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

A dress made from an old man's shirt

Okay, I'm not a model and I don't do this dress justice but it is so cool to wear something that was destined for the landfills. At Camp Hollyhock they repurpose old clothing and make it "seam" like new again ;D

All it takes is a little embellishing and some tea...or so I'm told. Anyway, if you are in Portland, you have to check out this shop over in Sellwood. It is so "green" and if you want a way to celebrate St. Paddy's day - this is definitely the way to do it by buying green and getting some great clothing at the same time.

I love these clothes so much that I've blogged about Camp Hollyhock before but I just might do it again.

And, okay, maybe I should have belted the dress - but this is it without any help from me.

But it is "sew" comfortable and I love the idea of wearing repurposed clothing.

How 'bout you?

Sherpani - Earth-Friendly Friday

My daughter bought me a present today. She got me the Switch shoulder bag by Sherpani. When I asked her why, she said because my purse is so ugly. And then she asked me if I noticed that it has an Earth-friendly Fabric? It's made from 67% recycled fabric.

Very cool. Check these bags out - I think you might like them.

Hope you all have a sunny weekend - I've got my fingers crossed.