Friday, June 26, 2009

Make a Lavender Wand

Lavender has been used for centuries for fragrance, to freshen linens and to keep the moths away. Elizabethan ladies used to gather lavender and transform it into these delightful wands or bottles to put in their linen cupboards. The ribbon traps the lavender blossoms and keeps them snuggly inside the wand so they don't scatter all over the clothing.

Book- The Pleasure of Herbs by Phyllis Shaudys

To make the wands you need:
9-15 (must be an odd number) straight stems of fresh lavender about 12 inches long (as long as you can cut them)
About 2-4 yards of 1/4" wide ribbon
Rubber band or string

Steps:
1. Strip the leaves off the stems and tie string or a rubber band at the base of the buds in the bundle.




2. Hold the lavender in your left hand with the buds facing down; gently bend the stems down one by one all the way around to encase the buds.



This is how your lavender should look after pulling the stems down.



3. Starting at the bent end, take the ribbon, tuck it under a stem and secure it with your left thumb; begin to weave over and under the stems 1 or 2 at a time. Pull the ribbon tightly as you go along.



4. Continue to weave until the buds are tightly encased inside the ribbon. I continued to weave past the buds; it's really up to you when you want to stop weaving after the buds are completely encased.



5. Wrap the ribbon tightly around the bottom to make a pretty finish. Tie a knot at the end to secure.


The Little Ladies use the lavender wands as fairy wands and....


SWORDS! Violence by lavender; even little girls have thier rowdy moments! (Sounds like a A China Bayles Mystery)!

Besides fairy wands and swords, you can put them in your closet, in your dresser, or you could place one in a gift box for someone that you are giving clothing to. Enjoy!

24 comments:

Linda said...

Your blog is always so inspiring, thank you for all that you do and share!

kyndale said...

Wow, you have boundless energy and even more creativity! These are very cool. I have all those ingredients too!

Juana said...

Oh, Lisa and little ladies!You are the best! I name you the Fairies of my blog list!

Jess said...

How wonderful!
I wish I had lavender growing in my garden.

Tara said...

The wands are so beautiful and useful too!

Hands down my favorite herb is lavender.... do you grow your own?

I wonder how it would do in the northern climates of Maine.

renee @ FIMBY said...

Cool! Our lavender is starting now to blossom. Oh I love lavender.

Tara, Absolutely lavender grows in Maine - very well in fact. I have 2 plants in my yard.

Jessica Stock said...

I love your blog!! Searching for crafts for camp, and I ran across this . .. . so glad I did!!

Louise said...

Another lovely post Lisa-

I have an award to share with you over at my blog.

Blessings
Louise

denise said...

Oh, I love lavender crafts and the wonderful smell. I wish I wasn't so allergic to it. Grrrr. Lovely project!

Lisa said...

Tara, yes I grow my own, I have over 25 plants! ;) Renee is also from Maine and said she grows it; just find a nice, warm and sunny spot to put it.

Denise, ha, my poor hubby is quite allergic too so we usually do our lavender crafting outside. It gets to me sometimes too, I have to strip the stems outside or I have a major attack. But, it really takes a lot of lavender to do that to me.

I would be so sad without lavender in my life. It is soooo medicinal to me.

Lisa :)

PTCRUZ said...

Thanks for this tutorial. I love all things with lavanda!!!

karen said...

Such lovely lavender wands! Thanks for all the posts about lavender. Good to know that New England climates can nurture lavender too. Inspirational!

Anne said...

Gorgeous! I can't wait to try this. I made the orange mint pops last night! :)

nettlejuice said...

Lavender wands are so fun! I have been trying the establish a lavender patch here for years now. Not sure what the problem is. It might be too damp.

Nicole said...

This is such an awesome tutorial! I have one of these that my husband bought me like 8 years ago in France and despite the fact that it barely smells anymore I can't bring myself to throw it away because it is so pretty! But now I can try my hand at making my own! Thanks!

Anet said...

I love lavender, we made a few wands last summer, not as nice as yours.
But SOMEONE mowed my lavender this spring and killed it... I won't mention names!

Lauralee said...

You are really creative. I love how your kids look so excited with their lavender wand. I like your blog. All kinds of nice ideas

Shady Lady said...

How wonderful! With something this beautiful and natural, why on earth did they invent moth balls?!

Fairy wands and sword are oh so interchangable, aren't they?

Susi said...

great idea and such a lovely smell!

Unknown said...

this is just wonderful! I love it. How I wish I could get lavender here.
I love the whole blog - felt is one of my favorite things to work with and I love your ideas. I'll be checking back often.

Joy said...

Awww...how pretty is that. I've been wanting a lavender bush. Thanks for putting that back on my list. :)

Leanne said...

Oh wow...you seem to beat me to everything Lisa!! How do you find the time? These turned out great...I have been eying off the lavender bush in the front garden for weeks now...though it is a french variety and the stems aren't as lovely and straight as yours there....beautiful!

Vee. said...

Hello, I am Eva from Athens Greece and i really enjoy your beautiful blog!! Thank you very much for your inspiration!!

Katherine said...

What a beautiful project! Too bad my lavender is in a pot, and thus never gets those lovely long flower stalks. (It's a bit dwarfed.) One of our neighbors has a lovely enormous one in their front yard, but I suppose a midnight lavender stalk theft would be in pretty poor taste...