Dried Lavender Wreaths

Had a very tiring day at the office? Need to sooth your nerves? If you are suffering from these kind of modern day tensions then try some dry lavender solution or tincture. They are very helpful for calming down your nerves. It also good for relieving stress and like headaches. And it aids good and a restful sleep too. You must be thinking what this lavender tincture is that relieves people of so many kinds of stresses. Well a lavender tincture is nothing but the addition of the dried lavender flowers in the solution of water and alcohol. With its simple contents you can make this wonderful medicinal solution of bulk dried lavender blooms even at your own homes.

So if you want to make this lavender tincture by your own, just get the following items first.

• A clean jar
• Dried lavender blooms
• Alcohol, the stronger the better
• Clean water
• A measuring cup and a funnel
• Cheesecloth and
• A dark glass bottle

First of all fill one quarter of the jar with the wide mouth with your dried lavender blooms. Then make a mixture of alcohol and filtered water. The alcohol your are using for the mixture should be strong. It will be best if you vodka of a good quality. Mixing one cup of the vodka with three cups of water will give you the needed mixture. Then once the mixture is ready pour it in the jar containing the dry lavenders. Cover the jar tightly with its lid after pouring in the mixed solution. Then shake the jar nicely for some time. This will ensure the even saturation of the lavender blooms in the alcohol solution. After a while of shaking, open the lid of the jar and check the solution. If the color of the solution is changed in likeness to the color of the lavenders, then you will not have to shake the jar anymore. Then again put on the lid of the jar and store in one of your cool cupboards. Remember to keep the jar away from the direct rays of the sun and other sources of heat. You will have to store the mixture for at least month before using it. During the storage period stir the content once in every two days.

After the month is over, using the cheesecloth strain the mixture into a clean dark glass bottle. Now your dried lavender tincture is ready unstress you from all the worldly stress.

Lavender is one of the most important plant in the medicinal world. Especially the bulk dried ones, as you can use them in various medicinal ways. The use of dried lavender ranges from aromatherapy to making lotions and perfumes. So in order to make full use of the lavender, you will have to dry them first. To dry lavender is not so hard. To dry them the easy and the best way you will need:

·        A container that is airtight

·        A pair of gardening shears

·        Sheets of newspaper

·        Sachet bags and

·        Rubber bands.

When you have the needed items ready just follow these steps:

• For drying you will have to pick the lavenders with the strongest aroma. So when you go to harvest your lavenders look for the ones, whose buds are just starting to open and beginning to show their colors. When you find lavenders like these, cut their stems a little above the leaves using the air of garden shears.
• After cutting the lavender stems you will have to make bunches of them. To secure these bunches you may use rubber bands. The rubber bands will stay secure till the end of the drying process.
• Then find an area that is warm dry and airy, where the direct rays of the sunlight does not creep in. hang the lavender bunches in such an area for drying. The proper drying process will take twelve to fourteen days.
• After two weeks of the drying period your flowers will be completely dry. Then unbunch your dried lavender bouquet, as you will have to remove the buds from each of the stem. You can do this by spreading a newspaper on the floor and placing the stems on the newspaper. Gently wrap the stems with the newspaper and then roll it to and fro on the flower like roll out a dough. This way you will be easily able to remove the buds from the stem.
• Lastly collect the buds of the dried lavender stems and store them in sachets or airtight containers. Don’t throw away the stems you can use them to make fire.

So now you have got the most important dried buds of the lavender. You can use them later as the time requires to make balms, antiseptics or for just its fragrance.

A lavender being a herbal and a medicinal plant, you can use it in many ways. The most important ingredient of a lavender is its fragrance. With out its fragrance the dried lavender will be just a beautiful decorative flower. But since nature has blessed this flower with fragrance, the lavender exists among us not just as flower of beauty but also as a flower that heals.

If you are ignorant about the uses of a dried lavender, then here are some tips on its uses that may enlighten you:

·        You can use the fragrance of the lavender to a calming effect. That means you can use the its fragrance as a perfume to sooth stress and nervousness. Dried lavender is one of the best remedy for relieving headaches.

·        You can also use the dried lavender as incense and potpourri. You can use them in bathing salts, soaps and to perfume your closets and to liven up your rooms.

·        Some varieties of dried lavender also work as wonderful seasonings in almost all kinds of dishes and beverages.

·        One of the most popular use of the dried lavender is in the weddings. In the weddings people use this flower to shower the bride and the groom. These lavenders adds an aromatic charm to the weddings.

·        You can also use the dried lavender as strewing flowers. That is you can sprinkle these dried lavenders on pathways and whenever one steps over them, they will get crushed and release a sweet fragrance.

·        Dried lavenders also work as a very effective insect repellent. Tie your dry lavender into bunches and place them in the areas where the insects tend to be the most. After a few days you will see the change for yourselves. It also works driving out insects from your cars. Just place them under the seat or inside the trunk.

·        Lavender oil made out of dried lavender flower is also very useful. The lavender oil acts as very good preservative. You can also use them for cleaning, moisturizing and massaging.

So next time when your lavender flower dries out, don’t throw them away. Remember lavender is one flower that becomes more valuable after it’s wilting.

No one can undo death, this is the only fact that will remain a fact till the end of days. Everything that lives has to die some time or the other. In front of death all the riches and all the wisdom is just a mere speck of dust, which gets easily blown away by the cold breath of death. But dying is not as gray as people think it to be, it’s just the matter of how you look at death. If you have learnt to live then you will learn to die too.

However, death is and will always be a synonym to sadness. A person may happily die and pass into the other world, but the memories he leaves behind, well one will surely get emotional thinking of them. Death is not always difficult for the dying person but is always difficult for the people he has touched during his lifetime. And the most trying time being the funeral service. As it is in the funeral that you will be seeing the person for the last time. After that he will really be gone from this earth.

To mark this important event people use flowers, as they do for most of the other important occasions. When one born into this world one gets flowers and when one dies out of this world one again gets flowers. Only this time one is not able to see them. In a way life begins with flowers and ends with them.

People take flowers to the funerals to express their sympathy and commiseration for the family that has lost one of its beloved. The flowers that people usually take to the funerals are lilies, as the lilies symbolize death and mourning. The demure white lilies give comfort and solace. The sight of the glowing white funeral flowers lessens the pain of losing someone. Apart from the traditional white lilies, flowers like white daises, white azaleas and white roses also make for suitable funeral flowers. The flowers may not be able to speak, but they say a lot to the heart in these kind of troubling times.

So the next time you attend a funeral make sure you take the right kind of flowers. Remember that flowers do not talk, but they gently whisper to the hearts

Want to express your love for your father, why not do it roses. In terms of expressing your feelings flowers are the best medium and the best among the best are the roses. So this father’s day express the love that you have for your father with a wreath of beautiful roses.

If you do not know how to make a wreath of roses, don’t worry, its really simple and easy. Just get the following materials and follow the given instructions. By the end of it I assure you that you will have lovely wreath to present your father with on father’s day.

The materials that you will need to are:

• A couple of dozen of small roses in full bloom
• A straw wreath frame of about 4 inches.
•  Floral wire and pins.
• A pair of scissors.
• Green moss and
• Hot glue.

After you have the materials ready follow these instructions:

• First gather all your rose blooms and cut their stems two inches from the calyx. Remember to cut off their thorns too.
• Next wrap the straw wreath with the ribbon. Make sure you don’t cover the wreath fully with the ribbon. In between the ribbon weaving a good part of your wreath should show.
• After finishing with the wrapping you will have to arrange the roses on the wreath. So start arranging the roses on the wreath by placing them on the edges of the wreath. You can secure the roses using hot glue or with the floral wire.
• While you arrange the roses on the wreath it will be better if you place them in an alternate arrangement in accordance to their color and size. Your wreath will look more attractive if you arrange your roses in this pattern.
• Continue securing the roses in circles along the wreath until the flowers fully covers the wreath.
• Then cover any gaps that may appear in between the roses with rose leaves and green moss. You may use the green floral pins to secure the leaves and green moss to the wreath.

Finally, take another piece of ribbon of about 2 ft and tie it to the bottom of the wreath into a bow.

Father they care for us, protect us and help us to become good citizens of the world and above all a good father someday. So to express my gratitude to my father for being “my” father and no one else’s, I presented him with a wreath of feathers on this Father’s Day.

To make this father’s day feather wreath I needed the following materials:

• Medium sized feathers in various light shades.
• A wire wreath form.
• A supply of dry straws.
• Pencil.
• Hot glue gun and
• Ribbons.

So if you also want to make this kind of wreath, you will need these materials and take the following wreath making:

• The first step is the making of straw wreath. To make one, cut the straw into 6-inch trimmings. Then make small bunches of these trimmings. Place one of the bunches on the wire frame and secure it with floral wire. In this way continue placing the bunches on the frame one overlapping the other, until you cover the frame fully with the dry straws. While doing the covering make sure that you secure each bunch to the frame firmly with floral fire.
• After your straw wreath is ready insert the feathers into the wreath in circles. You can use the pencil to poke holes in the straws, this will make the insertion of the feathers into the wreath more easy.
• In this way add your feathers to the wreath in layers. You can add as may feathers, as you want to the wreath. The quantity of the feathers you use and in which way you use them to decorate your wreath will matter on how you want your wreath to look.
• After finishing with the arrangement of the feathers on the wreath, take a piece of ribbon of about 2 ft long and tie it to the base of the wreath into a bow. Your feather wreath is ready.

After you finish making this wreath, you can attach a note to the wreath expressing your gratitude to your father. Another good idea will be to attach a Father’s Day card to the wreath.

Father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you have grown. In the eyes of a son, a father always remains as evergreen as those evergreen flowers and leaves. Even after he is gone the memories of a father always remains as colorful and vivid as in the days those memories were unknowingly created. The memories of a father, no time or tide can take away its colors. They remain as evergreen as ever.

So this father’s day pay a lasting tribute to your father by making an evergreen father’s day wreath for your father. To make this evergreen wreath you will need:

·         A wire wreath frame.

·         Floral wires.

·         Ribbons.

·         A pair of scissors and garden shears.

·         Pine cones and

·         Evergreen flowers and foliage.

After you have these materials for making the wreath, just follow these instructions:

• To begin with you will need a bag full of evergreen foliage. Some suggestions of the foliage that you can gather are pine, fir cedar, magnolia and oak. One you have your evergreen foliage trim them all to a size of about 6 inches.
• The next step will be to cover your wreath frame with the 6-inch evergreen trimmings. You do this first of all gather a bunch of trimming and place them along the frame and secure them using floral wire. Continue with this method of covering your frame with bunches of evergreen trimmings till the trimmings cover the wire frame fully.
• Now you will have an evergreen foliage wreath to work with. Next will be placing the pinecones on the wreath. To place the pinecones to the wreath you will have to secure a piece of floral wire to the base of the cone. Then wire the cone to the wreath. In this manner secure the pinecones to the wreath following a definite pattern.
• After the pinecones add your flowers to the wreath. You can secure the flowers with the help of hot glue or floral wire. Choose whichever suits you the best.

Lastly, take a piece of ribbon and tie into a simple bow to the base of the wreath. You may also add a father’s day card to the wreath.

If you want to make a lasting gift, to present to your father on this father’s day, then a wreath of dried flowers will be perfect. As the dried flowers last for many years so will your expression of love for your father in the form dried floral wreath.

To make this wreath is easy and fun. So if you want to try making it first you will need these following materials:

• A wire wreath frame.
• Ribbons.
• A pair of scissors and garden shears.
• Floral wire and
• Dry flower foliage and a variety of dry flowers.

After getting these materials ready take the following steps:  

•       Gather all your dry flower foliage and trim them all to a size of 6 inches. Here are some suggestions as for the dry foliage that you can use- oak, magnolia, asparagus ferns and cushion bush.

• ·         Next, cut the stems of the dry flowers about 5 inches down its calyx so that you will have a 6-inch dry flowers to work with.

• ·         Then make a bunch of your dry foliage trimmings with the cut ends of the trimmings facing the same direction. Arrange a few of your dry flowers on the top of the dry foliage bunch. Place the bunch on the wire wreath frame.

• ·         If you do not happen to find this wire wreath form, then one own your own using an old wire hanger. Just bend the wire hanger into a circle and you will have your wire wreath frame.

• ·          After placing the bunches of the dry foliage with the dry flowers on the wreath frame. Secure it firmly to the frame using floral wire.

• ·         Next make another bunch of the same kind together with the dry flowers on top and secure it to the wreath frame in the same way as the first. Your second bunch of dry foliage and flowers should slightly overlapping the first one covering its trimmings.

• ·         In this continue wiring the bunches and the flowers one slightly overlapping the other till you complete the full circle of the wreath frame.

·         By the end of this process you will have your dried flower wreath ready.

Finally, you can attach a small bow to the base of the wreath

The next thing that your father loves most apart from your mother and you are daises, then a daisy wreath will be a perfect gift that you can present to your father this father’s day. You can make this daisy wreath with any kind of daisies, either silk or fresh ones. But making one with fresh daises will be more better, after all natural daisy is a natural daisy. 

 In order to make this wreath you will require:

• About three dozens of fresh daisies in full bloom.
• A 15-inch grapevine wreath.
• A pair of wire cutters.
• Floral wire.
• Ribbons and
• Hot glue gun.

• Once you get your fresh daisies home immediate cut their stems about 4 inches from the calyx at an angle under running water. Then put them in a vase of fresh and clean water. This will keep your flowers fresh while you work on the wreath.

• Next take your grapevine wreath and wrap it with the ribbon. Making sure you do not weave the ribbon round the wreath too tightly. Weave the ribbon around the grapevine wreath in such a way that large portions of the vine shows in between the ribbons.

• After doing with the wrapping, experiment with the arrangement of the of the daisies on the wreath. While experimenting with the arrangement of the flowers make sure you handle them with care and try not to touch its blooms as much as possible. As your touch may result in the damage of the blooms. You can make use of their stems instead.

• Once you get the arrangement of daisies along the wreath form right, you may start securing them to the wreath using floral wire. Your wreath will look better if you cover the whole wreath with the blooms. So that nothing of the grapevine or the ribbon is visible. You may fill in the gaps between the blooms with green leaves or you can also use green moss. If you are using green moss than secure them to the wreath with green floral pins.

Your father’s favorite flower wreath is ready.

If you are thinking of making a simple wreath for the Mother’s Day celebrations, then you are reading the right article. As here we have an easy procedure following which you can make a simple yet a lovable Mother’s Day wreath.

To make this wreath you will need the following materials:

• A cardboard.
• Construction papers in three vibrant colors.
• A pencil.
• A pair of scissors and
• Adhesive in the form of glue.
• Two big round plates one plate being about 2 inches smaller than the other one.

With these materials you can begin making this special Mother’s Day wreath:

• So to begin with you will have to make frame for the wreath. To make this wreath frame take the cardboard and place a round plate on top of it. Then taking a pencil trace the shape of the plate on the cardboard.
• Next take another round plate about 2 inches smaller then the first one. Place this plate within the former circle on the cardboard. Trace its circle also on the cardboard. After this using the scissors cut the inside out of the cardboard in accordance with the two circles. This will give you a circular rim, which will be your wreath frame.
• The next step will be tracing the shapes of the hands on the construction papers. Altogether you will need nine hand prints, three in each color.
• For the hand prints ask one of your little ones at home to place one of their hands on the construction sheet. Then with the help of pencil trace the shape of the hand on the paper. Using the pair of scissors cut out this shape of the of the hand off the paper. Using this shape you can make the other 8 handprints out of the construction papers.
• Now glue these hand prints on the wreath frame in a nice pattern. Leave the wreath aside for sometime to dry.

Lastly, you can tie a ribbon into a bow to the bottom of the wreath. As for the color of the ribbon choose one that goes with the color of the hand prints.