How Tuesday - Making Scented Stationary

I have not been good with the camera this past year.  I let several opportunities to take pictures of products I made, recipes I tried and activities I did go by without being recorded.  I vow that will not happen in 2013.

To prove to myself I can get work done and take pictures and post them, I decided to record the making of scented notepaper or cards.

Every Winter I make scented cards.  Many of them I give away near Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day.  Sometimes I also pop them into an Easter Basket.

So here are the steps to making your own scented cards.

The materials are simple:

Cornstarch, plain white envelopes, your favorite essential oils, plastic zip seal bags and several sheets of note paper, envelopes or cards to scent.

Place about 1 ounce of cornstarch in a bowl for every card you want to scent.  Use several bowls if you want different scents.  On this day I was making , lavender, citrus and rose scented cards, so I used three bowls.  I placed about 6 ounces of cornstarch in each bowl (that’s 6 Tbls.)

Add 7 to 10 drops of essential oil to each bowl, or 1 to 2 drops per ounce of Cornstarch.

Mix the cornstarch thoroughly working out any lumps.

Spoon the mixture, about a Tablespoon, per envelope, into the plain envelopes.

Place one scent filled envelop between each sheet of notepaper and corresponding envelope. 

Stack them all up together and place in the zip seal bag.  Keep the scents separate from one another in the bags.  Press out all the extra air seal closed.  Place the bags inside a box or container away from sunlight and let them meld for at least a few days, up to three weeks.  When you remove the cornstarch filled envelopes they will have imparted their scent to the note cards and envelopes. 

bagged and sealed and about to go into a box

If you are careful and do not seal the plain envelopes you can re-scent the cornstarch and make another batch of cards.

When I take these cards to shows and markets, especially outdoor shows, I leave the scented envelopes in-between the note paper and remove it only if the item is sold.  That keeps the sun and heat from robbing the notepaper of its light herbal scent.

Completed and ready for gift giving

Scented Stationary

6 oz. cornstarch

7 to 10 drop of your favorite essential oil

6 plain paper envelopes

1 plastic bag

6 sheets of note paper or note cards and envelopes

In a bowl combine the powder and essential oil.  Spoon the mixture evenly into the six plain envelopes.  Place these between the notepaper and envelopes and seal in the plastic bag.  Allow to meld for a few days or as long as three weeks so the scent will permeate the paper.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the card sets you see here, please visit the Seasonal Items Section of our Etsy Store as once these are gone they are gone!