Lavender wands

Recently I've been seeing lots of posts about making lavender wands. I became intrigued. My lavender plants did not grow back this year, so I thought I would have to wait until I could plant more to try my hand at making some wands.

Last week, Pete mentioned it had been a while since we had eaten at the original Old Home Fill-er Up and Keep On Truckin' Cafe in Pisgah, Iowa. So we got in the car and headed north.

That was when I noticed a sign for the Loess Hills Lavender Farm. I asked him to stop. Even though locally, lavender is at the end of first bloom, I thought perhaps I could still gather enough to try this craft.

The wee bit I gathered...

The gracious owner, Tracy, greeted us as we walked into the aromatic little shop at the front of the property. She offered us a basket and directed us to the best place to find the remaining blooms. Off we went.

Gathering the lavender...

Careful to cut the stems above the woody parts of the plant, I gathered a small bunch of lavender. We went back to the shop to see their other wares and made our purchase. What great fun!

When we got back to the car, we put the wee bundle in water to keep it from drying too much on the way home. I couldn't wait to try making wands!

Preparing the stems...

After seeing multiple tutorials on the internet, I found one I liked. Then I cleaned the leaves off the long stems to have space for the ribbon.

For the first wand, I picked out the nine longest stems. Even though I kept the lavender in water, with extreme drought conditions locally, I found my stems less than pliable. Yet, I managed to complete my task in about 35 minutes with minimal breakage.

My first attempt...

For my second try, I picked eleven of the longest remaining stems. Using an odd number allows for a continuous wrap of the ribbon. I also decided to use the back of a spoon (the edge of the spoon cut the stems) to mash the stems a bit. As with most tasks, practice teaches the fingers to remember, and the second wand took only about 25 minutes.

My work space...

By the third wand, I had learned to have a lighter hand with the spoon. Just a wee mash was best. Eleven stems gave me the substance that felt right for me, and I continued picking the longest of the remaining stems until I ran out. The last few wands all took about 20 minutes, the smallest ones requiring finer motor skills.

Wands ready to tuck into corners of my house...

Since I had gathered English lavender, as I worked, when buds fell off in the making, I saved them to dry and use in cooking later. Different plants have different tastes and I find English lavender pleasant for cooking.

All in all, I am pleased with the results. So many uses and places to put these wee packages.

I look forward to gathering more lavender when the second blooms are ready mid-August. (Not to mention replanting my own come spring!)

We may even stop for another meal in Pisgah.

Me and Pete in Pisgah.