Making Lavender Bottles
Lavender is one of my favorite “Make it Do” flowers… as useful as it is pretty. This hardy, easy to grow herb that has been valued for centuries for it’s wonderful scent. I grow mostly Munstead and Hidcote varieties of lavender in my garden. And I love the Blue Cushion lavender I have planted in a hedge around my vegetable garden. Lavender has great color almost the whole summer… and I use it for a variety of projects.
The lavender flower has two parts… the calyx and the corolla. The calyx colors up first and that’s when I like to harvest lavender for making wreaths and bouquets. After that the corollas begin to bloom. You can still harvest your lavender but the open blooms aren’t as pretty when they are dry. (It is still perfect for making potpourri and sachets.)
One quick project I make every year out of lavender is lavender bottles. They are so easy even children can make them (with a little help.) Lavender bottles smell wonderful tucked in drawer or in a closet.
Here’s how to make them: You will need fresh lavender, about a yard of 3/8 inch ribbon and a hot glue gun.
1. Start with about 25 stems of fresh cut lavender. Cut the stems as long as possible.
2. Starting at the top, just below the buds, run your fingers down each stem to remove any leaves.
3. Tie the end of 3/8 inch ribbon just below the blooms. (I just work from the spool so I don’t waste any ribbon in the end.)
4. Fold the stems back over the buds. (Try to keep them evenly dispersed around the bottle.)
5. Pull the long end of the ribbon out from between the stems. (Make sure the short end stays neatly tucked inside.)
6. Now weave the ribbon in and out like a basket. I usually weave two or three stems at time. You can weave in an out every stem if you like.
7. When you get to the bottom of the buds, make sure to pull the ribbon taut. Then dab the ribbon with hot glue to secure the end and trim.
8. Trim the stems to make them even.
9. Tie a ribbon in a bow to cover the end of the ribbon.
Lavender bottles are so fragrant and sweet. I love keeping them in my drawers. They also make a wonderful homemade gift for a friend.
WONDERFUL! I can’t wait to try this. I have so much lavender right now too! I’ll be linking.
What a creative way of using lavendar. I would’ve never thought of it. Beautiful!
Oh, wow…I’ve never seen anything like this before. I love the smell of lavendar…now I just need to grow some so I can try this!!
Those are beautiful. I can’t wait for my lavender to grow up so I can do that.
I love this–it’s such a great idea. I will definitely be making some this summer, thank you!
Love it! I want make one for my neighbor because she always grew plant in her garden and she let me share with her.. I would like to make one for her.. thank you!
I love these. We had buckets and buckets of lavender in my front yard as a kid (seriously, we were never dry), and we used to make these all the time. *Sigh* I need to plant some lavender of my own. I can just smell it now…
I have been making lavender bottles for years. I use very narrow ribbon in different colours. Each one takes 20-30 mins, always use odd number of stems an the result is the lavender heads are completly covered by basket weave ribbon.
Jan, they sound beautiful. I would love to see a picture. kind regards, Calli
Thank you for this lovely tutorial. I made two.
I added this great little tute to our link luv roundup, hope you like it. Come by for a peek:
http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/2009/06/link-luv-roundup_27.html
Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks Shannon… I excited to be in the mommyhood!
I wish I had lavender in my backyard. This is just brilliant!
This is so pretty! I have quite a lot of fresh lavender so I will be making these very soon. Thanks!
[…] My lavender grew particularly tall this year, which gave me the idea to try a new craft- Lavender bottles made with ribbon. Lavender bottles or lavender wands are made with fresh lavender cut before the flowers open with a long stem and ribbon (1/8″ to 1/4″ width). Directions for how to make these wands can be found on one of my new favorite blogs: Make it Do. […]
I love Lavender and wands and bottles are one of may favorite things to make.
Hi! I just found your site and I think you ROCK! I made one of these years and years ago and still have them in my linen drawer! Last summer I was visiting my sister and she gave me another one. I love, LOVE lavender and miss it! It does not grow here in the Middle East to my knowledge! I hope to get to make some in the summer of 2012 which is the next time I get to go home!
Hi. I’m a new visiter to your site, & I’m going to sign up.I love Lavander too, & make sachets for my draws.Thanks for the tutorial on making Lavander bottles.I’ll be making those too!
Wow! that’s a great idea!
Alia, Lavender grows very well in one of the hottest areas of the US. It does not like a lot of water. Lavender was crushed and sprinkled in the Roman Baths as a disinfectant for the publicly used water. The word Laver – to bathe – is related to Lavender; and I suspect it Mediterranean-to-MidEastern in origin. It also grows well in Mexico, which can get blazing hot. I suspect the hotter growing variety of lavender is more fragrant/pungent. It is related to Rosemary plants.