Mad About Herbs

How to make a room spray

A simple recipe for making your own room spray/linen spray/natural air freshener:

You will need:

a 50ml bottle with a mister lid and cap (glass is best, but you can use plastic)
distilled or spring water
pure essential oils of your choice
vodka (if you want it to last a long time; also helps disperse the essential oils)

Put 30 ml (approx 1 fl.oz) of distilled or spring water into the bottle, add between 25 to 35 drops of pure essential oils into the water; this could be a blend of your favourite oils or just one eg lavender for a relaxing room spray/to spray on your laundry before drying.  Add 15ml of vodka (optional).  Top up with more distilled/spring water; you need to leave some space at the top of the bottle so you can shake and mix it later.

Put lid on tightly, shake well to disperse oils.  Spray to check scent.  It is best to wait about a week then try it again before deciding whether or not the scent is too weak.

A few precautions: Do not spray onto furniture/polished surfaces or anywhere near the face or directly onto the skin. i.e. spray into the air or onto sheets only.  Keep away from children and pets.

To find suppliers of bottles, essential oils and more check my website resources page.

For aromatherapy books which include recipes for various blends, why not have a browse through the recommended books in my Amazon bookstore.

Winter herb gardening

It's getting to that time of year when the number of days that I can get into the garden without getting rained on or feeling the cold are getting fewer and fewer.  My pineapple sage, rose scented geraniums and rosemary cuttings have had to come indoors now; the greenhouse isn't frost free.

To cheer myself up, I'm gathering the following items for an indulgent spot of herb garden planning/dreaming.  For this I need the following:

1. A supply of herb seed and plant catalogues, this must include the Suffolk Herbs catalogue which is a joy to browse through.

2.  A pad of paper to write my lists of herb seeds or plants I'd like for next year.

3.  Some graph or plain paper to sketch out my plants in my new herb garden or pots.

4.  A hot drink and tasty snack!

5.  Some inspirational herb garden photos in the many herb books that I have to give me some ideas on combinations.

6.  A copy of my notes to date on my forthcoming book about how to start a herb garden which has lots of theme ideas in it.

If I'm feeling more 'computery', I would add my plant wish list to my new garden at www.shootgardening.co.uk which I'm just trying out.  You can design your garden layout, add plants you have and plants you want, receive care instructions for the plants you have, read reviews of various retailers, garden designers, see other members gardens and lots more.

Next you can stare out at your garden and dream about how great it will all look!

I'm feeling better already even though I didn't progress my herb beds as much as I had planned this year, I know that next year it can only get better!

This post has been produced to inspire you and also to contribute to Emma's Winter Carnival which takes place on Wednesday 5th December at www.coopette.com/blog. I hope you enjoyed it. 

If you want to be kept up to date about when my ebook about starting a herb garden will be available and also to receive herb gardening and cooking hints and tips, please click on the link towards the top right of this page to receive my monthly newsletter.

Christmas wall hanging and Iris Folding Patterns

I got invited to a Christmas Craft evening at one of the local churches in my town.  We could choose 3 out of 4 crafts.  It was so much fun, I still can't believe I made that wall hanging in the photo!  It's just an old wire coat hanger lengthened out, a block of oasis that had been soaked in water for a while then wrapped in cling film, then just add layers of the plant material there plus some baubles and artificial flowers and a ribbon.

I also learnt how to do iris folding cards which look impressive too.  You can find the instructions here.  There are lots of patterns for the cut-out; christmas trees, angels, stockings, hearts and more!  I think I might get addicted to this one.

The last craft I did was decorating small cards with glitter pens, bows, sparkly stickers and more, they could be used as christmas cards or gift tags or place name cards, some were christmas tree shaped, some were cracker shaped.

I think I must just be a big kid, I love creating stuff!