Homemade Perfume from Flowers and Herbs from my Garden

Have you ever wanted to create your own perfumes or stylized scents?

 I have. And I've always loved the aromas of flowers cut fresh from my garden.  Hyacinths in the spring are hard to beat. With their sweet and spicy scents that are overpoweringly pungent - you'll have to love or hate them.

And the wild hyacinths grow like weeds around here. I just love the pretty blue bells. But lilacs are my favorite with their sweet floral notes and soft hints of vanilla. So of course, I have  them all in my garden. And, I thought why not make my own liquid floral scents?

Here's how to do it:

1.  Picking blossoms for perfume is just like picking grapes for wine or berries for jam, pick them early in the morning when the oils, flavors and juices are at their peak of perfection. Blooms just getting ready to open hold  the richest most powerful fragrance. Blossoms that have already bloomed are already losing their aroma.
2. Pick the petals from the flowers and put them in a zip-lock storage bag then lightly tamp the petals with a rubber mallet to stimulate the petals, which will make them release their oils.
3.  Put the petals in a mason  jar and cover with oil. You can use any oil (including olive) but you might prefer the sweet nutty aroma of almond oil mixing with the floral scents. Shake the jar to mix the oil around.
4.  Put the jar in a sunny spot to give the petals plenty of time to soak in the oil--24 hours is best. Then shake  the contents gently and strain the petals with cheesecloth. Toss the old petals, unless you want to let them dryout in a cool, dark location.
5. Pick  new petals and follow the  procedures above--only cover the petals with the previously used oil. Repeat  this procedure for 3-5 days or until you've achieved the fragrance you enjoy.
6. Keep your mason jar filled with  oil in a  cool, dry location. Feel free to use your freshly created fragrance as a perfume.

And, if you make  some perfume of your own, please tell me about it. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.  Kim

RECIPE HOLDER

What a way to use an old store hanger - or one you have that's meant to hold pants or skirts. Wish I would have thought of this about 30 years ago. But...better late than never.

POP - or Progress on the Project

I was hoping to have the project done for the holidays but nope it's not. Of course I knew I was having unrealistic expectations but that's me. I'm always thinking we can get all sorts of things done in a day when it isn't really humanly possible. If only I wasn't human ;)

Anyway here are a few photos of the progress we've been making (now remember, we've had a lot of holidays, family and friends to work into the equation) plus, we've been battling colds this season so...there are my excuses for not making more headway.

Anyway, we did get one new window in - we still have the French doors, and another two windows to get hung.


And, we've put up new supports all around the room. I guess the old ones that have been in the house since 1890 or 122 years just weren't good enough, or that's what I keep asking my husband. "Are you sure we need to add more support?" His answer is always, "Yes." And, how can I argue that more might not be (like Martha would say) a good thing?

Anyway, I know it doesn't look like much progress but you have to remember this is a DIY project that we work into the weekends and evenings after work - so slow and steady is the theme. Now, I'm readjusting my time frame to completion. I'm hoping by Easter. . . we'll see.

Walls and Roof - YIPEE

It's been a Looooooooooooooong week without windows, walls or a roof but thanks to Luke and Lars, we have them all back in place. There's still a lot of work to do. We want to replace these old windows with new ones - but that's going to have to wait a couple of weeks. We need a weekend to get that project done.

Plus, we're a little pooped from coming home from work to work on the house. Luckily, we've got the walls, windows and roof all back in place (before the real rains hit).

And, believe me, it's very stressful seeing my boys outside hanging over the house on a scaffold that weebbled and wobbled but it didn't fall down, whenever they stepped out on it.

Thank goodness that's over for now. And the house should feel a little warmer. . . until the next stage of this remodeling project.

Progress on the remodeling Project

This is turning out to be a bigger project than I'd planned on. Heck, I never planned any of it...really. And notice the section of the roof that's missing.

Oh well, we're lucky, my husband's brother came over to help out.
Here are a few photos of the progress they've been making this weekend.And, it doesn't hurt that he's a contractor with 30 years experience. With his help, the roof is back on over the room.


There's still a lot to do, including putting the walls back on and, since it's November, I hope it happens quickly. And, with my hubby working late into the night, I can't complain...too much. And, notice...he has a harness on - just in case.

Remodel - Making Progress

Luke's bedroom had a super low ceiling. It seemed okay when he was younger...and shorter...but now that he's about 6'5" tall, he could sure use a little more height - at least in his room.

So, the boys pulled out their flat edges (small crowbars) and ripped out the lathe and plaster then they pulled down the boards, which was tongue and groove wood (which is usually used for flooring but here it was all over the walls and ceiling - hidden behind the plaster).

Now that they've got the room destroyed, it's almost time to start rebuilding...at least I'm hoping, after all, this isn't much of a room, now is it?

Remodel Has begun

The boys wanted to raise the roof - literally so they started ripping the old one down and Lars nearly lost his head over the project ;)

This is going to be a big project and it's going to take a couple weeks - at least - I know, I'm being hopeful. So, I'm sure you'll be seeing some blogs, photos and videos about this project. I hope you enjoy watching the boys work together.

Luke told me to go away or come and help - so I went away ;)

Then I came back to take a quick picture...the camera was on moviemaker setting - so it wasn't so quick as my husband stood and waited for me to snap the photo (he's such a good sport) - this project could take quite a while at this rate.