Herbal Bathtime Tea Bags...

My dear parents gave me the most beautiful book called, Gifts from the Garden by Debora Robertson, for my seventeenth birthday last year...

I had been admiring this book in the store for such a long time and dearly wanted to add it to my collection...

Gifts from the Garden is filled with the most beautiful and inspiring gifts, recipes and tips for growing herbs, flowers and veggies...

The gifts are both simple and afforable to make and the gorgeous photographs add to the appeal!  

Every page is a delight and I never tire of looking through it!

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A few days ago I thoroughtly enjoyed trying out one of the pretty gifts featured on page 31 for herbal bathtime teas...

I made the sleepy blend which contains dried lavender and chamomile, which I just happened to have stored away!

I had dried these herbs back in October last year and saved them in the hopes of sometime attempting a project from my lovely book...

I felt like a lady of a byegone era, sitting outside in the fresh air, stripping all the dried lavender flowers off the stalks and watching the pile of beautifully scented herbs rise in the bowl... 

And how special to use lavender and chamomile we had grown ourselves...surely this makes a gift all the more special...?

 

I would love to share the instructions to make these pretty tea bags with you, just in case you have dried chamomile and lavender and feel like creating a beautiful gift for someone special!  

You will be pleasantly surprised to find how simple they are to make!

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Herbal Bathtime Tea Bags ~ Sleepy Blend

Makes about: 8

You will need:

10 tablespoons dried chamomile

5 tbsp dried lavender

Muslin

Small tie-on gift tags (optional)

Needle and thread or sewing machine 

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Cut out 16, 10cm squares of muslin.

Write or print the name of the blend on the gift tags, if using.

Place two squares of muslin together and, either by hand or with a sewing machine, 

stitch around three sides of the square, about 1cm in from the edge.

Spoon a couple tablespoons of the mixture into the resulting bag.

Sew together the final side, making sure you catch the string 

from the gift tag in the stitching, if using.

Make the rest of the bags the same way.

Stored in an airtight container, the 'teas' will retain their fragrance for a couple of months.

To use, simply drop a sachet into your bathwater...

Recipe Courtesy ~ Gifts from the Garden by Debora Robertson

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I decided to give my herbal bathtime teas to someone very dear to me who enjoys a good soak in the tub at the end of a day...

I popped them in a box I had such fun decorating...

 

I found the most elegant vintage paper at the scrapbook shop some time ago and used it to decorate a plain brown box...

 

On one side I printed out the instructions for use on a piece of the patterned paper, distressing the edges to give it a vintage appeal...

 

On the other side I printed out the ingredients...I used a beautiful font for added charm!

...I also stamped Handmade With Love on the back...

I decorated the top of the box by printing out Herbal Bathtime Tea ~ Sleepy Blend onto the same paper and adding photo corners, pearls and a dainty pink organza bow...

 Look at this elegant lady!  I just had to use this part of the paper for the front of the box...  Again, I distressed the edges of the paper with ink and added large pearls to the corners...

I also made a matching mini card from brown kraft paper using pink lace, organza ribbon, tiny pearls and a tea cup motif...

 ...The paper I used had little postage stamps on it - I cut one out, distressed the edges and adhered it to the top right-hand corner of the little envelope to match the card...

 I added mini tags to the herbal tea bags, attaching them with a length of pink Baker's twine...

I printed Sleepy Blend onto each tag, distressing the edges and adding a tiny pearl...

 

Once the box was decorated, I popped the tea bags neatly inside...

Then I completed the gift by wrapping pretty pink ribbon around it and tying a large bow... 

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I am so pleased with the outcome of this sweet project!  I look forward to many more hours of gift making using ingredients from my garden and kitchen...

Thank you for visiting today, dear readers!

 I hope you have been inspired to attempt a little creating with the beautiful herbs and flowers that grace your garden...

Or maybe you don't have a garden yet and have been eager to grow a few herbs and flowers...?

I have come to realise how special a simple gift can be, especially when much love and thought has been poured into making it pretty and appealing...

I do hope that these teas bring as much pleasure to the sweet receiver as I had making them!

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May your day be blessed and beautiful!

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This Post May be Shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Titus 2 Tuesday and Modest Monday ~