\ SEED GIFTS

Do you gather seeds from your flowers for next year's planting? Consider giving some of these treasures to family and friends as gifts. You can now easily design your own seed packets for this purpose. All you need is a colour printer and to be fairly comfortable working with graphics. If you have a scanner, you can even display pictures from your own garden on the front of the packets.

 

LAVENDER SMUDGE STICKS

In the old days, people would burn lavender sticks or toss lavender sticks on a fire as a disinfectant or air purifier. Before reading about this, I always wondered what to do with all the lavender sticks I get after removing the flowers. To make a lavender smudge stick, after gathering the long stems from your lavender plants and removing the blooms or tops to dry, set aside all the sticks that you are left with. After you get about six or so lavender sticks, just braid them together, knotting each end with organic cotton thread or twine. Allow these to dry in a dark dry place (closets are great). Then, you remove the string and light an end.

 

MAGICKAL PLANT POTS

To make magickal plant pots, you need to know or have reference to symbols, runes, other ancient scripts, if desired. First, you will need to coat clay pots with a primer. After it has dried, use acrylic paints to give a background colour to the outside of the pot (if desired) and then to paint on any symbols you wish. If the pot is for a protective plant, paint protective symbol(s) on it. Last, paint or spray with a good sealer to keep the moisture away from your paint jobs. For fertility, you can paint circles and spirals on a pot in greens and plant a dandelion plant in it. You can even make these for your altar. Fill with floral foam, cover with that dried grass stuff and stick a small-branched stick in there of a proper corresponding wood. Hang crystals from it, jewellery pieces, and whatnots.

 

MAGICKAL CLOSETS

If you're still in the closet, shouldn't you at least make it a magical place?

Dresses, business suits, dress shirts, and other clothing related to work and prosperity usually resides within closets. For that reason, mints and cedar chips are called for. Both correspond with protection, prosperity, abundance, and health.

Cedar chips can be bought at some herballist stores, animal feed stores (especially the country feed stores) and at some larger craft chain-stores (also from our magickal herbs - online secure shop). These chips can be placed within a drawstring muslin bag and hung upon hangers. You can even buy larger cedar chunks from some places. These can have holes drilled through them and be strung up like onions.

Dried mint can be placed inside muslin drawstring bags and hung from hangers or it can be sewn into cloth hangers. Flat pillows of mint can be sewn and used to line closet shelves.

For shoes, sew tubes out of cotton material and fill with soothing lavender or boosting mint. Stuff each herbal tube inside a shoe. In this hot weather, who needs their wardrobe smelling like stinky feet?

 

GROW A GRASSHEAD

(a real grass roots person)

Everyone loves a Grasshead! It is a fun thing to make for a craft stall or something for the kids to make for Spring Equinox.

1 old nylon knee-high stocking

wool

15mm stick-on craft eyes and craft glue

potting mix

lawn or grass seed - or even wheat

Place an old nylon knee-high stocking inside a mould (such as an old tennis ball cut through near the top and slit), and stretch the top of the stocking over the outside of the mould. Don't cut off any excess.

Place a layer of lawn or grass seed for the 'hair' in the bottom of the stocking lined mould, and then fill with soil or potting mix. When the head is sufficiently full, tie a piece of wool or string around the end at the 'neck'.

Now take the grasshead out of its mould, pinch out a portion to form a nose and tie another piece of wool around this. Now all that is required is to stick on two 15mm eyes with craft glue and allow them to dry thoroughly.

TO GROW

Submerse the grasshead in a container of water until the head is completely saturated, then stand it in a vase or jar filled with water so the head is balanced evenly on the rim and the tail of the knee-high stocking is in the water. In a few days the grasshead will start growing green hair!

Keep the water in the vase topped up, and water the grasshead occasionally from above so that ample water reaches the grass. Every so often you might need to give it a haircut.

FOR A GRASSHEAD DELUXE

Pinch out two portions on each side of the head and tie off some ears. Fashion a pair of spectacles (glasses) with wire and place these around the ears. If you're really keen make a hat or sunshade that will allow the grass hair to grow through it and perhaps even a bow-tie. You could even try using different herbs instead of grass or wheat.