13 Ways to Use Lavender

Today we have a guest post from Katie at Nourishing Simplicity.  She’s going to tell us all the awesome uses for lavender.  Thanks, Katie!

Lavender is a wonderful medicinal and culinary herb. It is a hardy plant that flourishes in dry, sandy, well-drained or gravely soils in full sun making it hard to kill. Lavender is great for the amateur gardener who wants to start growing their own herbs. If you don’t want to grow your own lavender there are great companies like Bulk Herb Store or Mountain Rose Herbs where you can buy dried organic lavender flowers for a reasonable price.

When people think of lavender, normally soothing scrubs, sachets and soap (that help us relax and sleep better at night) come to mind. There are so many other uses for lavender. Why limit yourself to a couple things when you can heal, relax, cook and clean with lavender?

13 Healthy Ways to Use Lavender

Here are some ideas to incorporate lavender into daily life:

Medicinal/Personal Care

• Mix 3 to 5 drops of lavender essential oil and 2 ounces of carrier oil, such as apricot kernel or olive. Rub on your temples to relieve a headache.
• Mix lavender essential oil with water in a small spray bottle and use to sprits on your pillowcase to help you relax and sleep or just add a couple drops to your pillowcase.
• Soothing Herbal Bath
• Soothing Lavender Foot Scrub
• Sore Muscle and Headache Salve
• Headache Tincture (you’ll find this at the bottom of the post)
• Hot/Cold Packs

Cooking

• Honey Lavender Ice Cream
• Lavender Infused Honey
• Lavender Vinaigrette

Cleaning

• Simple Homemade 3-in-1 Household Cleaner

Image by Clownfish

Pain-Be-Gone Tincture/Glycerite

2 parts white willow bark
1 part dried lavender flowers
Vodka or food grade glycerin
Glass jar

Vodka Method:

Mix herbs together filling a glass jar 3/4 of the way full. Cover with vodka and give it a good shake. Store in a dark place, such as a cabinet, for at least four weeks, shaking every day. Strain through a cheesecloth or old t-shirt, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Store in a glass jar and keep in a dark location. The tincture will retain its potency for at least two years.

Glycerin Method 1:

Mix herbs together filling a glass jar 3/4 of the way full. Pour just enough hot water over the herbs to dampen them. Fill the jar with glycerin and give it a good shake. Store in a dark place, such as a cabinet, for at least six weeks, shaking every day. Strain through a cheesecloth or old t-shirt, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Store in a glass jar and keep in a dark location. The glycerite will retain its potency for at least one year.

Glycerin Method 2:

Mix herbs together filling a glass jar 3/4 of the way full. Pour just enough hot water over the herbs to dampen them. Fill the jar with glycerin and give it a good shake. Place a towel in the bottom of a crock-pot, nesting the jar in the towel. (This is to prevent the jar from breaking.) Add water until just an inch of the jar remains uncover. Cover and cook on warm or low for three days. Strain through a cheesecloth or old t-shirt, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Store in a glass jar and in a dark location. The glycerite will retain it’s potency for at least one year.

How do you like to use lavender?

My name is Katie Stanley, I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, raised in the Central Valley of California and have lived in northern Baja California, Mexico since I was 19. I am a daughter of God and a follower of Jesus. Who is my first true love, I strive to glorify him in all that I do.

I moved to Mexico in August of 2004 as a laundry lad and then dorm mom to sixteen deaf girls at Rancho Sordo Mudo, a Christian boarding school.

I was a homeschooler until the age of fifteen when I started attending a Christian high school. I have never gone to college but am a continual student of the Bible, herbs, nourishing living and how to be a woman after God’s own heart.

To learn more, visit Nourishing Simplicity.

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