# Herbal Basics: Crafting



## Morakai (Mar 1, 2011)

I started some threads in the Alternative Health forums with some lesson handouts that I give to my Herbal basics classes. So, I thought that I would also give out some info for the other areas, in their appropriate sections. Hope you all enjoy!

_________________________________________________________________

*Living Herb Wreath*

Wreaths make year-round pleasure for Peggy Armstrong, an herb crafter from Ohio. Peggy starts her living wreaths in the spring when she has lots of young plants and is ready to start her other herb plantings; wreaths become circular herb gardens she happens to hang on the wall. During the summer they thrive hanging against the cedar boards on the outside of her house. When they come inside for a visit, lying on a tray of stones, a hurricane lamp in the center, they make a fragrant centerpiece for a table.

1.	Soak several handfuls of sphagnum (not milled) in water until wet throughout, about 15 minutes. Cut a strip of Â½&#8221; mesh chicken wire 12&#8221; wide and 30&#8221; long. Bend the long sides of the wire, so they curl up to form a trough. Squeeze enough water out of the sphagnum, so it won&#8217;t drench the table while you work; then pack it tightly into the trough. (A good dense mass of sphagnum will give the plants a firm base and will hold water well.)

2.	Bend the trough sides together until they overlap slightly to form a sausage. Fasten the sides together by bending the loose prongs (sticking out where the mesh was cut) to form little hooks that can catch in the mesh hole on the opposite side of the seam. Do the same with the ends of the sausage to form a wreath.

3.	Make seven (7) little wells in the sphagnum, evenly spaced about the wreath, by poking through the wire. Plant a young herb in each, anchoring wayward runners with hairpins, if necessary. Peggy uses plants from 3&#8221; pots whose creeping stems are about 6&#8221; long. She encourages wreath makers to choose plants boldly in hopes of discovering striking effects. She has certainly not been timid or tradition bound; some of her wreaths include a bright cascade of petunias.

4.	Hang the wreath in strong but indirect sunlight. Peggy puts hers on the west side of her house. When the moss starts to dry out. She soaks the whole wreath for 15 minutes in a tub of water with a dash of plant fertilizer. If herb tendrils start growing in odd directions, prune them back or wire them into shape. In about 6 weeks, you should have a fully covered wreath.

Plant Ideas for Living Wreaths

For Culinary Wreaths: 
Chives (plant at the bottom center if wreath is to be hung)
Creeping Sage
Marjoram
Oregano
Thymes, especially creeping wooly thyme

For Fragrant wreaths: 
Lavender
Prostrate Rosemary
Santolina
Scented Geranium

To add color:
Marigold
Petunia


*Potpourris*

A potpourri is a mixture of coarsely broken bits of dried, aromatic herbs. The mixture usually is kept in a closed decorate container. When opened, the herbal mixture perfumes the air.
Potpourris are delightful to have around the home, and they are easy to make. When concocting an original potpourri, first imagine the main scent that you want. This will come from the bulk of the herbs that you use. Then concider additives- seeds, spices, woods, roots, essential oils- that will blend with the main scent to enhance the fragrance.

Harvesting and drying herbs: Cut and collect your herbs on a sunny day, working in the morning, after the dew has dried. To capture them when their essential oils are at their peak, flowers should be gathered just after they have opened.
Gently pull off the petals, discarding any that are brown and wilted. You can place the petals on the newspaper to dry, but spreading them on a screen exposes them more completely to air and speeds drying (a shorter drying time helps to retain the volatile oils). Dry flowers in a warm, dark, airy place, stirring the petals often.
The leaves can be stripped from the stem and dried in the same way, or you can hang bunches of herbs to dry.
When drying citrus peel, first scrape all the fruit pulp from the inner skin, then break the peel into small pieces, and allow it to dry until brittle in a warm place.
Check your herbs every day. The drying time varies depending on climate and weather conditions. Make sure that your ingrediants are perfectly dry or else mold will develop and ruin your potpourri.
You can gather herbs throughout the growing season, dry and store in airtight containers, and keep them in a dark place until you are ready for them.

Selecting herbs: Herbs used in potpourri are choosen for both scent and color since the mixture should be attractive as well as fragrant.
For fragrance: acacia, allspice, angelica root, anise, bail, bay, beebalm, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, costmary, frankincense, ginger, jasmine, lavender, lemon balm, lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lilac, lily of the valley, marjoram, mint, mrryh, nutmeg, orange flowers or peel, patchouli, roses (choose from cabbage roses, R. centifolia; damasks, R. damascene; gallicas, R. gallica; moss roses, R. centifolia &#8216;Muscosa&#8217;; and musk roses, R. moschata), rosemary, sage, sandalwood, santal (a soft white wood), scented geraniums, sweet flag root, sweet woodruff, thyme, vetiver root, and violets.
For Color: Any colorful garden flower that dries well can be added to the potpourri for it&#8217;s color. Add the petals or flowers of baby&#8217;s breath, calendula, chamomile, delphinium, elecampane, goldenrod, hydrangea, larkspur, marigold, nasturtiums, pansy, safflower, statice, tansy, yarrow, or zinnia.

Fixatives: A fixative is a plant or animal material that prevents the evaporation of essential oils and holds the fragrance in the potpourri.
The three common animal-derived fixatives are ambergris, civet, and musk. Although unpleasant smelling by themselves, these substances amplify, enrich, and set the beautiful fragrances of botanicals. All are fairly expensive, so you might want to use plant-derived fixatives, which work quite well, and can be purchased from the pharmacist or made at home.
Orris root is the most commonly used of the plant-derived fixatives, and it complements lavender especially well. Though a very fine fixative, orris does cause allergic reactions in many people. If you, or the recipient of your potpourri is allergic, you may want to choose from amoung the other plant-derived fixatives; benzoin, rose attar, ground and dried rosemary, sandalwood, storax, sweet flag, tonka beans (vanilla scent), and vetiver toot (nice with roses).
Add about 1 tablespoon of fixative per quart of herbs.

Oils: To enhance the scent of your potpourii or to add an accent, you can stir in just a touch of an essential oil. If you can&#8217;t decide which oil to use, divide the mixture of herbs into portions and add a different oil to each to see which you like most. Be sure to label the potpourris before storing them.

Mixing: With the exception of the knife or scissors you clip your herbs with, it is best not to expose hrbs to metal when drying or preparing. The metal can alter the fragrance somewhat. Instead use wood, enamel, or ceramic utensils and ceramic or glass bowls.	
Crush or grind any seeds before adding. Stir together all dried ingrediants, or if you really want to get into creating your potpourri, toss the leaves and petals with your hands. Your hands will be pleasantly scented afterwards. If you want to add essential oils, stir in just a couple of drops- too much will overpower the fragrances of the herbs themselves and can make the potpourri overpowering. Remember you simply want to enhance the scent.
When you&#8217;ve mixed the herbs thoroughly, pour them into a large wide-mouthed jar or ceramic pot, and cover tightly with a lid. Place the container in a cool, dark place for six weeks to allow all the fragrances to blend. About once a week, shake the contants or stir with a wooden spoon. At the end of the six weeks, you&#8217;ll have a delightful potpourri to use in your home or give as a gift.


----------



## Morakai (Mar 1, 2011)

Sachets

Sachets differ only slightly from potpourris. The ingredients are the same. Itâs just that they are ground and crumbled rather than uses whole, and they are stuffed inside decorative fabric bags or pillows. Thatâs it! 
You can choose from any number of fabrics, but you would be wise to choose one that has a tight weave. Silk is ideal. Although most sachets are square, they donât have to be. The size is optional as well. Traditionally the size is 2âx2â, but can make any size you want.


Recipes

The fun of making potpourris and sachets is not just working with colorful and fragrant herbs, but in blending and balancing scents to create your own favorite fragrance. You might want to start with one of the following recipes, but eventually, youâll want to experiment with different herbs. The possibilities are endless. Just remember to record your reciepes and label your mixtures, so that if you create a fragrance you especially enjoy or one that you particularly dislike, you will know how you made it. 
In making a potpourri, mix all dried ingredients first, and then add any essential oils.




Spicy Basils: Basil has a wonderful fragrance, and so do many of its spicy varieties. The following recipe is from Marilyn Hampsteadâs The Basil Book:
1 quart of licorice basil
1 quart of sweet basil
1 quart of French fine-leaf basil
2 cups of apple geranium leaves
2 cups of old spice or nutmeg geranium leaves
1 cup of thyme
2 cups of patchouli
1 cup of lemon eucalyptus or lemon verbena
1 cup of Clevelandii sage
3 ounces of vetiver root

Summer harvest: Created by Rosella Mathieu of Herb Garden Fragrances, this recipe is simple to prepare and can be varied in many ways.
1 cup of rose petals
1 cup of lavender
1 cup of lemon verbena
1 cup of mixed mints

Scentamental journey: Little girls often love to spend time at motherâs dressing table looking at the makeup and smelling the perfumes. Barbara Remington, who created this recipe, finds its deep, heavy scent to be reminiscent of perfumes that once were on her motherâs dressing table. Its name is a pun on one of her motherâs favorite 1940âs song.
2 quarts of rose petals
1 cup of broken blue statice, blue bachelorâs buttons, or delphiniums
1 Â½ cups of patchouli
3 tablespoons of orris root
5 drops of oil of gardenia

Manly scent: A good recipe for a manâs sachet.
2 cups of lemon balm
1 cup of thyme
1 cup of nutmeg
2 tablespoons of orris root

Herb Garden: Culinary herbs do have uses outside the kitchen. Their fragrances blend wonderfully in potpourris.
2 cups of thyme
1 cup of rosemary
Â½ cup of lavender
1 cup mint
Â¼ cup of tansy
Â¼ cup of clove
2 tablespoons of orris root



Essential Oils

A lot of mystery is associated with distilling oils and blending perfumes. It seems such an exotic practice, but it is really quite simple.
What is difficult about extracting oils from herbs has nothing to do with the process- it is gathering all those herbs from your beautiful garden. Donât be intimidated by the huge quantities of flowers used commercially in making perfumes (12,000 pounds of jasmine flowers for 2 ounds of oil). Large amounts of flowers are needed to produce even an ounce of pure oil, but you can easily create fragrant waters and oils from herbs grown in the backyard.

Extracting oils with oil: One of the easiest ways to extract the fragrances of herbs is to soak them in oil. As strange as it may sound, oil attracts oil, bringing it out of the leaves & flowers.
Use a nonmetal container; a ceramic crock works well. Pour in pure olive oil or safflower oil to cover the fresh flowers or leaves. Set it aside for at least 24 hours. Strain the mixture, gently pressing the blossoms or leaves to release more fragrant oil and repeat the process. Continue to repeat this procedure six or more times, and when you are done, youâll have a wonderfully fragrant oil that you can add to baths, lotions, potpourris, aromatic waters, soaps, candles, or whatever. Store the oil in a tightly sealed bottle.

Extracting oils with alcohol: Another simple method of obtaining herbal fragrances is by soaking the plant material in alcohol. You must use undenatured ethyl alcohol. If you have trouble finding it, you may use vodka. Just donât use rubbing alcohol. The procedure is identical to the one described above for extracting oils with oil. The fragrant alcohol that you create can be used as it is, or you can dilute it with some water. It also makes a fine base for a perfume. 
If you want to remove the oil from the alcohol, place it in the freezer. The alcohol does not freeze, but the oil solidifies and can be skimmed from the liquid.
This solvent method of extracting oils is particularly good for very delicate flowers like jasmine. It doesnât burn the petals as steam distillation does.

Pure essential oils: These are the most useful of the herbal oils. These oils are extracted by steam distillation. With the proper equipment, an incredible volume of herbs, and some persistence, you can distill you own pure essential oils. But it is much easier to buy them.


----------



## Morakai (Mar 1, 2011)

*Perfumes and Toilet Waters*

To make simple perfumes and toilet waters, all you need are essential oils, alcohol (pure undenatured ethyl alcohol) or vodka, a fixative ( such as storax oil, sandalwood oil or orris root), and maybe some aromatic waters. As with potpourris, you should keep in mind the basic principles of blending. Create the perfume around a main scent, and then add secondary scents or constracting fragrances that will work with the main fragrance to build on it or enhance it. This may seem a little abstract, but its meaning will become clear as you start experimenting.
The following perfumes and toilet waters are made by combining the ingredients in a glass bottle, shaking well, then setting them aside for several weeks to allow their fragrances to blend and fix.



Scent of roses: Let this perfume blend for at least fur weeks before using.
1 cup of undenatured ethyl alcohol
Â¼ cup of rose water
1 tablespoon of rosemary oil
2 tablespoons of rose oil
1 tablespoon of storax oil

Herb scent: Occasional agitation during the setting period will improve the fragrance of this perfume.
1 cup of undenatured ethyl alcohol
1 teaspoon of basil oil
1 teaspoon of sage oil
1 teaspoon of dill oil
1 teaspoon of sandalwood oil

Lavender cologne: Combine and enjoy after several weeks
1 pint of undenatured ethyl alcohol
Â½ cup of lavender water
2 tablespoons of lavender oil
1 tablespoon of storax oil

Lemon perfume: The lemon fragrance gets stronger with age.
1 cup of undenatured ethyl alcohol
2 tablespoons of lemon oil
1 tablespoon of citronella oil
1 tablespoon of lemon verbena oil
1 tablespoon of sandalwood oil

Spicy essence: Set aside for two months. Filter and store in a sterile glass perfume bottle.
1 cup of undenatured ethyl alcohol
1 tablespoon of clove oil
2 tablespoons of cinnamon oil
Â¼ cup of orris root



*And more uses for oils*

Scents for candles: Scent your wax with additions of bayberry oil, clove oil, mint oil, rose oil, sage oil, lavender oil, lemon oil, or other aromatic herb oils. Various combinations of fragrant oils are often pleasing. Use about Â½ ounce of oil for each pound of wax. Or you may add powered herbs to the melted wax. Grind them with a motar and pestle.
Scents for soaps: Just before pouring soap into molds, add any of the following oils for a sweet-smelling aroma: Lavender, citronella, rose, rose geranium, rosemary, cloves, cinnamon, sassafras, lemongrass, or lemon.
Perfumed Inks: Calligraphy has become increasingly popular. More and more people learn this skill all the time. To add a little surprise and interest to your pieces, use a fragrant ink. Simply make a strong infusion from dried herbs and add 2 or 3 teaspoons to a bottle of ink.


----------



## dawnpacz (May 1, 2005)

Thank you for posting all this wonderful information Morakai! I found it very useful and can't wait to try my hand at some wreaths.


----------



## Morakai (Mar 1, 2011)

I have made a couple of living wreaths, and I can tell ya, the fresh herbs smelled great, and tasted great as well. A friend of mine did one & hung it in the sun down a walk way that sometimes would blow compost smelll up. Still not the greatest smell, but the fresh herbs even made that smell seem better & more home like. hehe


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Morakai said:


> Extracting oils with oil: One of the easiest ways to extract the fragrances of herbs is to soak them in oil. As strange as it may sound, oil attracts oil, bringing it out of the leaves & flowers.
> Use a nonmetal container; a ceramic crock works well. Pour in pure olive oil or safflower oil to cover the fresh flowers or leaves. Set it aside for at least 24 hours. Strain the mixture, gently pressing the blossoms or leaves to release more fragrant oil and repeat the process. Continue to repeat this procedure six or more times, and when you are done, you&#8217;ll have a wonderfully fragrant oil that you can add to baths, lotions, potpourris, aromatic waters, soaps, candles, or whatever. Store the oil in a tightly sealed bottle.
> 
> Extracting oils with alcohol: Another simple method of obtaining herbal fragrances is by soaking the plant material in alcohol. You must use undenatured ethyl alcohol. If you have trouble finding it, you may use vodka. Just don&#8217;t use rubbing alcohol. The procedure is identical to the one described above for extracting oils with oil. The fragrant alcohol that you create can be used as it is, or you can dilute it with some water. It also makes a fine base for a perfume.
> If you want to remove the oil from the alcohol, place it in the freezer. The alcohol does not freeze, but the oil solidifies and can be skimmed from the liquid.


When you soak the plants in oil, I have found that grape seed is my favorite. Olive oil is too heavy and greasy for my liking. Some people buy jojaba (sp), but I just get grape seed because it's fairly inexpensive and easily available.
Also, you can cover a spice/herb/plant in vodka, leave it for a couple of months, strain, then add oil (even a heavy oil) to it, so you can put it on your feet like an essential oil. You just have to shake it before each use. I love using clove oils, cinnamon, ginger, chamomile, allspice or mace, lavender,etc on feet daily. Frankincense is hard to find, but if you can get it, making a tincture then adding oil is wonderful for cancers and skin issues.

Also-- where do you find your lanolin to make lotions/creams? I haven't found pure lanolin for a while around here.


----------



## Morakai (Mar 1, 2011)

Here is where I get my lanolin.

http://www.essentialwholesale.com/s.nl/sc.9/category.137805/.f

If find a better place, please let me know.


----------

