1. Use our heart or butterfly templates, or make your own pattern. Graph paper is good for creating a grid design (such as the one shown at top left). Working on a cutting mat or piece of felt, lay your template over an envelope.
2. With a thick pin, punch holes through the template and envelope until the dotted design is complete.
3. Fill the envelope with blends of scented ingredients. We like the following combinations: cedar tips, cedar shavings, and lavender; orange tea and dried roses; and lemon verbena, chamomile and dried lemon peel. (Vary the amount depending on the envelope size; we used 1 tablespoon in the gift-card envelope.)
4. With a glue stick, seal the envelope.
5. Poke whimsical designs in your paper envelopes, then add your choice of aromatic blends.
Loved this idea. Can recommend creating beautiful envelopes from craft paper, using a needle and the template for decorating and adding lavender scent. Then store in your drawers among your clothes.
I will do this,I like it!
As I am not a very good sewer, I think using the machine to follow a design would be harder for me than just using a needle to follow the design. Great gift idea for Christmas gifts for the office.
Love this idea. I am going to stamp an image and outline with the holes.
Maybe try using a small envelope and attach a ribbon and hang it in a closet or on the rear view mirror in your car. Use lavender to helpp calm you as you drive in traffic.
I have lots of pretty envelopes hanging around, with no stationery to match it. So this is a great and easy idea for me and a fun one to do with my grandkids.
I agree with elleinad14, a sewing machine maybe a good idea, but I will try both ways. Thank you. x
Using a sewing machine is a good idea, it's a quicker, more accurate way of doing it. This would be great for a desk at work of in a dorm room because it doesn't stick out and it's a compact design.
This is a great little craft! I will send some to my chemo patient because she loves sachets so very much and I don't sew. They will make neat little add on gifts too! I love it!
instead of using a pin, you can sew it on your machine, without the thread.
really easy if you have a quilting machine, too
We camp, seasonally, and I plan to send a version of this to our fellow campers, filled with pine needles from our sites, in each of their Christmas cards. It will serve as a reminder of our sun filled, summer days and as what is soon to come again. Thanks so much, Martha.....
This is soooo simple and suuuuch a great idea! Luv it!
Be sure to put a piece of carboad inside the envelope unless you want holes on both sides of the envelope. Would holes on both sides of the envelope be too much?
I'm about to mail a homemade lavender sachet.-- it's in cloth and made of Lavender from Provence (yum!). I guess using one of those puffy envelopes would be best. Any other suggestions for mailing?
Love the idea of the Christmas sachet with pine needles, etc.
What difference does it make if step 5 is there or NOT? Did someone learn a new word (redundant)? PUH-LEEZE~~~
Thanks Martha for a great idea!
Thanks bittyro for the idea of using cork board for the punching. I love this idea as I grow lavender and love to give it as gifts. In the past, I have cross-stitched sachets with a person's initial, flowers, etc., and used the ready-made organza bags from the craft store, but this is a new idea for me to try. Thanks Martha!
Instead of punching holes with a pin........SEW on your sewing machine.....easier still......
Step 5 is redundant as it incorporates steps 1-4. This is a 4 step process, not 5 - makes it seem even better!
To make punching holes in the envelopes a little easier, try putting a cork memo board on your work surface. The cork surface is solid while being soft enough to be sure your pin or othe punching implement goes completely through the paper.
There are lots of great possibilities here. Attaching one to a gift would be pretty. Putting one inside a gift of pajamas (for a lady). And, one that comes to mind also is using these as learning tools for young or learning disabled students (my son is one so I think along those lines). The envelopes could be filled with pine, as an ex., with the word "pine" written on the outside. The child would be able to read and smell pine to identify it. Hmmmmm......lots of possibilities here.
ooh what about pine needles and bayberry leaves with a christmas design on the front for the holidays?? this is clever!
I have correspondence with several overseas friends. I am always looking for little items to mail them on their birthdays or special occasions. This will be a great idea as it will fit into a birthday card. It is not breakable and not too heavy!! I will use a design applicable to the person it is being sent to! Thanks again for a good idea.
This would be a great project for any young child that wants to make their own Christmas gifts!
This would be a great project for any young child that wants to make their own Christmas gifts!
I love this idea! It will be a great thing to do at Lavender Days, a festival I help put on in Mona, Utah. Craft booths are a favorite among those that come and I'll have to add this to the list!