How to make an Aromatherapy Bedroom Gnome with Lavender!

When my kids were little I had typical screwed up, parents sleep schedule. I was often trying to fall asleep when I had time to sleep and not necessarily when I was tired! Yeah, that! I got this cute little sleepy time teddy bear with a little lilac colored robe on and he was filled with lavender. I would set it on my pillow next to my face and it would help me fall asleep.

The kids knew this and if they couldn't fall asleep they would ask me to bring them "smell my butt teddy". That was the teddy bears name because the lavender scent was strongest at his butt. lol Kids are funny. 

Well it's many years later and I still use a lavender spray or lavender eye pillow to help me fall asleep some nights.

So I started thinking that a lavender gnome would be super easy to make and really cute, plus ya know, gnomes are trendy right now! I've made a lot of gnomes as décor, so I decided to write out the way I do it and show you how I make this cute little gnome to help you fall asleep faster. 

Since gnomes are small, this is a perfect project to use up scraps of fabric and notions. 

How to plant bulbs in fall

Autumn has arrived and that means it's time to put the bulbs in so next year's flowers will pop up in the spring! The first couple times I planted bulbs I did it all wrong! I planted them too shallow, I planted them too close together and I planted them at the wrong time of year.

I learned the hard way that if you plant them too shallow the chipmunks will dig them up and eat them. If you plant them too close together as certain bulbs multiply you're going to have to thin them out, and soon. And if you plant them in the wrong season well you might not get anything for a year if at all.

So today I want to talk about what I've learned and put into practice since the first disastrous set of bulbs I planted.

How to make leaf mold

It's that time of year again, when the garden is winding down just as the leaves are falling and filling up the yard! I know it's a pain in the butt and a lot of work, but I look forward to the leaves falling because they are so great for the garden!

Not only do leaves make great mulch, but they help insulate the plants for winter and protect the garden. They also give insects a place to hide over winter which could be bad or good depending on the types of insects! 

You can also use fallen leaves to make leaf mold. If you spend any time in the woods you'll notice the forest floor is covered with a thin layer of really dark earth. This is the breakdown of fallen leaves and helps improve the structure of soil while supporting plant growth and helping the soil to retain moisture.

You can use your Autumn leaves to do the same thing on a larger scale and use it in your garden and landscaping. This is similar to compost except you're only using fallen leaves and it takes a super long time compared to compost!

How to: plant a butterfly garden

I don't know if you've heard, but the monarch butterfly is decreasing in population lately. They have declined by 85% in the last decade. Now Monarchs are different than other butterflies in that they only have one host plant for the caterpillars and it happens to grow in ditches in a long roadside so it's often treated as a weed and destroyed. That plant is milkweed, more on that later.

However it's not just the monarchs! Over 450 butterfly species have declined in population since 1972! Butterflies are crucial pollinators (along with bees) for many produce crops. No pollinators equals no food! We already know there's problems with the bee population and now... here we are with butterflies!

Get Started Using Medicinal Teas

When you talk about medicinal teas or teas with natural health properties many people immediately think they need to grow, dry and blend their own teas. That couldn't be further from the truth! You can walk into any large grocery store and find at least a dozen different herbal teas available in tea bag form!

I'm not talking Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme and Trader Joes. Kroger has a great selection of herbal teas as does Walmart, Target, Meijer, Albertsons and most other large grocery stores. Admittedly the small stores might not carry many, but they should have a few. Those first 3 stores I mentioned will have a huge selection available!

Some of the most common herbal teas are peppermint, chamomile, ginger and hibiscus. You can usually find several blends also like detox, immunity and energy blend.