What Can I Do With My Fresh Lavender?
Lavender is a fantastic plant to cultivate in your home’s herb garden. It loves the sun and it’s drought tolerant, making it fairly easy to grow in many climates. When it’s healthy, it is also quite bountiful, growing several feet high and sprouting up many colorful and fragrant purple blooms. While this bush smells great and is pleasant to look at, you should know there are many ways you can incorporate fresh lavender into your home.
If you have lots of fresh lavender, you can make essential oils, candles, or homemade soaps. Dry it and use it as decoration or garnish, or place it in a floral bouquet. You can make a tea with culinary grade lavender, or create a syrup to add to coffee beverages and lemonade. Place the dried flowers in sachets to keep the clothes in your dresser or luggage smelling fresh.
Lavender brings a lovely pop of color to any herb garden, and it sure makes things smell nice. But if you have an overwhelming amount of fresh lavender, you should consider utilizing it in your home. It has a lovely fragrance that can make your home smell fresh, relax your mind, and even keep bugs away. Below is a list of all the best ways you can use your fresh lavender in and around your home.
11 Creative Ways To Use Your Fresh Lavender
1. Dry It And Use As Decoration
Lavender is an herb that dries very well. Where some other herbs lose their flavor and potency when dried, lavender and its oils remain fragrant. Best of all, the pretty purple flowers keep most of their color after they dry. This all helps make lavender a fantastic herb to dry out and use as decoration.
You can bundle up lavender stems and hang them upside down. Keep this bundle as decoration in the kitchen or bathroom. You can also opt to make a decorative wreath or add the dried lavender to bouquets with other dried flowers. Just remember after lavender dries, it becomes a bit more delicate, so be gentle when decorating with dried lavender.
2. Help Your Luggage And Dresser Smell Lovely
Another great way to use your fresh lavender is to keep your clothing smelling fresh and amazing. You can place the fragrant dried blossoms into a sachet and use these small yet potent packages as air and linen fresheners near your clothing.
These sachets are great for laundry bins, luggage, sock drawers, and even in the closet where you keep your shoes. The fragrance keeps the area smelling great, and it gives the nearby clothes a subtle and refreshing lavender scent.
3. Make Scented Candles
If you are looking for a DIY project or a fun gift idea, let the plethora of fresh lavender in your garden be your inspiration. Lavender is a great ingredient to use in candle making. You can make candles with many different fragrances, but using fresh lavender from your garden is a very personal touch, making it an incredible gift.
You can use lavender essential oil to boost the scent of the candle. Follow a recipe of your choice, and add lavender flowers to the candle to give it an organic and genuine look. These candles are sure to be crowd pleasers at your next gift exchange.
4. Make Lavender Syrup
While lavender is known for its scent, it has also started to gain popularity as a flavoring. You can find lavender iced cream, espresso drinks, and even cocktails. If you want to try cooking with lavender, then start by making some fresh lavender syrup.
Making lavender syrup is very easy, which makes it a great jumping-off point for those who want to try cooking with lavender. Mix equal parts water and sugar to make a basic syrup. Add two to three tablespoons of dried lavender for each cup of water. Bring the ingredients to a simmer and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.Â
Allow the water to simmer for ten minutes to capture a lot of lavender flavor. You can add this syrup to desserts, coffee, and even cocktails.
5. Use It In Flower ArrangementsÂ
If you are looking for great filler flowers to add to your flower arrangement, look no further than your fresh lavender. There are tons of benefits to adding lavender to your arrangements. The stems are usually long and thin, making it easy to place them in existing flower arrangements. Lavender adds an additional non-offensive fragrance, and the light purple hue is a unique and welcomed pop of color to any arrangement. If you want your bouquet to last longer, lavender is a great option, as it will last for more than a week. Even when it dries it looks stunning.
6. Use It To Make Herbal Tea
If you don’t want to add sugar to your lavender but want to taste it, there is another fantastic and simple way to consume fresh lavender — make a tea. Lavender tea is a great caffeine-free tea that can promote relaxation and even sleep. You can combine it with chamomile tea, or drink it on its own.
To make lavender tea, add four teaspoons of fresh culinary-grade lavender to eight ounces of boiling water. Cover it with a lid and let it steep for 10 minutes or longer for more flavor. Then simply strain the mixture and enjoy this soothing homemade lavender tea.
7. Add It To A Therapeutic Bath
If you have a bath tub, then you should treat yourself to a therapeutic bath with some fresh lavender. Sprinkle a generous amount of fresh or recently dried lavender into a hot bath, and let it soak into the water.Â
The hot water will release the oils, which will smell lovely and can promote further relaxation. The purple floating flowers can also make for a romantic bath if you are looking for a DIY Valentine’s Day, or romantic night in.
8. Create Lavendar Soap For Gifts
Another fun DIY journey you can embark on using fresh lavender is homemade soap. If you have ever visited a soap shop, then you have surely seen artisanal lavender soap. The flowers and smell make this herb the obvious choice for soap makers. But instead of paying $10 a bar for this fancy soap, you can make your own and gift it to loved ones.
9. Use It In Your Potpourri
If you want to let the unique and intoxicating smell of fresh lavender take center stage, then adding it to potpourri is a great option. You can either make potpourri or simply revitalize existing potpourri that has lost its fragrance.Â
Add plenty of purple flowers to the mix to show off the lavender and add color. You can sprinkle some lavender essential oil on the potpourri. This will add a more pronounced smell if that is what you are looking for.
10. Make Your Own Essential Oil
Did you know that you can make your own lavender essential oil? You don’t need a fancy lab or extractor, just the right ingredients. Use a carrier oil like olive oil. You can make a quick oil by heating lavender and extracting it using heat, but the best way is to let time work its magic.
Fill a clean mason jar with fragrant lavender, and pack it tight. Next, add the carrier oil of your choice. Place it in the sun, as if you were making sun tea. Let the oil soak up the lavender for at least a week, but up to two weeks to ensure it has a concentrated fragrance. Strain with a cheesecloth, and then a second time with a coffee filter.
11. Help Keep The Mosquitos Away
Lavender is also an herb that helps keep mosquitoes away, so you can use your fresh lavender as a bug repellent. Place bouquets on outdoor tables, or make an organic bug spray with it. Combine lavender with citronella and even rosemary to boost the effects this fragrance has as a natural insect repellent.Â
Summing Up The Creative To Use Your Fresh LavenderÂ
Lavender is one of the best herbs to grow in a home herb garden. Not only is it fairly easy to grow, but it has many uses. You can use lavender to make essential oils, soaps, or candles. Lavender also tastes delicious. You can use it as a food garnish, make syrup, or even make lavender tea. It also makes a great home decoration when dried, and can help add additional color and fragrance to any flower arrangement.
Related Guides:
- Do Mice Hate Lavender? DIY Mouse Repellent Sachets And Sprays
- How To Make Scented Candles At Home
- What Color Curtains Go With Lavender Walls?
Tom Gaffey is an expert writer who currently resides in Washington D.C. Tom has a passion for real estate and home improvement writing, as well as travel and lifestyle writing. He lived the last twelve years in Hawaii where he worked closely with luxury resorts and event planners, mastering his knowledge of aesthetics and luxury products. This is where he found his passion for home improvement and a keen interest in DIY projects. Currently, Tom resides in Washington D.C, and also working on his debut fiction novel.
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