Homemade Natural Air Freshner

I like to make my own air fresheners. Inexpensive, all natural, enviro. friendly (the reusable packaging) & just plain ol' lovely! The "recipe" is as follows...

Ingredients
15 drops of your fav. essential oil
1/2 tsp vodka (helps "keep" the scent from evaporating)
1 cup water

Instructions
1) Add oil drops & vodka to spray bottle. Shake to mix.
2) Add water & shake again.
3) Mist away!

Popular oil mixes in our house includes (equal parts) ...

• sandalwood, pine & juniper for an earthy, forest-y scent
• lavender & a citrus like grapefruit for a light, refreshing scent
  
• juniper, eucalyptus or tea tree with lavender for antiseptic-antimicrobial action (good to spray when family members are sick! Double the oil amounts for this one.)
• clary sage (good for that cranky time of month)
  

Note: Don't spray people, pets, wood or fabric.

Plastic Bag Holder

Ahhhhh plastic bags. If you're like me you use your fabric totes for groceries whenever you can but the number of times you actually remember to bring them is well, let's just say not as often as you'd like. So, you find yourself with a crap load of plastic bags. Here is a tutorial for a plastic bag holder so you can try to tame those enviro. meanies and at least reuse/recycle them. Plus, if you have dogs (I know K9 mention AGAIN) then like it or not plastic bags are your best friend.

So, here we go.

1) Cut 2 pieces of fabric. One 16" x 22" (40 cm x 55 cm) for the "body" and the other 2.5" x 10" (6.5 cm x 25 cm) for the handle. You can follow these measurements or make the holder fatter or skinnier around, longer or shorter etc. You're the boss.

2) French Seam the "body" piece lengthwise. For a good tutorial visit... http://www.sewneau.com/how.to/french.seam.html


3) For the handle, with wrong sides together - sew. Turn inside out and iron. I like to have the seam ironed down so it is in the middle. Put aside for now.


4) Back to the "body". While inside out fold both ends up twice (approx. 0.5" or 1.25 cm). You can go a bit bigger if you like. Here, I did. Iron & pin.


5) At one end of the "body" insert both ends of the handle into the fold. Pin them back up over themselves. Iron. Sew the fold & handles down (I like to use a zig zag). Back stitch over the handles to reinforce.


6) Now go to the other end of the "body". This will be where the bags come out. Sew down the fold. You are going to put the elastic in here so it is important to leave a hole big enough to feed it through AND stitch close enough the fold's edge so it'll fit the width of the elastic!


7) Cut the elastic to your desired length. Depends how tight you want the opening. Feed it through the hole from step 6. I use a blunt knitting needle and a piece of thread.


8) Once through sew the two ends of the elastic together - many times. I like to make the elastic a little tight since I find over time it'll stretch a bit.

9) Sew your hole closed. You may have to pull the elastic taught to do this.

10) Ta-da! You're all set to stuff those pesky plastic bags.

Note: The monster bag holder pictured here was made specially for a friend with many plastic bags. If you followed the measurements in step one yours will measure approx. 20" tall x 14.5" round.

Reversible Dog Scarf

Sorry for so much dog stuff. However, I have many dog owners in my life and with X-mas coming I need gifts! These are easy-peasy. I used an existing dog scarf for sizing but you can also free style it. Just make sure to consider what breed your making the scarf for.

1) Cut two identical triangles of complimentary fabric. Mine roughly measured in at 20" (50 cm) x 12" (30cm) x 12" (30cm).


2) With right sides together sew. Leave a small hole so you can turn the scarf right side out. Once finished trim the seam. I used pinking shears but regular scissors will do too.


3) Turn the scarf right side out through your little hole & iron seams nice and flat. Hand stitch the hole closed.


4) Grab the nearest dog and embellish for festive fun.