.”

Tags arts and crafts, handmade gifts, herbs, sewing | Permalink | Comments (15)

herb herbs homemade gifts lavender sewing

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 flowers herb lavender nature play

lavender/rosemary ink

November 14, 2009 – 2:14 pm

On our Williamsburg trip, my granny (that’s great granny to the little ladies), bought the girls each a white feather quill pen. The timing was great because I have been wanting to make a lavender/rosemary scented ink. This was a wonderful herbal activity leaving the house smelling great!

What you need:
sprigs of lavender (dry or fresh)
sprigs of rosemary (dry or fresh)
water
enamel pot

Directions:
1. Use enough herbs to cover the bottom of your pan. Use your nose to help get just the scent you want.

2. Add enough water to cover the tops of the herbs.
3. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the water has reduced to a generous tablespoon.
4. Strain and you’re left with a pretty light brown ink. You could always add a drop or two of black ink to darken the color.

The little ladies really enjoyed writing and drawing with wonderfully smelling ink and the gorgeous white feathers.

Thanks for the feathers Granny!

You could use any wonderful smelling herb for this activity. I think we will try a peppermint/lavender ink next time; it would be great for writing holiday cards. Who wouldn’t love a peppermint scented card for the holidays!?!?
Oooh, and a handmade gift of scented ink, a calligraphy pen, and homemade paper would be a lovely holiday gift idea! If you use the ink as a gift, you must add calligraphy ink to it or the herb solution will mold.

Tags herbs, nature activity | Permalink | Comments (32)

felt health herb lavender sewing sick sweaters tutorial

soothing gremlin softie (free pattern)

October 29, 2009 – 9:54 pm

The Get Well Gremlins are finished and I have 2 little ladies who are quite excited about them! They are kind of a twist on a dream pillow but you don’t use dry herbs as the stuffing. Each gremlin has a pocket to hold a cotton ball or piece of wool cloth with a few drops of your favorite essential oil(s) for calming or soothing. (Read this post to learn why I came up with the Get Well Gremlins).

I used thrift sweaters for these happy little guys. No knitting skills needed!

What I used to make the Get Well Gremlins:
thrift sweaters- wool and cotton
wool blend felt
embroidery floss
scissors
thick yarn
buttons
needle
pins
stuffing
FREE PATTERN DOWNLOAD
sewing machine (optional)

Directions:
1. Download pattern, lay out, and cut pieces leaving a 3/4 inch seam allowance if you are using a sewing machine to stitch up the gremlin. If you use a sweater with a very loose weave like the one shown here, leave a larger seam allowance. This weave likes to unravel if you’re not careful.

2. Hand-stitch pupils (buttons) onto the eyes, then stitch the eyes (running stitch) onto the gremlin.

3. Whipstitch the pocket onto the belly using a thick yarn. If using a sweater, this pocket will stretch as you stitch, keep this in mind when placing the pocket.

4. Put right sides together and pin, LOTS of pins are necessary to prevent rolling on the machine. Sew an overcast stitch 2 times (for reinforcement) if you are using a loose weave like this sweater, it will want to unravel if you don’t! Remember to leave an opening for the stuffing! *If you prefer to hand-stitch the pieces together, whip stitch the pieces on the very edge using very close stitches and overlapping. Use a thick yarn to do this. I whipstitched my frog together and didn’t use a machine; so it can be done.

5. Turn right-side out, stuff and whipstitch the opening closed. Hand-sew the mouth using a backstitch with the yarn. Hand-stitch the little tooth on; now the gremlin is ready to soothe and heal (or play and cuddle)!

Essential oils to add to cotton ball or small piece of cloth:

Calming oils- to induce sleep or relieve insomnia: lavender, roman camomile, mandarin, petitgrain
Flu/cold soothing essential oils (antiinfectious, antiviral, antibacterial, antiinflammatory): lavender,eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree, thyme, ravensara

To go with the get well theme, Karin, from Fleecenik Farm, suggested to make the gremlin big enough to go around a hot water bottle! Love this idea, but the girls were set on a softie this time. Renee suggested stuffing them with flaxseed or rice to warm them up, another great idea!

**Fantastic book recommendation to learn more about essential oils and aromatherapy- Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child by Valerie Ann Worwood