Lavender how I love thee, let me count the ways!

Ahh Lavender! So much to love about this handy little plant. In Aromatherapy Lavender is pretty much the 'go to' for different treatments.

The uses for Lavender vary to a wild degree but there are a few things I learned about Lavender in some of my Aromatherapy classes that I just had to share!
First off Lavender essential oil or the latin binomial Lavandula (Genus of the plant) angustifolia (Species) is a wonderful oil that can be used for multiple things. My favorite use for it is relaxation. If you just use a little bit of Lavender Spritzer (A lavender mix that you can spray about the room) on your pillow before you go to bed at night it helps you sleep so much better. I use a couple drops of Lavender essential oil in a hot bath along with a table spoon of some sort of vegetable oil (grape seed, olive, sunflower) to keep the oil from irritating my skin. It is a wonderful way to relax in a bath.

We've only just begun to understand how much this pretty purple plant benefits us. For instance did you know in 1910 a experimenting french scientist and aromatherapist by the name Rene Maurice was in the middle of a laboratory explosion and received multiple burns on his arms and if I remember correctly his face. He was sent to the hospital and they did all they could but he had gangrene in his wounds. Normally when you get this it becomes a 'we'll make sure you're comfortable' and that's that. In a desperate last attempt Maurice applied Lavender oil to his wounds. The result? A miracle, within hours the gangrene was receding and within days was completely gone, his wounds started to mend and Maurice lived to see another day and his son (Marcel) wrote about these findings.
There is a website that sells a Lavender oil that I have been told by friends is a miracle cure.

 You have a bruise? rub some oil on it, you have a bump on your head? Rub some oil on it. Kids are going nuts and won't sleep? Put a bit of oil on your hands and rub the bottom of their feet with it while they're laying down for bed. They swear by this site. It's called doTerra. I have the website listed below for people wanting to look. Basically what doTerra states is their oils are the purest you can possible get on the market because unlike some distilleries that take the entire plant, flower, stem, and leaves and put it in the distiller and get all the oils that comes from all these different parts of the plant. DoTerra takes the only part of the plant that the oil is supposed to come from. In Lavender's case this is the blooms. They take each bloom and distill it equaling in a purer product. Now to me this 'sounds' reasonable but as a corporation I feel they might be a little fishy. I've spoken with a couple Aromatherapist and they don't see any problems with the site but they think there is a lot of marketing going on rather than actual product, but as far as I can tell my friends all love it. I haven't purchased any myself because I have oils of my own and feel a little bit of loyalty to them. Though I encourage others to try this site and comment on their experiences, doTerra isn't cheap but it seems to be worth the money from what I've seen.

Now there are many different breeds of the lavender flower, the lavender I mention above (Lavandula angustifolia) is just one of many types. The type I'm talking about is also called 'English Lavender,' or 'True Lavender.'

   Lavender isn't only used as something great to smell or as a wound treatment, you can also cook with it though you need to make sure when you buy it, it doesn't have any harmful chemicals. (I'm not sure if that's a real worry but I always make sure the lavender I buy is organic or has some mention of using it in cooking.) Sometimes people presume you're going to use it as something to smell so they add some fragrances to keep it long lasting but are harmful if you eat them.
I recently made some lavender/lemon short bread cookies....and they were DELICIOUS! Normally my husband doesn't like odd things, or trying new things but he really liked these cookies. Not exactly a festive holiday type of cookie, these are good cookies to serve in a adult setting with tea or coffee.

I made them in the shape of hearts because I have some antique cookie cutters my mother gave me that have been in the family for a while. They were a Christmas present and they normally only come out around Christmas.
I got the recipe off of Pinterest, and if you've ever seen Pinterest you've probably seen those pictures where they try and recipe or project from Pinterest and then they post their picture with a 'nailed it' caption when the picture....Well we'll just say it doesn't match the original picture from pinterest exactly. Lol but I think I actually got the picture matched pretty well lol.

My photography skills might not be as excellent but the cookies were delicious!
I have two other projects involving Lavender in mind. I want to make a sleeper mask with lavender buds sewn in the center, and then I want to try Lavender hot chocolate! It looks so yummy!
I've already put a small draw string bag of lavender in my drawers and it makes my clothes smell like they just came from the lavender fields in France. Wonderful!

If you're interested in trying things with lavender I highly suggest you go the natural green route. A lot of companies now a days are trying to jump on the 'green' wagon but in reality they don't have to follow any guidelines that prove their products are green. You don't need to do anything to say your product is 'natural' I encourage you to READ LABELS. I know, I know easily said but it would really help if you're trying to go the natural route.
I use wild crafted essential oils, and organic Lavender buds. Now you might be wondering 'what's wild crafted mean?' Well like animals, plants have a natural habitat where they were first created whether by the Holy God, or by more scientific means these plants do best where they were first at. Moving plants to different countries or in hot houses isn't detrimental to the quality but when the plant is in its natural habitat it receives all the nutrients that do it best, creating a better plant. A wild crafter goes to the plant, it doesn't make the plant come to them. They go to the plant and organically (meaning without chemicals) let the plant live freely in its homeland and take from it that way. This creates a healthier environment and better quality oils.
Below I have a few websites that I've mentioned above, like doTerra, my pinterest where the recipes for both the cookies and lavender hot chocolate are kept, my Facebook page (which I recommend you check out and like for many more handy little crafts and fun stuff!) and the actual site with the Lavender lemon cookie recipe if you'd like to peruse all of her other many delicious recipes.
All in all I LOVE lavender, it is wonderful and having it in my life on a daily basis has definitely improved it!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563697460/
http://store.do-essential-oils.com/lavender-essential-oil/
http://montcarte.ca/2009/12/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568