Applesauce Spice Ornaments

These wonderfully scented and easy to make ornaments can be used to decorate your Christmas tree, tie to a present, hang on the wall, or give as gifts. Store them in a tightly closed container.

1 cup ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground cloves
1 Tbsp orris root powder
1 cup applesauce

In bowl combine ground spices and orris root. Stir applesauce into powdered mixture and mix well. Gather mixture into workable balls and place on tabletop covered with wax paper. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness, using cinnamon as flour dusted on wax paper and your rolling pin. Cut into desired shapes. Place on cardboard. Make a hole for hanging by using a toothpick or drinking straw. Use the edge of the straw to smooth any rough edges of ornament. Allow to air dry for approximately 1 week. To speed drying time turn them over every other day. (Back to Index)

English Trough (Hypertufa)

We offer workshops to make these every May Day they are always filled up with a waiting list! These rough tough planters will stand any weather conditions. They do not have to be brought in during the winter.

Wear old clothes and rubber gloves because this procedure is messy and hard on your hands.  Make the containers in a place where they can sit undisturbed for a couple of weeks; a spot outdoors or in a garage that you can hose down when you’re done is convenient, but in the winter try the basement, as the containers must not freeze while they cure.

Materials:
10 quarts portland cement
15 quarts vermiculite (or perlite)
15 quarts peat moss, sifted to remove twigs
1 large handful (about 1 cup) Fibermesh, available at ready mix cement companies
3 gallons water (approximately)

Measure out the dry ingredients and mix them together in a wheelbarrow or other container.  Mix with your hands, and add enough water to make the mixture wet enough to work but not drippy (add water gradually until mixture is the right consistency).  It should have the texture of cottage cheese.  Place mold upside down on sheet of plastic, cover with another piece of plastic, tucking plastic under smoothly at the corners.

Starting at the bottom and working up, apply the mix on all sides, 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, covering the top of the mold last.  Press the hypertufa firmly onto the mold, eliminating any air pockets.  Pat it to a smooth surface.  Draw a board across the top so that when the planter is turned over it will have a flat bottom.  If desired, insert dowels into the mix at the top (which will become the bottom) of the container to provide drainage holes.  Rotate or jiggle them every day or two until the pot is partly dried so that they’ll pull out easily.

After about four hours, or anytime during the first day or so, wire brush the surface for the desired texture and round the corners with the brush if you want.  Cover it loosely with plastic or other material, and for the first several days, keep the surface of the container wet by misting it occasionally.  This will ensure that it cures evenly.  The more slowly it cures, the tougher it will be.  Remove the plastic in about a week (depending on the weather).  Let the planter sit uncovered where you made it for four or five days longer, then remove it carefully from the mold.

When the pot is thoroughly dry, two to three weeks after you made it, spray it with a hose to remove any extra lime that may have come to the surface.  If you did not use dowels, drill several holes in the bottom of the finished container with a masonry bit.

After you have wire-brushed the surface, you’ll notice short polypropylene fibers of the Fibermesh sticking out like whiskers all over the outside of the pot.  You can burn them off by passing a propane torch or lighter flame rapidly over the surface, or just let the sun and weather take care of them.

Tips:
*Do you have wet hypertufa mix left over?  Pat it out flat on a piece of plastic into a pleasing shape at least an inch thick.  When dry, set it flush with the ground and it becomes a convenient stepping stone for the garden.
*For a planter that looks like old stone covered with moss wash the hypertufa with a thin solution of molasses or a mixture of milk and stale bread.  That will provide a culture medium for algae, which will form a surface that looks mossy.
*To repair a cracked or broken trough, brush out all the soil from the area and patch it next time you have a batch of hypertufa mixed.  Let it dry before reusing. (Back to Index)

Rose Geranium Scented Herbal Carpet & Room Deodorizer

10 cups baking soda
1/4 fluid oz. rose geranium oil (can use lemon grass oil if using lemon verbena leaves; rose oil with rose petals)
½ cup powdered orris root
2 cups pulverized rose geranium leaves (can use lemon verbena leaves or rose petals)

Combine orris root and rose geranium oil in a glass lidded container and blend together. Let sit at least a day. Combine orris root (sift to remove lumps), baking soda, and rose geranium leaves in a lidded jar and shake to blend. Bottle or bag and label with directions for use--sprinkle over carpet. Wait 15 minutes, then vacuum. Keep container closed when not in use. Avoid use on wet spots. If product adheres to spot, rub with stiff brush, then vacuum. (Back to Index)

Spa Bath Salts

2 cups Epsom salts
½ cup baking soda
½ cup corn starch
½ cup non-fat dry milk
120 drops of essential or fragrance oil

Use 1/4 cup of mixture in the tub under running water. Will relax aching muscles, soften skin, and leave no bathtub ring. (Back to Index)

Making an Herbal Wreath

1.     Start with a coat hanger and bend it into any shape–-a heart, a circle, a diamond--or use a crimped wire ring. You will also need green florist tape and 26-gauge green paddle wire. If using a coat hanger wrap it with the tape to keep the plant material you attach from slipping.

2.     Gather herb stems and flowers into bunches and bind to ring with paddle wire. (Fresh plant material should be conditioned first by cutting and putting stems in water a few hours before making wreath.) Work around wreath, overlapping herb bunches so stem ends are hidden. If making a heart shaped wreath work down one side at a time. Mix colors and textures: grayish lavender with dark green basil, spikes of salvia blossoms with clusters of heliotrope.

3.     As you work, hold wreath up from time to time. Any skimpy spots? Fill in with leafy, fluffy herbal branches such as artemisia. Herbs shrink slightly as they dry, so your wreath may become a bit smaller as time goes by. (Back to Index)

Crafting Hints and Tips

ÖCut orange peel with mini cookie cutters and dry - use in potpourri or other decorations.

ÖCreate a surprising place setting for your guests by pressing fresh herbs and flowers between two glass plates for your next party.

ÖBefore drying apple slices soak them for 3 minutes in a mixture of 2 cups lemon juice and 1 tablespoon salt.

ÖCut strawflowers before they are fully open and push a floral wire into the cut end of the stem where it will stick tight as the blossom dries.

ÖAfter collecting pine cones (or other cones), place them on a cookie sheet and heat them in a very low oven to kill insects (about 1 hour).

ÖIf you forget clothes in the washer overnight and they smell a little stale, put them into the drier with a sachet of lemon verbena or mint (or both)–-they will come out smelling fresh and clean.

ÖAny fragrant herb or herb blend sprinkled on the carpet and vacuumed up will scent the room delicately and get rid of that “just-been-vacuumed” smell; the warmth of the motor increases the scent carried into the air by the exhaust.

ÖExpecting company that includes smokers? Instead of putting out regular ashtrays, use decorative bowls filled with white sand and baking soda in which a few drops of essential oil are mixed. This will both help to absorb the odor and add a pleasant fragrance of its own to the room.

ÖPlace sweet bags or sachets between the cushions of your sofa and chairs to freshen up the living room.

ÖTake some fragrant rose petal potpourri to the wedding to throw on the betrothed instead of rice! Offer to make potpourri from the wedding flowers for posterity.

ÖFireplace fragrance can be created with the dried branches of basil, lemon balm, lavender, lemon southernwood, peppermint, rosemary, or scented geraniums. Tie several branches together of any one of these to be placed on the dying embers of a fire for a pungent household aroma.

ÖMake a kitchen table wreath and adorn with cheesecloth bags of culinary mixes tied with red bows, for seasoning soups, omelets, bread, meats, etc.

ÖRefrigerate simmering potpourri after using to keep.

ÖGlue cloves in gumball holes and use in decorations.

ÖUse acrylic floor finish to spray on fresh boxwood arrangements or apples. Seals it and keeps it from drying out in a warm room. (Back to Index)

Moth Sachets

2 cups southernwood or tansy
2 cups pennyroyal
½ cup whole cloves
2 cups cedar shavings
½ cup orris root
1 cup cut oak moss
2 cinnamon sticks, crushed
1 Tbsp pennyroyal oil
1 Tbsp lavender oil

Put oak moss in a covered jar and add pennyroyal oil, shake, close and leave for two days. Do the same with the orris root and lavender oil. After two days mix all the other ingredients together. Store in a glass jar for two weeks to cure. Make into sachets. (Back to Index)

Making a Pomander

You will need: firm, thin-skinned oranges, lemons, limes, or apples free of blemishes; a thin, metal knitting needle or ice pick for piercing the fruit; glazed pottery or glass bowl for curing the pomanders in.

Curing Spice Mixture:
½ cup powdered cinnamon
1/4 cup powdered cloves
1 Tablespoon powdered allspice
1 Tablespoon powdered nutmeg
1 Tablespoon powdered orris root

Combine the above ingredients thoroughly.

Directions:
1. Use the metal knitting needle or ice pick to pierce the fruit. Insert the clove. Repeat process until fruit is covered in desired pattern (random or in a linear pattern). Be sure cloves are close together but not crowded. You can leaves a ½" path around the fruit to attach a ribbon with which to hang the pomander when dry. Complete the whole orange in one day or fruit may rot.

2. Sprinkle half the curing spice mixture in the glazed pottery or glass bowl and place the studded pomanders on top.

3. Sprinkle the remaining curing spice mixture over the pomanders.

4. For the next two weeks to a month, turn the pomanders and sprinkle them with the curing spice mixture. Continue doing this until the pomanders are totally hardened. (Back to Index)