Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
easy herbal pot holders
Some of the best parts of fall are the lovely spicy scents this time of year brings. Why not bring some of these scents into your home by making some scented hot pads from the herbs in your garden and the spices in your cupboard? They are basically hot pads, with spices and herbs sewn into the padding, so when you sit a hot pan or teapot on them, the warmth releases the spicy scent, while protecting your tabletop.
You’ll need two 9" pieces of fabric, some dried herbs from the garden, and doesn’t everyone have some old bottles of spices in the cupboard that probably need to be replaced? You can use the ‘old’ spices for your hot pads, and purchase new ones for the cupboard. If you don’t have cotton batting around the house, check with friends who quilt... quilters ALWAYS have odd bits of batting around. If you don’t feel like a trip to the fabric store to buy a tiny bit of batting, I have found old, stained (but clean) hotpads work well as the base....RECYCLE!
Materials for each pad:
Two 9" pieces of cotton batting
Two 10" pieces of your choice of cotton fabric
thread
Herbs and spices: You’ll need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture per hot pad
Suggestions: Whole cloves, whole allspice, broken cinnamon sticks, dried orange or lemon peel, dried Rosemary, Lavender, Oregano....what do you have around the house? Just pick herbs and spices that can be crushed fairly small, or you will have a very lumpy hot pad!
Place the pieces of cotton fabric face-to-face on your work surface. Then stack and place the 2 batting pieces on top of the stacked 2 pieces of cotton fabric. Sew around the 3 1/2 sides of the square, about 1/2 inch in from the edge. NOTE: You need to leave at least 4" of the edge unsewn, so you can turn the fabric right side out. Do this now, being sure to poke the corners out nice and square.
Pour your spice and herb filling through the opening on side four. Be sure to pour the filling between the 2 layers of batting. Fold in the unsewn edges, and stitch closed.
Voila! You now have a basic hot pad! You may want to go a step further, and shake the filling into the 4 corners, then stitch an X thru the middle of the hot pad, so the filling will stay evenly distributed. NOTE: Sewing machine needles do not like to run into whole
You’ll need two 9" pieces of fabric, some dried herbs from the garden, and doesn’t everyone have some old bottles of spices in the cupboard that probably need to be replaced? You can use the ‘old’ spices for your hot pads, and purchase new ones for the cupboard. If you don’t have cotton batting around the house, check with friends who quilt... quilters ALWAYS have odd bits of batting around. If you don’t feel like a trip to the fabric store to buy a tiny bit of batting, I have found old, stained (but clean) hotpads work well as the base....RECYCLE!
Materials for each pad:
Two 9" pieces of cotton batting
Two 10" pieces of your choice of cotton fabric
thread
Herbs and spices: You’ll need 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture per hot pad
Suggestions: Whole cloves, whole allspice, broken cinnamon sticks, dried orange or lemon peel, dried Rosemary, Lavender, Oregano....what do you have around the house? Just pick herbs and spices that can be crushed fairly small, or you will have a very lumpy hot pad!
Place the pieces of cotton fabric face-to-face on your work surface. Then stack and place the 2 batting pieces on top of the stacked 2 pieces of cotton fabric. Sew around the 3 1/2 sides of the square, about 1/2 inch in from the edge. NOTE: You need to leave at least 4" of the edge unsewn, so you can turn the fabric right side out. Do this now, being sure to poke the corners out nice and square.
Pour your spice and herb filling through the opening on side four. Be sure to pour the filling between the 2 layers of batting. Fold in the unsewn edges, and stitch closed.
Voila! You now have a basic hot pad! You may want to go a step further, and shake the filling into the 4 corners, then stitch an X thru the middle of the hot pad, so the filling will stay evenly distributed. NOTE: Sewing machine needles do not like to run into whole
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