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Painted
Bottles and Glass
Aromatherapy Eye Pillows
Pipe Curtain Rods
Art Books & Frames
Personalized Calendars,
Stories, and Freezer Jam
Fancy-Dressed Soaps
by Nikol
Lohr
Project: Herbal Aromatherapy
Eye Pillow
Supplies: soft cotton,
silk, or satin fabric (buy remnants or use a shirt you were going to
send to Goodwill), needle and thread (or sewing machine), rice, essential
oil, and a piece of paper. You'll also need scissors & an iron is
helpful, but not essential.
Time: 15 minutes (40
if you're handsewing), plus additional time to allow oil to soak into
rice.
Cost: $5 for essential
oil (enough to make a mountain of pillows & gallons of bath oil);
$1 for a bag of rice (enough for many pillows); and a couple of bucks
for fabric (or recycle your old clothing for free).
You could make a dozen or so for around $6 if you
don't have to buy fabric.
Make a plain,
unscented eye pillow and package it with a few small bottles
of essential oil, with a note explaining recommended uses of various
essential oils. The giftee can apply a few drops of appropriate oil
for desired effect.
Alternately, package a
scented eye pillow with a bottle of the same essential oil you
used and one of those lamp diffuser rings ($3 - $8) or some candles.
Aromatherapy first-aid kit: Make
several pillows for one person, each in a different
fabric and infused with a different scent. Place each in a ziplock
bag to prevent them from absorbing each other's secent. Label each with
it's purpose: Hangover, Stress, Energy, etc.
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I regularly see these herbal pillows in health
food and specialty stores for $8 - $15. They're super easy to
make, wonderful to use (a picture doesn't really work for this--these
are mostly smell), and best of all, cheap. Plus, if you make them yourself,
you get to use whatever cool fabric you can find. Recycled vintage blouses,
slips, and pillow cases make beautiful, one-of-a-kind gifts.
Gather your supplies. For each pillow, you'll need:
- a 7" x 7" square of fabric (if you
don't have a ruler, open your checkbook cover and trace around it)
- 2/3 cup rice
- 5 - 10 drops essential oil, available at health food stores. Rosemary
and chamomile are both said to relieve stress, stimulate relaxation,
and ease insomnia and headaches; try peppermint to tame a hangover.
- needle and thread
- an envelope of piece of thin cardboard for filling pillow
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1. Before you
start, add 5 - 10 drops of essential oil to 2/3 cup rice.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then mix well to blend, and leave
it for about an hour. This allows the rice to absorb the oil,
preventing greasy spots on your fabric. If you're making several
pillows, you can mix up a big batch of rice and oil at once. Alternately,
you can skip the oil and use 1/4 to 1/3 lavender flowers in place
of some of the rice.
2. Fold the
square of fabric in half, right sides facing (the opposite
side of what you want to show up should be on the outside; you'll
turn it inside-out after you sew it up)
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3. Sew along
the long side and one short side to form a pouch. If you're
sewing by hand, keep your stitches small. Look at the decorative
stitching on your jeans for a guideline.
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4. Turn pouch
rightside-out. You can use a pen with a lid to poke out
the corners and make them nice and square.
5. Fold open
edge in about 1/2" on itself; iron. (If you don't
have an iron, just skip this step and you'll fold it in when you
sew it.
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6. Fill pouch
with 2/3 cup scented rice. Slightly roll up the envelope
lengthwise, slide it into the pouch, and use it to hold the pouch
open and while you fill it with rice.
7. Sew up open
side. If you didn't iron the hem in earlier, then make
sure you fold in the unfinished edges. If you're handsewing, sew
several extra stitches at the beginning and the end of the seam
to prevent it from unraveling.
8. Write instructions*
on the slip of paper. Use metallic gel pens for a festive
touch. Wrap the eye pillow and instructions in tissue. If you
like, you could pack it in a ziplock bag to retain fragrance longer.
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*Suggested Insert Text:
Relaxing Eye Pillow with Lavender
Recline, situate pillow over closed eyes, and relax. Eye pillow may
be chilled or stored in the freezer for use over the eyes or forehead
to help ease a headache or hangover. If fragrance fades, revive with
a few drops of essential oil along seam.
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