This year I’ve become almost obsessively interested in learning about herbs and both their healing and magical properties. I love making my own scent blends, and discovering new ways to use and make herbal gifts. While shopping at Goodwill, I found a book called, Making Herbal Dream Pillows by Jim Long and fell in love with the idea of making a ‘dream pillow.’
What’s a dream pillow you ask? A ‘dream pillow’ is a small pillow filled with relaxing herbs, like catnip, lavender and mugwort. They were once called ‘comfort pillows’ and used in the sickroom to ease the nightmares that may come with medicine and the smells of illness. A dream pillow is meant to prevent nightmares and promote restful sleep.
You Will Need:
• One 5″ x 12″ piece of cotton fabric (I bought a handful of fat quarters)
• Needle and thread
• Iron and ironing board
• 1/2 cup herb blend (see below)
• Cotton batting or fiberfill
• Sewing machine (optional)
Choosing Herbs
You’ll want to use dried organic herbs either grown from your own garden or purchased at your local apothecary. For a great online source visit Mountain Rose Herbs.
Herbs that are great for Dream Pillows are:
Aniseed, Calendula, Balsam Fir, Catnip, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Cloves, Hops, Jasmine, Lavender, Leather, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Lemon Verbena, Lilac, Sweet Marjoram, Mimosa Flowers, Mint, Mugwort, Passionflower, Rose, Rosemary, and Thyme.
I chose to make a Pleasant Dreams herbal blend using a recipe from the, “Making Herbal Dream Pillows” book. I also plan to make up my own herb blends and experiment!
- 1 cup mugwort
- ½ cup rose petals
- ⅓ cup chamomile
- ⅓ cup lavender
- ⅓ cup catnip
- 2 tablespoons mint
- For a step-by-step sewing tutorial, visit my blog Adventures-In-Making.com.
Used In This Project:
- Scallop Hang Tags • I chose the “Sea and Sky” style in plum.
- Enclosure Cards • I chose the “Sea and Sky” style in plum.
More Herbal Gift Ideas:
Homemade Chamomile Salve DIY Herbal Sachets How to Grow Herbs Herbal Spray Misters
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Rachel Beyer is an artist, designer and creative maker based in Portland, OR. She loves crafting, party planning and illustration. Rachel runs her own creative blog, Adventures In Making and also has a line of greeting cards, art prints and handmade goodies called Camp Smartypants.
I was wondering if I could make the huge batch of the blend to make ahead of time so that way I won’t have to keep making more and more and also could I put it in a air tight jar to keep it fresh. Could that work?