Little Valentine Herbal Dream Sachet for Babies
It’s almost Valentine’s Day! I have been kept busy these past few weeks caring for my now four-month-old (I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast!), making crafts and our daily meals, and simply just being mom. It has been so frigid this past week in Iowa, it’s sometimes difficult to breathe when we are outside. While I have loved being able to cozy up inside, I am about ready for the negative temperatures to leave!
I found this adorable delicate red floral fabric at the thrift store early in the week, and I thought it would make the sweetest little herbal dream pillow for Dean. Giving gifts to a baby sometimes seems pointless, but I still like to include him for all of the little celebrations and holidays that we have. So what would a four-month-old want for Valentine’s Day? Probably something easy that he can hold and start to chew on. He recently discovered that he has hands, which means they are always in his mouth!
As I have shared before, herbal dream pillows are an ancient craft used to help aid in sleeplessness, enhance dreams, and help with dream memory. They have a kind of superstitious past, with makers believing they could help protect against evil or bad dreams and even bring forth visions of a future lover. Kind of fun! Today, however, they just make a calming little pillow you can breathe in before resting to calm yourself. I personally think they work great for kids as its a safe way for them to begin using herbs and the weight of them helps to bring about calmness for separation anxiety.
what you will need:
Sewing machine (you could also hand sew these)
Thread
Scissors
Scrap cotton or linen fabric (I love to thrift for fat squares!)
Flaxseed (enough to fill your pillow)
A few tablespoons of aromatic dried herbs or flowers (I would suggest using lavender, chamomile, and/or rose petals as they are calming and safe for infants and toddlers)
DIRECTIONS:
Cut out the shape of your dream pillow. I made a simple pattern with a piece of printer paper! This could be any shape, but for Valentine’s Day, I made little hearts.
I decided I wanted a more rustic look to these, so I decided to sew them with a raw edge. Simply sew with the backsides of the patterned fabric facing each other. Sew around the edge and leave a 1-inch opening.
In a small dish, mix together flaxseed and the aromatic herbs. The amount that you use of each really depends on what you want! Adding flaxseed helps to add some wait to the final product, and it can also retain heat after being warmed in the microwave. You can choose to leave this out as well, if you prefer.
Sew up your pillow and hand off to your babe!
Herbal dream pillows will last indefinitely. If you find their fragrance has lessened, simply squeeze the herbs inside to release their natural oils, or you can drop a few drops of essential oil onto the fabric. If you are giving this lovey to a little one, they will certainly give it a good squeeze!
Dean loves his new little pillows! He has been using my felt pin cushions as lovies for a while now, so I thought he might like some of his own that don’t have little tufts of wool coming off of them. This craft is so simple you can make it in about 10 minutes. I am not a great seamstress, as you can see, so you don’t need any sewing experience to make these! Just stitch them up, fill, and go!
xoxo Kayla
