How Tuesday - Making a Lavender Wand

For years I have talked about making Lavender wands, but I never had enough tall lavender stalks to make them with.  I grow a short form of lavender in my production garden which I keep fairly well trimmed, as a result I never have 12 to 18 inch long stems needed to make an attractive wand.  However my home lavender is now three years old and this winter took a terrible hit.

When I took this picture after the last snow melted in April, it looked like it would never recover.  In May I trimmed out the dead branches, and by the end of June it looked like this:

Making Lavender Wands 

To make a lavender wand you need an odd number of long stems.  I used 15 for mine, but you can make cute ones with only 7 stems.  Cut the stems when the lavender is still in bud form, but not flower.

Flowers on left, buds on right

Besides the lavender stems you need ribbon, I like a 1/4 inch ribbon, but a narrower or wider ribbon will also work, it just takes different lengths.  Don't precut the ribbon, but you will need about 3 feet of 1/4 inch ribbon to make a wand.

Once you have the number of stems you want and need, the first step is to strip the leaves and other bits off the stems, leaving only the flower heads.  Grasp the stem in two fingers and strip down removing the leaves.  Save them for tea or sachets.

When you have all the stems have been striped, then you need to bunch the stems with all the flowers at the same location.

Stack them together with the bottom of the buds lighted up together.  Don't worry that the bottoms of the stems are not even, you will trim them later.

When the stems are all stacked together.

Gather the stems together and tie tightly in a knot with the end of the ribbon.  Trim the  ribbon short so you only have one tail to work with.  Rather than cutting the ribbon, allow it to come off the spool so you can use as much as you need.  It takes about 3 feet of ribbon for one wand.

To make a wand you are going to weave the ribbon over and under the stems of the lavender after folding the stems back over the flower heads.  To start the wand need to push the knot to within 1/4 inch of the buds.  Hold the stems at the flowers with the stems pointed up, then bend the stems down over the flower heads and the knot.

When you have bend them all down you will have a cage around the buds.

Slip the ribbon out the cage and then begin winding among the stems placing the ribbon over one stem, then under the next.  It is awkward to get started, but by the second turn around the stems it becomes easier.  Use your thumb to press down on one stem to raise up the next.

Don't worry of the stems split, the cage and ribbon together hold everything nicely.  Just continue to wrap the ribbon over and under.  Be sure not to miss a stem or you will throw off the pattern.  However, if you do, don't fret. It is hardly noticeable when you are all finished.

The lavender flower heads will try to poke out between the stems as you work.  Just poke them back inside.  A few buds may stick out among the ribbon too, just pull those off when you are finished.

It will take about 15 to 30 minutes to complete the weaving.  Not tedious, and the smell while you work is wonderful. Once you reach the bottom of the flower heads pull the stems tightly together, and make a loop bow to hold it. 

You can see by the shape why these are sometimes called lavender bottles.  A loop bow is made by making two loops of ribbon and cross knotting them over the stem.  You can leave the ribbon hanging at this point or wrap it around the stems and tie at the bottom

                                    

I made one in blue with smaller ribbon, only 1/4 inch wide and another with white ribbon 1/2 inch wide.  I liked the 'bouquet' of the third, so I just tied the stems and wrapped them.

You can use the wands to decorate, or place in a drawer as a sachet.  The ribbon holds the lavender inside, so these will dry and age well.  Give the bundle a squeeze and the scent will be released, even when they are years old.

Craft Fun with Herbs, #2 - Orange Wreath How Tuesday

This is the second winter craft post, if you would like to see the scented stones we posted first, check out this post.

Make an Dried Orange Wreath

It is Martin Luther King Day, many people and kids are home today and I thought I would continue my craft series with a wreath you can make to brighten up your home and make it smell great too!

Dry the Oranges

First you will need dried oranges.  This is a great warm-the-house project and it smells good too!

Slice 4 to 5 oranges into uniform thin slices.  The thinner the quicker they dry, but too thin and you will see more curling.  Try to keep the slices the same thickness so they dry evenly.

Pat them dry with paper toweling to get as much moisture off as possible.

Place the slices directly on the wire oven racks. No need to use a tray, because you want the air to circulate all around the slices.

Bake the slices in the oven at 200 degrees for a several hours (about 2 and 1/2)  until they are dry to the touch.  Do not over bake them or they will darken to brown.

dried slices cooling on the counter

I found that the slices darkened as they continued to dry after I took them out of the oven. 

Making the Wreath

Once they were dry and cool.  I began top construct the wreath. Here are all the tools I needed:
     a hot or cool glue gun
     a 12 inch wreath base (I used grape vine, but you can use fabric covered Styrofoam or other style
     scissors
     and a prepared space to work.

Step 1

Cut a few of the orange slices in half.  You need about 10 to 11 halves for a 12 inch wreath.

Step 2 

Glue the halves onto the wreath base around the center circle, making sure the edges touch.

Step 3

Begin adding whole slices to the wreath covering the spots where the haves touch.

 Step 4

Continue adding more slices to fill in the spaces between whole slices until the entire wreath base is covered and cannot be seen.

Step 5 

Hang and enjoy.  I just used a loop of gold ribbon so I could adjust the height against the bedroom door. I wanted it to be non-seasonal, but a seasonal ribbon and a sprig or holly, evergreen or leafy branch would make this perfect for spring or winter holidays.

Craft Fun with Herbs, series #1

My friend Tina Sams of The Essential Herbal Magazine started posting a craft a day in November 2015.  It was stopped when she got sick, but even the few posts that she did made me long to do some crafts in the winter time.

So I am picking up (sort of) where Tina left off with craft ideas in the month of January and February.  Get your fingers into the scents and feel of herbs and put aside the winter blahs.  And thank Tina by subscribing to one of the only remaining print herb magazines left!

I will also be launching my Herb of the year posts Wednesday, January 6, with my first post on the herb of the year, Capsasin genus (that is hot peppers) and I will do 12 posts this year as I choose my favorite hot peppers, from mild to hurtful.

Here is my first craft idea, first shared in my advent blog several years ago.  It is perfect to make in the winter because they dry more easily with the lowered humidity in the house while the heat is on.

Scented Stones

1 ½ cups white flour
 ¼ cup salt
 ¼ tsp cornstarch
 2/3 cup distilled water, brought to a boil
1 Tbls essential oil or or Fragrance oil
2 Tbls dried herbs, if desired
Directions:
The main thing to remember with these is they must be very well dried before using and not made too large or they could develop molds. In humid weather I add potassium sorbate as a preservative.

Combine the materials to create a dough much like play-dough.  Roll the dough the size of large marbles but flatten them so they dry more easily.  Adding the dried herbs will give the dough a more "rock-like" coloring. 

Once dry place them in a pretty dish along with colorful complimentary herbs, buds or petals.

Here is another recipe, slightly easier and more colorful, but without herbs.

Air Freshening Stones

 

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon Essential oil

2/3 cup boiling water

Food coloring

Directions:

Combine salt and flour, then add water, essential oil and food coloring.  Mix together then shape into little balls and leave to dry. As the rocks dry out they will remain soft in the center, this will not affect the scent or life of the rocks.

Bird Seed Cakes - Weekend recipe

These are a perfect indoor project for you and the kids to do that will let you feed the birds all winter.  You can get seed at the chain hardware store, but for better quality seed, try your local hardware or a specialty wild bird supply store, agriculture supply or livestock feed store and pet store.  You can get a variety of seed and you can ask for advice about what is best for the birds in your area.

These molded bird seed cakes can be hung from eaves and tree branches and replaced as needed.  All you need to make this recipe is unflavored gelatin and ways to shape the final product-- and seed of course!

BIRDSEED CAKES
1 - 1oz. package of unflavored gelatin

¼ cup water

1 ¼ cup bird seed (any combination is fine)

Combine unflavored gelatin and water in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved and add 1 1/4 cups of any combination of seeds the birds in your area enjoy. Mix until all seeds are coated.

Pack the mix firmly into molds.  Circles, wreaths, hearts, etc. all work fine. Large cookie cutters work well as a mold too.

Pierce the mold near the top edge of the molded seeds with a wood skewer or a drinking straw and allow the molded seed to set up.  Should take an hour or so.  Don’t forget to make that hole or these are tough to hang.

What are you doing on the day after Thanksgiving?

The Backyard Patch is online at a craft show Thanksgivings weekend.  Show opens at 6:00 PM Thanksgiving night and runs through Midnight on Monday, December 2.

When you need a break from the family and want to avoid the black Friday crowds, here is your solution --  EZCraftShow.com

For me it is the perfect way to enjoy the holiday with my family, yet still be able to show my wares.  And you can enjoy it t too!  There will be crafters from all over the country all in one place.

To get the details, see sneak peaks, and check out the discounts ahead of time, visit this special Facebook page.

Stop Back to the Blog or my Backyard Patch Facebook Page on Thanksgiving for the links to the show.

This Tower box is filled with scone and Shortbread Mixes.  You will only be able to get it at the online show.

We also have a couple new tea cups, packaged like these with herbal tea, honey and a scone recipe.

And special for the event every purchase will include a sample size of our Cinnful Dessert Blend with a folder of recipes to try, just in time for the holiday season!

And don't forget our Recipe-a -day Advent Calendar will start December 1.  You will be able to see the calendar two places this year.  Daily on our Facebook Page, and also updated each day on our website.  Until then you can check out the 2011 and 2012 Calendars that have been specially posted.

Indoor Crafty ideas for winter, How Tuesday

There is nothing so bad as posting an interesting title, but leaving the post blank!

Last Week I was going to be away from my computer so I posted a few blogs ahead. But few of them posted exactly right, so for those who looked at this before, I am sorry.  Here is the actual info:

Terracotta Bird Feeder / Bird Bath

Make the outdoor animals happy and give yourself something fun to view.

Make a bird feeder from a terracotta pot.

These make good gifts too!

Using a plain colored terracotta pot with a tray, invert the pot and the tray.  Use the upside down pot as a base and the right side up tray on top of the pot bottom.  Super glue the tray onto the pot bottom. You can use any size you like.  Now using paints, stamps, or permanent markers, decorate the pot.  Fill it with seed to create a bird feeder.  In the summer fill it with water to be a bird bath.






Tortilla Snow Flakes

We have not had a snow storm of any consequence here in Chicagoland this year, much to my disappointment, so when I found this activity in files I just had to try it.  It is very fun to try with your kids.

All you need is a few flour tortillas, melted butter and colored sugar (or food coloring and white sugar)
    or for a more adult tasting treat use olive oil and a blend of dried herbs like thyme, savory, parsley and oregano

Fold the tortillas like you fold paper to make snowflakes.

Cut out all the little bits just like you would for paper snowflakes.

Then open them up.

Place them on a baking sheet and paint with melted butter.  Sprinkle on colored sugar and bake for a few minutes. It's a great snack and a craft in one!

Scented Stones

I tried these with the Girl Scouts a few years ago and they were a big hit.

1 ½ cups white flour
¼ cup salt
¼ tsp cornstarch
2/3 cup distilled water, brought to a boil
1 Tbls essential oil or fragrance oil (any scent you want or make smaller batches and use multiple scents.)
2 tsp dried herbs if desired

Mix all the ingredients together in a disposable container until a dough forms.  Roll the dough into balls about the size of a large marble.  Flatten them with your fingers to look like pebbles and rocks. 

They must be allowed to dry very thoroughly.  If you are not sure if they are dry spread on parchment paper on a baking sheet and set in low oven 200 degrees for several hours.  Once they are dry place a few pebbles in a terracotta tray with a few dried herbs or leaves and pine cones for a decorative display.

Using dried herbs in the blend will give them a more earthy coloring.


 

An Herbal Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar

From the late 4th century CE to the late Middle Ages, much of Western Europe, including Great Britain, engaged in a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin's Day, November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days, and was, therefore, called "Quadragesima Sancti Martini", which means in Latin "the forty days of St. Martin." At St. Martin's eve, people ate and drank very heartily for a last time before they started to fast. This period of fasting was later shortened and called “Advent” by the Church.

Today we do not fast for Advent, but rather use those days to prepare for the Christmas Holiday in many traditional ways.  One celebration we enjoyed in my family was an Advent Calendar.  We had the quilted ones and the paper ones and even some special hand-made ones.  The one I remember most was the first I remember receiving.  It was paper with little windows that you opened each day.  It came from my grandmother Shull (my father's mother.)

Every day there was a little surprise in the form of a pretty picture and a bible verse.  My grandmother also had a ceremony for lighting candles at Thanksgiving that I thought was wonderful too.  So this year in celebration of those cherished memories I decided to create an Herbal Advent Calendar.

The calendar will be filled with recipes for everything herbal.  Everyday there will be anew item.  They will include foods, teas, gift ideas, fun crafts for families and kids, bath items and ways to improve your health and reduce stress and enjoy the holiday season.  Recipes and tips will be included each day and sometimes as a reward there will be special discounts or give aways hidden with each day's calendar item.

Everyday from November 27 to December 25 I will share something new.  To find the calander -- Click this link.

Each day I will put a reminder on the blog and on facebook with a link for the day's item.

Enjoy your Advent!

Simple Gift Idea - Shower Gel

Short days can suck the energy right out of you.  I am a pretty energetic morning person, but when the daylight slips away I really lose my motivation to do anything except watch TV, especially when there is no gardening to be done.  A few years ago while working on a lecture on aromatherapy and making infusions for the bath I put together this recipe.  Try it for yourself and see if it can’t chase away the winter blahs.

Energizing Shower Gel

1 T dried mint leaves (2 T if you can get fresh)

1/2 loose cup of eucalyptus leaves (or 2 drops eucalyptus essential oil)

1 small cinnamon stick

1 cup boiling water

½ cup mild liquid soap, a nice unscented liquid castile is good

1 T vegetable glycerin

Place fresh herbs in glass bowl and pour boiling water over them and allow to steep for several hours until cool.  Strain off and keep liquid, discarding herbs.  Add soap and glycerin to liquid and mix thoroughly.  Store gel in a container with a pour spout or soap pump.  To use, pour a generous amount onto an exfoliating sponge, puff, or washcloth and gently massage your entire body.  Rinse well with warm water followed by a 30 second blast of cold water.

Rinsing with cold water after using this gel makes you feel like you jumped into a cool mountain lake.

The Backyard Patch makes dozens of bath salts, scrubs and sachets.  Click here to take a look at our array of items.