Crafty Ideas for Herbs

Herbs can do so much more than make remedies and massage oils.

These clever ingredients can also be used to make a diversity of different things that can be used around the home. So if you’re looking for new ideas or ways to use up excess herbs, why not have a go at making some of the following – it’s fun I promise. Aside from your obvious choices of making shampoos, soaps and skin products, your favourite herbs can be used to make any of the following:

  1. Wreaths and centrepieces– lavender, rosemary, santolina and geranium can each offer you a host of scents that can beautifully fragrance your home or office. Simply dry your herbs by hanging them up to dry; using silica gel or drying in your microwave and these herbs can be added to your floral displays.
  2. Dyes– remember my Easter post where I showed you how to dye eggs? Well herbs can also be used to dye cotton, wool, silk and linen. It is just a matter of remembering which herbs produce what colours.Black: black walnut or yarrow
    • Blues/Indigo: Oregon grape
    • Browns: comfrey leaves or fennel flowers/leaves
    • Golds: Amaranth or safflower (flowers)
    • Greys: raspberry or sunflower
    • Greens: barberry or foxglove (flowers – be careful with this herb as some people are sensitive to it and can suffer palpitations just from touching the leaves)
    • Oranges: sunflower or chicory
    • Pinks: sorrel or bloodroot (roots)
    • Purples: blackberry or grapes
    • Reds: dandelion flowers or hops (fruit)
    • Yellows: dandelion or tansy (preferably young leaves)
  3. Hair rinses – known to leave your hair shiny and radiant, a combination of rosemary, sage and chamomile can do wonders for your hair. For brunettes it is recommended that you use rosemary or sage. For lighter colours opt for chamomile.
    To make: boil your herbs in water for 5-20 minutes, then strain out the plant matter. This can then be added to water to rinse through your hair or introduced into your shampoo.
  4. Sachets and potpourri – sachets are really easy to make and can be slotted into your linen and drawers to release a fresh scent. Using cheesecloth or netting, simply create an herbal combination of lavender and rosemary or sage (for a masculine pine scent) or orange and anise (for an orange and liquorice effect), then tie off with a ribbon. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to create a homely scent across your house, you could have a go at making potpourri. You can refresh your existing potpourri by popping it into a container and adding herbal/aromatic oils before sealing it off for a week. This will give your potpourri time to soak in the oils and means you can use your potpourri over and over again.

Fun right? And easy to do too. So if you fancy doing something different with your herbs, then why not have a go at one of these ideas this weekend and see what you create. You never know, you might discover a new hobby…

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