SMELL THE FLOWERS - LAVENDER SACHETS

About this time of year, the only thing you can smell in Wisconsin is dinner in the oven, or the dry smell of "heat" coming from the furnace.  So, you start to crave smelling anything fresh and ALIVE.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to be in the middle of this?  

Well, this is the next best thing.  Lavender buds.  Did you know that in the language of flowers, lavender denotes purity, silence, and devotion?  

Nice..

I bought a pound of lavender buds a while back and still had some left.  So, I printed some beautiful images from the Graphics Fairy onto TAP (Transfer Artist Paper by Leslie Riley), and then onto plain white cotton.  TAP is the only transfer paper I have found that can be printed in an inkjet printer, ironed onto fabric, and still not leave a plastic-like surface on your fabric.  Just trim it close to your graphic and iron it on.  I bought mine on Ebay, since I had a hard time finding a store that carried it.  It comes in packs of 5 sheets for around $15.

I did a little old-fashioned embroidery on some more . . . just write out a word or phrase with a pencil and stitch away!  Then, with a pencil or freehand, design your own little version of a lavender stalk.  The simpler, the better, with embroidery.  It doesn't need to be complicated to have charm.  I just used a couple straight stitches and some french knots.

Then, with your embroidered piece and a plain piece (right sides together) just stitch around the sachets.  I used a long stitch to let that great lavender scent seep out.  Leave a little 2" opening for filling your sachet with lavender buds.

Don't forget to clip the curves and the corners, just like your mother taught you!

 Turn inside out, press, and then use a little paper cone (you can make one out of plain white paper - just roll a cone and tape it shut) to fill up the sachet with your lavender buds.

Next, whip stitch it shut, tie a little bow in some hemp cord or light twine, and put a little dab of hot glue where you want it to go.  The sachets are not heavy so you won't need much glue to adhere the bow.  I just used a thread of burlap - they pull out of the fabric so easily and make a great little natural fiber tie.

Then hang the sachet on a little hook inside your linen closet, or put a little sachet
in between each folded towel!

And your bath will smell a little more like summer . . .
 
 on a cold, February day!

"Ladies fair, I bring to you
lavender with spikes of blue;
sweeter plant was never found
growing on our English ground."
-Caryl Battersby




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French Lavender and Hedgehogs

                                                   

It's book group night.  A night to get together with one of my favorite groups of people and talk about one of my favorite things . . . books.  This month we read a book called "The Elegance of the Hedgehog", a book translated from French.  It takes place in Paris, which is right at the heart of so many blog themes and styles!

Since I'm now "retired" and have all this time on my hands, (as my friends keep reminding me) I decided to make something for the girls that would go along with the setting of the book.  France is known for its fields and fields of lavender.  Just looking at these photos makes me want to go to see these fields for myself.  The fragrance must be unbelievable!

 So, I used the "fabric through my printer method" again and printed out a frame graphic from the Graphics Fairy and filled it in with the words "Sweet Dreams", putting the graphic on the top half of the 8 1/2 x 11 fabric so that I could just fold it over for the pillow.

Then, I'm going to sew them into little pillows filled with lavender buds I bought on Etsy!  I got a one pound bag for $14.00 - that's about 14-16 cups of lavender buds.  There are a lot of Etsy shops selling lavender - I got mine here. The order came very quickly and - WOW! - did it ever smell wonderful when I opened up the box!


-------------
later . . .
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Oh, I made that sound just so easy!  Well, lavender is everywhere!!!!
True, it smelled wonderful when I opened it up and it's a good thing I like the scent of lavender because we're going to be smelling it for a long time around here.

 I thought it would be no big deal.  I'd just make a little paper funnel and slide those buds right into the pillows.  Well, those buds are some of the stickiest things out there.  What makes them sticky is the fact that they're fuzzy and they like to stick together - like velcro.  So, anyway, I put them in the funnel . . . and . . . waited.  They wouldn't budge.  I poked and prodded - nothing.

    I had to resort to dumping them into a bowl and spooning them into that teensy opening I left when I sewed them . . . one spoonful at a time.

 I think it would be nice to put some in the linen closet to make the towels smell fresh, or on a guest towel with a pretty bar of soap.

So, they're done.  I bagged them up in ziplock bags so they
don't lose the any of the scent before I give them away. 

They are pretty.  I like them.  I sure hope the book group girls like lavender . . .