Learn How to Make Herbal Pillows with These Simple Instructions
Herbal Pillows
For hundreds of years, the aroma of herbs have been used to purify and scent homes, promote sleep and pleasant dreams and relieve problems like congestion. It is believed that the father of our country, George Washington, used an herbal pillow filled with hops for its sedative effect.
How to Make Your Pillow
You can make the size and shape of your pillow as desired.
What you will need:
Fabric
Choose a natural, breathable fabric like cotton.
Filler
Flaxseed makes an excellent filler. It contains linseed oil which helps the pillow retain heat and cold and its weight is heavy which makes it ideal for the eyes or other parts of the body suffering from aches (the pressure can be soothing). However, flaxseed can be quite costly.
Buckwheat is less expensive and lighter in weight. It also retains heat and cold but not as well as flaxseed.
Dried Herbs
You can grow your own herbs and dry them, buy them from most health food stores or order them online. You can use one herb or a combination of herbs for each herbal pillow.
Directions:
Cut your fabric into two identical pieces.
Sew three sides of them together, outside-in.
Turn the fabric inside-out.
Mix your filler and dried herbs together. Normally it is a 2:1 ratio (for example, 2 cups of filler and 1 cup of dried herbs).
Fill the pillow with the filler and dried herbs. Do not overfill because you will need room to close it.
Fold the open sides in and stitch closed.
You can add buttons, ribbons or other embellishments.
For best results, place the pillow in an air-proof bag for 24 hours. This will allow the scent to strengthen.
Using Your Pillow
Gently squeeze the pillow to release more of its scent.
To promote sleep, place your herbal pillow under your pillow. When sleeping, the movement of your head will help release the scent throughout the night.
When using on a body part, you can make your pillow warm or cool to touch. To warm it, microwave it for 20-30 seconds at a time until it reaches the desired heat. To cool it, place it in the freezer.
Suggestions
-
Soothing herbs to help promote sleep and relieve stress include chamomile, lavender, rose petals, sandalwood, catnip, mugwort and nutmeg.
-
Invigorating herbs include peppermint and other mints, ginger, rosemary, lemongrass and sage.
-
To help ease headaches and migraines, use rosemary, chamomile or lavender.
-
To relieve congestion, use clove or eucalyptus.
-
To ease nausea, use peppermint, clove or lavender.
-
When anxious, use sandalwood, ylang-ylang or jasmine.
-
For colicky babies, use catnip or lavender.
-
To enhance libido, use rose petals, jasmine, sweet marjoram or vanilla.
Learning how to make herbal pillows are simple and fun. Most will retain their scent for one year.
References
Creating Herbal Pillows: https://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/46045/
Make a Dream Pillow: https://www.farmersmarketonline.com/howto23.htm
How to Make a Herbal Pillow: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Herbal-Pillow
Image courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/51072255@N00/3092924296
Disclaimer
Please read this disclaimer regarding the information contained within this article.
This post is part of the series: More Fun
More fun things to make…