Fun in the Herb Room - How Tuesday Making Scented Ink

I do one of two things in January and February.  I either make jewelry, a hobby I do not get to indulge in during the growing season, or I craft new herby things.  This year I am going to be offering a few new herb themed items, like photographic cards, seed paper cards, and garden journals utilizing my many herb and garden photographs and information.  That leaves me time to experiment with other herb fun for the home this winter.

In keeping in the theme of herb cards and in celebration of National Handwriting Day (that was just a few days ago)  I thought I would craft some lavender ink.  Scented ink is a Victorian tradition when writing notes reached its zenith.  Here is one scented with lavender for you to try at home.

Lavender Ink

1/4 cup lavender buds

1/3 cup water
1 bottle ink (black is better as lavender adds a brown tint)

Crush the herbs and place with water in a non-reactive saucepan.

Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on the pan so the water does not boil away.

When the water is a brown shade you know you have extracted the scent from the lavender.

Strain and discard the lavender.

Add 4 teaspoons of the scented water to a bottle of ink.

You get a gentle lavender scent mildly perceptible and you can use a quill or a fountain pen.

I played with my calligraphy pens to write this!