Lessons from my grandma.

I shared what I learnt about growing vegetables from my grandpa and thought I better share some things learnt from grandma too since she's also incredibly skilled and I'm always keen to learn from her.

I had a hideous old cord skirt which I decided to cut up and turn into my first wheatbag. This has been a project that was started way back in July before my sewing machine needle broke and machine stopped working properly.

Thankfully Grandma helped me learn how to work a different machine while I sent off my machine to get repaired. Didn't you already make a hot water bottle cover from old jumpers you ask? I'm a sucker for instant warmth rather than warmth which lasts the night but doesn't quite perfectly wrap around your feet. Hot water bottles are great and all but really I'm a wheatbag lover at heart.

I know it's already starting to feel like summer as I finally share my completed wheatbag but it's all ready for next winter and for those people who live on the other side of the world, here's a tutorial for soon, as I know it's starting to get colder over there.

You need:

Wheat
Material ( I cut up an old cord skirt for material and then used some leftovers)
A sewing machine
A funnel
Needle and thread

How to:

Cut the material into a rectangle shape and fold in half. You can make a wheatbag any size you like.
Fold it so the good side is on the inside and sew around the edge leaving a small gap so you can material around the right way.
Use a funnel to get the wheat into the hole (you should fill it up just over 1/2 full) and sew closed using a basic blanket stitch.
And them you'll have your own wheatbag.

 I had some wheat leftover and decided to make another one using pretty deer print material.

Now I have a wheatbag for me and one for any visitors we get during winter. I am thinking of making a few more to give as presents and one to leave at mum's house for when I stay there.

Grandma also suggested I made some homemade potpourri with the abundance of rose petals I have (we have a lot of roses out the front).

Potpourri is extremely simple and I really do love the smell, especially as a nice touch in the guest room and lounge room.

You will need:

Dried flower petals ( I used our rose petals obviously and a few lavender flowers from mum)

Dried leaves from plants ( I used lavender, mint and rosemary leaves since the neighbours had these)

You can collect other things to and dry them like orange peel and small pine cones but these weren't avaliable to me at the time.

How to: 

Dry the flower petals, leaves and other times on trays. Make sure they're spread out and not on top of each other. It took about 3 days for the leaves to dry.

Then I added a few broken cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and whole allspice (bought from the supermarket).
I mixed all the items together in a large bowl.

Display in an open bowl, jar, vase or sachets.
In total this project cost me hardly anything and has left me with a sweet smelling home.

Above is a jar full of sweet smells :) I think I will sew some little sachets too and put them in the drawers to keep them smelling fresh.
Grandparents are just so special and I'm so glad I've had this chance to learn from them and spend such quality time with them. I will always treasure my time with them.

I'm so thankful for this visit!

Lisa x