The Kiwi Nest

Featured

Mini Herb Garden Planter from a Recycled Wine Crate

For a long time I wanted to grow an established herb garden, first for using in culinary dishes and then later for herbal medicine, teas and skincare. Being able to reach out the kitchen window or walk out the front door to clip some fresh herbs immediately as needed is incredibly empowering!

When we moved from our city apartment to a suburban house about 5 years ago, we landed a place with two built in garden plots. There was also the added bonus of a composter set up too!

Unfortunately as we were renting, the landlord had a gardener he wanted to maintain the property as is, which was mostly ornamental native shrubs and rose bushes.

We maintained the two smaller garden plots with successful harvests of strawberries, greens (kale, spinach, lettuce), brassicas (cauliflower & broccoli) as well as snow peas, onions and garlic.

Sadly, in our very productive small garden we didn’t have any herbs aside from some already rapidly spreading mint by the shed.

A couple years later, we moved again and landed on some prime gardening real estate with the ability to change the landscape as we pleased. The only downside was that it was neglected, many trees were not pruned properly and digging into the soil was met with large roots.

Setting up planter boxes is part of our long term garden plan.

This is the place we call home now and are continuing to slowly work on reshaping the yard to a thriving, productive garden. It’s been a learning curve, but so rewarding as we also continue to find and identify new plants and their beneficial properties.

A well established aerial grape vine in our backyard.

We have a bounty of fruit during the summer months including raspberries, grapes, two varieties of apples, strawberries, mulberries and elderberries.

We found Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes by surprise in the garden, but no other vegetables. We enjoyed clippings from pineapple sage, lemon balm and a large old woody rosemary bush that must have been pushing about 5-6 years for our first year and half before the later died.

Since then we have planted herbs in containers and planter boxes and successfully grown coriander, dill, thyme, basil, oregano and rosemary. We been able to utilise the seed swaps at the local library, through visiting friend’s gardens as well as picking up spare seedlings from a local community garden. Saving your own seeds for the next growing season is also very useful especially when plants bolt in the heat.

It’s been a learning curve finding out how companion planting benefits and can also prohibit growth amongst herbs, flowers, and vegetables.

If you are planting herbs in separate containers like terracotta pots this doesn’t matter as much, but when the herbs are sharing the soil it certainly does make a difference.

Recently, I planted sage next to spring onions and within two days it completely withered and died. I had read that sage was a very hardy plant, but then a couple weeks later realised it shouldn’t be planted next to the allium family (a genus of flowering onion plants) which includes the scallions right beside it..

Here are just a few herb companion do’s a do not’s I have learnt:

Do not plant dill with carrots or near lavender.
Plant sage next to rosemary or in the vegetable garden.
Cilantro pairs well with dill and lavender.
Basil does well next to oregano and parsley.
Rosemary and thyme like being next to each other.
Parsley grows well next to most herbs.
Plant rosemary and sage near carrots to deter carrot fly.
Plant garlic near roses and raspberries as deters Japanese beetle and makes the fragrance of the roses more potent.

These are not hard and fast rules, but could save you some time with experimenting yourself! I would also encourage you to look at companion planting relationships between flowers (pollinators) and vegetables.

This mini herb garden planter is the perfect size for starting out small on your front step or deck. I scored the empty wooden wine crate from a thrift shop drop off as they couldn’t accept it due to it being alcohol related. You could look to recycle one from a liquor store or even high end restaurant.

Wine crates are used to transport several wine bottles safely and as such are made using heat treated wood. This means there is no harmful chemicals that could be leaching into your plants as a mini garden box.

The wine crate I found was quite plain without any engraved writing on the side (the branding was on the removable lid) so I decided to use some outdoor wood stain to give it a more polished look. I used a Resene test pot size in the colour Bluewood which matches some of our existing house exterior.

I purchased a couple herbs to give the mini planter a head start and used seeds for two additional quick growing herbs. You could easily purchase all the herbs you wanted to use for an additional expensive. This is a good match if you can’t be bothered waiting around too long for your herbs to establish themselves.

The bottom of the box is lined with weed mat to help contain the soil and hopefully slow down any decomposition of the wood from moisture. This is really optional as the mini planter box can still work without it.

I had a little bit of leftover house paint to use up which was a perfect contrast for adding on a stencilled number. You could get creative here and do a stencil of an image or word instead.

Mini Herb Garden Planter from a Recycled Wine Crate

Supplies

Wine crate
Wood stain (water based)
Weed mat cut into rectangle
Drill
8 screws
1×2 board (3/4 inch by 1 1/2 inch or 19mm x 40mm)
Mitre box with hand saw
Potting or seed raising s
3-4 different herb seedlings or seed varieties
A4 Plastic divider (for stencil)
Sponge
Paint brush
House paint
X-acto knife
Cutting mat
Masking tape
Black marker

Method

Step 1 – Remove any stickers and make sure box is clean. Turn wine box over and drill 6-8 holes through the bottom for drainage. This is important as skipping this step could lead to root rot in your plants.

Step 2 – Using a mitre box and hand saw cut your 1×2 board at a 90 degree angle. Cut four lengths of 30mm or 1 1/4 inches. If desired you can lightly sand the cut sides before using.

Step 3 – Place two screws in each wood piece at the four corners of the upside down box. We used two screws in each piece so there wouldn’t be any movement. I lined the wooden ‘feet’ up so the length was flush with the sides of the box not the front or back.

Step 4 – Using a paintbrush and sponge apply the wood stain to the exterior of the box and feet. Paint along the top edge of the box as well.

After painting allow up to several hours to completely dry and then check if you need to touch up any spots.

Step 5 – Use a black marker to draw your stencil shapes on the A4 plastic divider sheet. Use a cutting mat underneath and cut out your outline with an x-acto knife.

Using masking tape, secure the plastic stencil to the box. Use a sponge with the house paint to carefully dab it on top of the stencil. Gently remove stencil and let dry. Touch up the edges with a small paintbrush if needed.

Step 6 – Line wine box with a rectangle of the weed mat. The edges of the rectangle should come up the sides, but stay below the soil line to remain hidden. You could use a staple gun to secure the weed mat to secure the sides, but I didn’t feel it was necessary.

Next, add in potting or seed raising soil on top of the weed mat.

Using good quality, well draining soil is important when using planter boxes.

Step 7 – If planting a mixture of seedlings and seeds then first plant seedlings and water immediately. Then sow seeds on top of damp soil and then cover lightly before misting with water. Check seed package for sowing depths and germinating conditions as some seeds need light to germinate and others don’t require it.

Place in a warm, sunny place and watch your herb garden grow!

Make sure to allow at least four weeks for your seedlings to adapt to their new living conditions before taking any cuttings.

Harvest no more than 30% to ensure your plants continue to thrive.

If you enjoyed this garden project be sure to check out our DIY Garden Trellis!

You can find more daily stories and tutorials when your follow us on Instagram & Facebook.

Featured

Classic American Pumpkin Pie – Made from Scratch in NZ

If you grew up in North America, either Canada or the United States… you are well aware of this delicious Fall / Autumn pie. There are so many pumpkin activities in the Fall such as going to a pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins for your front porch and roasting the seeds for a salty snack.

When I made pumpkin pie for the first time in New Zealand, I was met with lots of curiosity in the kitchen at this odd combination. But upon the first bite, there were nods and exclamations of just how good it was especially topped with a dollop of whipped cream. And pretty soon the whole pie disappeared slice by slice!

It seems like there is a strong baking culture in New Zealand and it’s fairly normal to make most things in the kitchen from scratch. I remember when I went to look for a pre-made pie crust at the supermarket, the trip turned out to be not as easy as expected.

So in honour of creating a full dish from scratch, I’ve made the pie pastry as well as the filling for this recipe with whipped cream. It does take a bit more time, but it’s completely doable if you slow down and enjoy the process.

I’ve found the best way to create a baking masterpiece is to split up the parts of the recipe over a day or even several days. This has worked well when making decorated fondant cakes and also translates well for pies as you can refrigerate or freeze pastry dough as well.

For this pumpkin pie, I started by preparing the pastry in the morning, chilled it for several hours and then baked the crust and filling in the late afternoon, so it was ready after dinner. The pie will keep overnight if you want to marinate the flavours and prefer a cold slice instead of a warm one.

The pastry is quite simply butter, flour, salt and a bit of sugar mixed with some water. Buttery pie crusts tend to puff up so I blind baked this for 10 minutes before adding in the filling. Pie weights work exceptionally well for keeping the bottom pastry flat but you can use dry beans if you are in a pinch. Keep them in a clean jar afterwards and they can be reused many times over.

Now, this recipe calls for pumpkin purée from roasted pumpkin. I had roasted a whole pumpkin a couple days ago for some soup and only used half the pumpkin. This saved me some time on the day of baking as it was already cooled and ready to use. If you choose to use steamed pumpkin you will need to omit some of the water in the recipe.

In America, you just pop over to the grocery store and on aisle 5 you collect a large can of pumpkin purée for your pie. Yes this works too, but I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try it with fresh pumpkin. Full merits if it’s homegrown as well..!

Once your onto making the filling, the pie is quickly in the oven. It takes less than 10 minutes total to complete the filling. First purée the pumpkin, water, maple syrup and vanilla then transfer to a big bowl. Empty in a can of sweetened condensed milk and mix in the spices. This includes freshly grated nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger as well as pinch of salt.

The eggs are added last and incorporated into the mixture one at a time.

I used my stand mixer for the ease of having my hands free, but a hand mixer would do the job easily. You want the filling batter to be a smooth gold coloured liquid.

Start checking the pie every 5 minutes after 35 minutes in the oven, to see if it’s set in the middle. I found the sweet spot for my oven is 50 minutes. In the last 10 minutes you will see the filling start to rise up evenly. Once the middle is no longer jiggly and a clean knife comes out near the edge of the crust, pull it out of the oven. It will continue to cook and set as it cools down.

Allow a couple hours for the pie to cool and then serve each slice with homemade whipped cream made with vanilla and sugar.

Classic American Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

Filling

2 cups roasted pumpkin (without skin)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves (or 3 whole cloves ground)
1 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Crust

1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
Pinch fine sea salt
113 grams unsalted butter (4 oz)
1/4 cup ice cold water + 1-2 Tbsp

Topping

250ml heavy cream
1 – 2 Tbsp raw caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Prépare pastry dough by combining flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Cube chilled butter into 1 cm cubes and cut into flour with a pastry sifter or 2 knives.

2. When the butter is the size of peas, add the water and continue to combine with the knives. Next, use your hands to gently bring the dough together by folding and pressing. Form a disc shape with the dough. Wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes but ideally 3-4 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Take chilled dough out of the fridge and roll out flat between two layers of baking paper. Use a ruler to determine the diameter of your pie pan and then add on an extra measurement for the sides.

4. Gently lay pastry over pie pan and allow it to fall into the pan and leave the extra to hang over the sides. Trim excess and pinch in around the edges. Make little air vents in the bottom with a knife.

5. Place a large piece of baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking weights or dried beans. Partially blind bake the crust for 10 minutes in the middle of the oven.

6. While the pastry is baking, purée pumpkin with 1/2 cup of water until it’s smooth and hydrated. Add in maple syrup and vanilla.

4. Transfer pumpkin to a large mixing bowl and mix in sweetened condensed milk.

5. Using a mortar and pestle, grind 3 cloves. Combine cloves with cinnamon, ginger and freshly grated nutmeg. Add to large mixing bowl.

6. While the mixer is on low incorporate one egg into the pie mixture at a time. Pour batter into the partially baked pie crust and return to the oven.

7. Check the pie every 5-10 minutes after 35 minutes to see when it is completely baked. (My oven bakes it for 50 minutes.) Let cool on the pie rack for two hours.

8. Before serving whip heavy cream, raw caster sugar and vanilla until you get soft peaks. Top each pie slice with a generous dollop and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! We’d love to hear how you get on with this recipe, send us a DM on Instagram or comment below with your feedback. – Carmel

Featured

Simple Living – DIY Garden Trellis for Vines & Autumn Leaf Mulch

For the first time in a few years we have planted an autumn/winter garden. Typically the ground has rested while leaves break down, add nutrients to the soil and plants die or hibernate for the cold season. Inside the house, I’ve been busy nursing babies (two in the last four years), cooking meals and doing all the things.. except gardening. Sometimes we need that break and I certainly didn’t want to add anything extra to my plate.

This past summer was a refreshing change as we spent a fair amount of time in the garden preparing for the community Edible & Sustainable Garden entry we had placed. We had a visit from the local horticulture club and received a certificate of recognition and goodie bag for our garden efforts. This gave me a little more motivation to set up one of our planter boxes and work on an annual garden plan!

We placed this where it will receive the most sunlight during the winter months.

My husband built this planter box in the summer on the cheap by using extra wood from delivery pallets. We filled the planter box over a couple months using a layering technique of twigs, leaves, grass clippings, pea straw, garden trimmings and a small amount of soil from another area. Some kitchen food scraps got dug in as well, thanks to my Mother-in-law.

Lastly, I topped it with a 40 litre bag of locally made compost from a bulk garden supplier which provided a ready to feed base to sow seeds in autumn. This brought the total cost to make and fill the ( 850mm by 1400mm) planter box to less than $15!

I created framework for a protective garden cover with some thin branches and vines.

On a warm day, we direct sowed mixed lettuce, spinach, rocket, coriander (cilantro), peas, calendula (pot marigold), baby carrots, rainbow carrots and parsnips. All of which have sprouted and are thriving thanks to several weeks of continued warm weather, except the finicky parsnip which didn’t germinate after 28 days.

Coffee sacks are brilliant for a bit of knee padding when working in the garden,

Most of the seedlings we chose to grow are quick germinating and will be harvested by the time the carrots need more room to continue their longer growing season.

I had intended to use pea shoots for salads, before realising I could continue growing them in our milder winter climate (we rarely get snow being so close to sea level.) This led to a bit of shuffling around and transplanting them from one side of the planter box to the end and adding on a simple garden trellis using cuttings from our yard!

But first, I want to share with you an easy way to make leaf mulch! This is one of the most highly rated compost options for adding nutrients into garden soil and autumn is the perfect time to start making it.

We have been blessed with many mature trees on our property to rake our own leaves, but you can find areas in your community to collect leaves for free at your own effort.

You will need a rake, leaves and a bag to make leaf mulch compost. It’s as simple as that! Ensure the leaves are damp when put into a large bag. You can use a black rubbish bag or even better a biodegradable coffee sack.

Leaf mulch takes about 12 months to compost. You can shred the leaves with a lawn mower to speed up the decomposition process. Another option is to add the shredded leaves directly to your garden and leave over autumn and winter. You will find this brings an abundance of earth worms to benefit your garden as well.

DIY Garden Trellis for Vines

This customisable garden trellis features a diamond pattern which makes it easy to move and expand.

Supplies required for this project include:

Straight, long tree branches (16-18)
Garden loppers
Garden twine
Scissors
Tape measure (retractable)

In our front yard we have some fast growing young trees that provide a privacy cover for our house being so close to the road. Previously, my husband has pruned them and then the following year they shoot up about 1.5 metres again (above my shoulder height).

These young trees are the perfect selection for this project as they are ‘stick straight’ and thin, about 2 cm in diameter. Using my garden loppers I cut about 18 long sticks.

Note: I let them sit outside for about 2-3 before using them for this project, because I didn’t want them to grow roots in the new soil where they are placed as a trellis.

Choose an area to do this project where you have a large flat surface to work on. I used our back deck to build the garden trellis, which worked well.

Step 1. Determine the width of your garden trellis by measuring the place where you’ve sown vegetables or will be planting soon. I wanted to use this with our planter box which is 85cm or 34 inches wide. I set this measurement out as a guide for laying out the sticks.

Step 2. Create your borders by using the tape measure set out as a guide. Place one stick vertical on each end of the measurement.

Step 3. Setting up the sticks in a diamond pattern layout. Place your first two sticks diagonal from the left side going up to the right. The first stick will be flush with the border and space the second stick out 15 cm (5 – 6 inches).

Now place your next two sticks at an opposite diagonal going to the left side and crossing the first two sticks to make your first diamond shape. The sticks should meet on the tape measure at the 15 cm (5 – 6 inches) spacing points.

Continue this pattern of laying sticks all the way across to end of the tape measure and your border.

Add in a few extra sticks as needed on the sides to be trimmed later by loppers.

Step 5. Using your garden twine and scissors cut several lengths of about 10-12 inches (shorter if desired) to tie the ‘X’ where the sticks form the top or bottom of a diamond as pictured.

Work across the first row and then move back across the second row and so forth.

Step 6. Trim off the excess on each border after securing the diagonal stick. This creates the long rectangle shape of the garden trellis.

Lastly, decide if you want to trim the tops to the same length or leave for extra height. I went for an untrimmed rustic look.

Your vine trellis is ready to be moved to it’s home in the garden. Using two hands, grasp two of the X’s close to the middle section and lift carefully of the ground.

You will find you can gently expand or compact it to fit into your designated space.

Our vine trellis is set up for our young pea seedlings to grow up this season, but will probably be used for green beans come spring time. I love that I can pick it up and move it easily around our garden as needed!

Did you find this post helpful?

We’d love if you share it with a friend or save it for later on Pinterest!

Featured

Make a DIY Reed Diffuser with Essential Oils

Have you ever realised upon walking into a home you are first greeted with a unique smell that is particular to that place? I always take a good inhale when I come in our own front door to make sure it’s a pleasant aroma and not a stale or food heavy smell inside.

As we live in an old villa dating back over 100 years since original construction (1915), it’s a priority for us to open the windows and air out the house on a regular basis during the cooler seasons of Autumn & Winter. During the summer all the doors and windows are thrown wide open by the kids so it’s not an issue.

I love diffusing essential oils to freshen up a room and also provide some therapeutic properties at the same time. I tend to diffuse essential oils in the bedrooms regularly at night when the room is occupied for several hours. I use an ultrasonic style diffuser for this purpose which provides some soothing white noise and a night light if desired.

Reed diffusers are a simple option that don’t require any power input and can be used virtually anywhere there’s a safe place to put them. I’ve made mini diffusers for my desk and car while larger reed diffusers are useful for areas such as the bathroom or lounge.

Now let’s talk about the difference between aromatherapy and fragrance. There is a profound difference in using oils that provide beneficial attributes versus synthetic chemicals that can produce harmful effects including hormones disruption and trigger inflammatory responses in the body.

Fragrance also commonly labelled as parfum* is found in many, many household items apart from the obvious perfume bottle. Surprisingly, you can also find it hidden in many products marketed as being natural as well.

Some of the items you probably own that contain fragrance/parfum are shampoo and conditioner, body and face moisturisers, deodorant, hand soap, hand sanitiser, hand lotion, bar soap, lip balm and make up to name a few. Baby items also contain parfum like bubble bath soap, shampoo + conditioner, body wash, baby oil, baby moisturiser and even baby wipes!

Store bought reed diffusers almost always contain artificial fragrance. It is much cheaper to use synthetically created chemicals designed to have a fragrance than to source therapeutically distilled essential oils from living plants. This is why you can often find an inexpensive reed diffuser with a high volume of oil and strong smell at a low cost. It’s not pure, quality essential oils. Even expensive brands use parfum and just mark up the retail price!

When it comes to looking for plant derived essential oils for personal use you will still come across low quality and higher quality oils. It’s best to do your own independent research on how the brand sources the oils and conducts testing to provide evidence of their therapeutic constituents.

I also like to take this a step further and look at it from an ethical standpoint of how the plant farmers are treated and paid as many of the crops distilled for essential oils are grown natively in third world countries.

For this DIY Reed diffuser tutorial I recommend using pure, therapeutic grade essential oils for the best results.

25 Aromatherapy Blends for A Reed Diffuser

Wild Orange | Cardamom |Douglas Fir
Red Mandarin | Birch | Vanilla
Rosemary | Arborvitae | Lemon Myrtle
Ylang ylang | Patchouli | Hawaiian Sandalwood
Clary Sage | Lemongrass | Peppermint
Juniper Berry | Bergamot | Vetiver
Cassia | Wild Orange | Wintergreen
Clove bud | Green Mandarin | Wild Orange
Lemon | Lime | Grapefruit
Lime | Rosemary | Douglas Fir
Eucalyptus | Lemon | Cedarwood
Peppermint | Wild Orange | Frankincense
Manuka | Pink pepper | Roman Chamomile
Bergamot | Myrtle | Red Mandarin
Vanilla | Ylang ylang | Hawaiian Sandalwood
Rose | Lavender | Jasmine
Rosemary | Lemongrass | Wild Orange
Lemongrass | Bergamot | Frankincense
Wild Orange | Vanilla | Cardamom
Douglas Fir | Red Mandarin | Myrtle
Roman Chamomile | Lavender | Vetiver
Rose | Magnolia | Cedarwood
Red Mandarin | Vanilla | Vetiver
Wild Orange | Lavender | Cedarwood
Cardamom | Cedarwood | Juniper Berry

DIY Reed Diffuser with Essential Oils

When choosing a suitable bottle or jar for your Reed diffuser you will want to consider the aesthetic properties. You can use clear, tinted or coloured glass bottles. The height and width is not as important as the size of the opening at the top which needs to be narrow. This keeps the essential oils from evaporating quickly in the jar which happens naturally when exposed to air.

For this project I upcycled a vase I had for the past few years and jazzed it up with a lick of paint. I love the Karen Walker paints available at Resene stores nationwide in NZ. My final colour selection was Beryl Green by Karen Walker paints in a tester pot size. These tester pots work terrifically for small projects and are very affordable around $4-6 for individual purchase.

If you wish to add some block colour to your bottle, you will first want to choose the space to be painted. I decided to go with a longer, opaque space to cover up the reeds in the oil as my vase is quite tall. I used masking tape to determine the exact measurements of the painted area.

Using a roller I painted two coats of the Beryl Green colour allowing time in between for the first layer to dry. Be careful removing the masking tape as it can easily pull up the edges of the paint.

Next you will need to grab the following supplies,

Bottle/Jar
Bamboo skewers (15)
Carrier oil
Witch Hazel
Essential oils
Funnel
Small & medium size beakers
Sharp scissors

Bottle / Jar – glass with a small opening, any size works here. Make sure it has been thoroughly cleaned and dried if recycling one.

Bamboo skewers – these are easy to source at the supermarket or grocery store with barbecue friendly items. Don’t worry if they look too long as you will cut them down to suit the size if your vase.

Carrier oil – You want to taken into account the viscosity, aroma and colour of the oil. It needs to be a lightweight, thinner oil to be easily absorbed by the bamboo reeds. Some oils such as olive oil have a heavy aroma and will mask the fragrance of the essential oils. The colour of carrier oils can also have a wide range. My top picks that meet all three criteria are fractionated coconut oil (clear), camellia oil (pale yellow) or apricot kernel oil (pale yellow).

Witch Hazel – This is used at a 1:1 ratio with the carrier oil to thin the oil even further. Please note that it does have a light fragrance that you may want to compare with your chosen aromatherapy blend to see if it pairs well together. You can substitute isopropyl or grain alcohol, but the ratio would need to be much less to compensate these changes.

Essential oils – Pick 3 quality oils that blend well and suit the area you will have the diffuser. Some essential oils do have colour such as blue tansy (dark blue) or vanilla (dark brown) that may effect the look of your reed diffuser oil mixture.

Funnel & Beakers – Some chemistry class tools to make the mix and transfer process clean and spill free.

Sharp scissors – These are to cut the bamboo skewers. If your scissors are dull, use a craft knife instead.

Step 1: Measure out 10ml of carrier oil in a small beaker. Add a total of at least 60 drops of essential oils.

Step 2: Measure out the rest of your carrier oil in a medium size beaker. I used 125ml of Camilla oil for my vase.

Step 3: Using a funnel, pour the medium beaker containing the carrier oil into the diffuser bottle followed by the essential oil mixture in the small beaker.

Step 4: Measure out the same amount of witch hazel in the medium size beaker. Pour into the diffuser bottle.

Step 5: Cut the sharp ends off the bamboo reeds and discard. Place as many of the 15 reeds you can fit inside the narrow opening of the bottle leaving a little room for turning movements.

Over the first couple of days, flip the reeds upside down 2-3 times. Then every 1-2 weeks as needed to freshen the aroma of the diffuser. Enjoy!

Featured

Easy Caramel Apples & Homemade Soft Chew Lollies

This delicious apple treat packs a sweet and sour punch, pairing soft, buttery caramel with tart, ripe fruit. The recipe makes enough to dip 10-15 apples with a bonus of using the leftover caramel to make some soft chews for later!

The season for picking apples in New Zealand is late summer and finishing in early Autumn. Our family loves to go foraging in our local community for fruit to explore, get out in nature and be frugal at the same time.

Some of the food we can forage within 15 minutes of our house include plums, pears, peaches, apples, elderberries, walnuts, chestnuts, lemons, feijoas, figs, and olives. There are also different varieties of the same fruit which makes picking exciting as well!

My four year old son has incredible plant identification skills from self study in our garden. He will quite often be the first to yell “There’s an apple tree!” and point in the distance at the dotted tree. I’ve almost walked past several edible trees before he pointed out we could collect fruit from them.

Make sure your apples are washed and chilled for best results with dipping the caramel.

The irony of this story is that even though I personally planned this particular foraging trip to collect green apples, my son fell asleep in the car on the short drive. Consequently, it was my husband and brother-law who were the ones who selected these Granny Smith beauties from a laden tree.

Apples can keep for up to 4-6 weeks when freshly picked and chilled.

So after putting them away for a couple weeks, I finally found the time and had all the ingredients for homemade caramel apples. Once I took the apples out of the bag, I closely examined for bruises and evidence of codling moth. It wouldn’t be pleasant biting into an apple with a bug inside!

The top apple is fine, but the bottom apple has evidence of codling moth.

After selecting 10 delicious and imperfectly organic apples, wash and dry each apple. Then the next step is to remove each stem. In it’s place I inserted shortened bamboo skewers (although candy sticks would work well too.)

I clipped ten skewers back to a length of about 15 cm, leaving the pointed end and trimming off the top. You can use sharp scissors or a knife for a clean look (no splinters sticking out!) Whatever you do, don’t snap them with your hands.

Prepare your apples on a large piece of baking paper in a tray.

Now it’s time to make the perfect soft, buttery caramel for coating the apples!

In a medium heavy bottomed pan, combine butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and pinch of salt. Place on medium heat and stir gently with a wooden spoon.

Within about 7-10 minutes the mixture will begin to foam and rapidly boil. Don’t step away! Check temperature with a candy thermometer.

When the temperature reaches 244 degrees Fahrenheit, immediately remove from the heat and add in vanilla. This is considered the soft ball stage of making caramel. To check, carefully place a bit of the hot caramel into ice cold water and it should look like the ball I formed.

I let my caramel cool ever so slightly after removing from the heat (about 5 minutes) before dipping in my first apple and slowly swirling through the mixture.

Don’t rush the dipping as it can cause air bubbles on your apples. Dip slowly and carefully.

Once you’ve coated the apple evenly with the caramel lift it up and give it slight twirl to wrap the tail end smoothly around. I waited about 10 seconds before placing it on the baking paper.

You can dip your apples as high as you would like without flooding the hole.

I put my caramel dipped apples in the fridge to chill for about 10-15 minutes to the dismay of my children. This helped set the caramel even further on the apples.

Gently remove each apple from the baking paper and hand to an eagerly waiting child, or enjoy yourself!

Homemade Caramel Apples

Ingredients

113 grams unsalted butter (4 oz)

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup golden syrup

Pinch of fine sea salt + extra for sprinkling on top

1 can sweetened condensed milk (395 grams)

2 teaspoons vanilla essence (extract)

Directions

Step 1. Cut a large piece of quality baking paper and place on a large, flat baking pan. Lightly oil with a paper towel, this reduces further sticking.

Step 2. In a medium, two litre sauce pan with a heavy bottom add the unsalted butter, brown sugar and golden syrup with a pinch of salt.

Step 3. Turn stove on medium heat and stir very gently as sugar is dissolving to ensure nothing burns on the bottom.

Step 4. Once the caramel has reached a full boil, add in the sweetened condensed milk and incorporate with a wooden spoon. Avoid vigorous mixing.

Step 5. Continue to cook until mixture reaches a soft ball caramel stage of 244 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer.

Step 6. Remove immediately from the heat and add in vanilla essence. Let cool 3-5 minutes off heat.

Step 7. Begin dipping each apple and swirling gently to cover with caramel. Once each apple is dipped, turn upside down and twirl slightly in the air for about 10 seconds before placing on the baking paper.

Step 8. Place apples in the refrigerator and chill for 20-25 minutes before eating.

Note: If you wish to wrap the apples you can do this after 3-4 hours of chilling. I recommend placing in an air right container instead and storing in the fridge. Eat the caramel apples within 2-3 days.

The best part of making this caramel is you will have leftovers for making soft chew lollies!

These are perfect for gifting to friends or family!

Start by lining a square baking pan with baking paper. Push gently into the bottom and make sure the sides are covered too. Chill for 10-15 minutes in freezer.

Once you have finished using the caramel mixture to dip the apples, place pot back on medium heat until it reaches a boil again. This takes about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour into chilled pan. Sprinkle top with fine sea salt and chill for another 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

Once the caramel has set in pan, take out and place on a cutting surface. Cut rows across with a long sharp knife.

Now cut each row into individual bite size squares.

Cut strips of baking paper and wrap each individual piece before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator until consuming.

Enjoy and share with friends!

Did you try this recipe? Leave us a comment below and save this recipe for later on Pinterest!

Featured

Declutter the First Room in Your House with this Step by Step Guide

Do you struggle to maintain a tidy home environment where you can find items quickly and easily? Are you ready to have spaces to sit, create and think clearly, an unobstructed path to walk and an overall organised and peaceful home? Let’s get started today and together we can conquer the beast called Clutter in your home today!

Clutter is a pervasive pattern in many homes amongst our consumerism, overfilled schedules and desire for MORE of everything. Clutter can also often be triggered by negative events such as death, loss of a job, onset of depression and loss of a martial relationship. Unfortunately, a lack of perspective is what blocks most people from identifying the problem right in front of them.

It takes a shift in perspective to open one’s eyes to the immensity of what clutter imposes in a home.

I remember the moment I got a text from a close friend with a link to this video on middle class homes plagued by clutter. It didn’t come with any other words, so I was left to decipher the actual meaning of the text. Let me just say I was highly offended at the notion she was saying without saying I had a cluttered house!

The truth was I felt stuck.

I was exhausted caring for three children while trying to maintain a home without the skills or self discipline it required.

Clutter drains a person of energy. The piles of items on the kitchen bench top, the paper stacks waiting to be addressed, the overwhelming amount of laundry to still be completed greeted me at every turn through the house. It seemed endless, infinite especially when one is a perfectionist like myself.

The crisis came to a point where I had to have an honest evaluation of how it was affecting my family relationships. I was upset at my husband for not helping. Meanwhile, my husband was frustrated at the disorder he walked into upon returning from a hard day of work. I began to notice how angry I was with my children for not keeping a tidy bedroom, when my own was a disaster.

I realised the behaviour I was modelling was teaching my children the same, degenerative patterns I was fighting against myself.

And it didn’t end there..

I began to hide from social media upon being bombarded by picture after picture of perfect home interiors by influencers. Suddenly, I was convicted of how messy my house was and the possibility of others judging me on it. I shrunk back in shame at the problem called Clutter.

I cried out to God and he answered my prayer with this simple, life changing verse. “I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I began to fight every day to conquer the Clutter that had taken up residence in my home. It had created a stronghold in my life that I needed to demolish.

Taking the First Steps Towards a Tidy, Organised Home

1. Recognising and acknowledging the problem

Be honest and take a personal evaluation of your own home.

Have you collected more items than you can manage?

Is the mess becoming a problem for other occupants?

Have you left the house for more than a day to change your day to day perspective of what your living in?

2. Take responsibility and take action.

It’s very easy to point fingers especially when you live with others, but ultimately the only thing we can control is our own actions.

Without overthinking or planning it all out, just start decluttering with five minutes of focus a day. Tackle one area then move on to the next spot in need of your attention.

3. Be consistent and create daily habits

Consistency is what will move the mountains in front of you. I recommend small, sustainable actions that you can repeat over and over to create effective daily habits. Avoid trying to tackle your whole house in a weekend as this can be overwhelming and requires a lot of support to execute.

The first room you want to declutter is your bedroom.

There are several reasons why you need this first win to finish the whole house. The first being, the bedroom is the inner sanctuary of your home. It’s the place where you lie down at night to rest and restore for a new day. The place you retreat to when you need some space to be alone with others in the house.

The bedroom is a reflection of your perceived self worth. What do I mean by this statement? Well quite often, personal neglect is a sign of low self worth. Your bedroom is worth your attention. It’s completely necessary and not frivolous at all to style your bedroom exactly how you want it to look. It’s a space for your own personal treasures and memories to decorate the walls.

It’s the one room you can take full responsibility. To take ownership of a task means to see it through to completion. Your bedroom is able to be managed and maintained by you.

It’s the first sight upon waking in the morning and sets the mood for the rest of the day. Imagine you are on holiday. You open your eyes to be greeted with a pristine hotel room and all your belongings packed to one side in a single suitcase. The bedside table near your head just holds your phone, a table lamp and a glass of water. The bedsheets are crisp and neatly covering your body. How do you feel? Suddenly, you realise you don’t carry the weight of the visual burden of clutter or the unbearable task of cleaning it ALL up. You have housekeeping coming in a few hours too!

While living in hotels isn’t something most of us do regularly, I use this analogy to show a comparison of the simplicity of organisation and the chaos of waking up in clutter.

What you do in your bedroom will be duplicated in every other room. This first win, like I mentioned earlier, will be incredibly rewarding upon finishing the task of decluttering your bedroom. It will be the first room you wake up in and the last room you enter at night. Once you change the scenery you are now beginning and ending your day in a place of order and peace no matter what you step into outside your door.

Practical Steps to Declutter Your Bedroom

These tasks are set up to be completed and then maintained.

– Clear off your bed. Don’t leave items on your bed to be put away later. This is a recipe for disaster. Put items away immediately where they belong in your room.

– Clear off the closest surface to your side of the bed. This could be your bedside table. Wipe it down with a clean cloth to remove any dust as well. Only put items you need before bed or immediately upon waking on here. When you wake up take away any used water glasses etc..

– Clear the floor. Throw away any discarded rubbish / trash. Put any dirty clothes straight in the washer and run a cycle. Any items that belong to others in the house can be put back into the respective rooms.

– Create a system for removing rubbish and dirty clothes. Buy or move a small rubbish bin into your bedroom for quick removal of collected trash. Find a basket or bin you like to use for putting your dirty clothes inside. Figure out how often you will need to empty both of these bins. It may be daily or at least once a week.

– Declutter and organise your shelves and drawers. If you have floating shelves or bookcase style shelves these will need to be sorted. Empty and reorganise bedside table drawers and dresser drawers. There are amazing drawer organisers you can find to help you with this task.

– Declutter and downsize wardrobe. Most likely you have items you will uncover in this process that haven’t been used in months, possibly even years. Dedicate an afternoon to thoroughly removing unwanted, unused and no longer necessary (or ill fitting) clothing. You can donate to a local secondhand shop for free. Now the items you love to wear are easy to see and ready to collect when needed.

– Create a day each week to vacuum and dust your whole room. Now that you have a tidy room you want to also keep it clean for health reasons. Find a time during the week that will work on a regular basis for you to vacuum every inch of the room (including under the bed!) as well as wipe down all surfaces and wash windows.

Did you find this post helpful? We’d love for you to share it on social media or with a friend.

Also, leave us a below comment with what you found most helpful in these decluttering tips!

Featured

Style an Autumn Wreath from a Backyard Vine Frame

The refreshing, crisp air after a hot summer is a blissful welcome once the seasons change. What more, the colours of the tree leaves morph into warm splashes of yellow, orange and red before tumbling down in delightful piles. The wind picks up the leaves in a dance and makes the children point and laugh, giving chase in their gum boots.

It’s hard not to be inspired to create when everything is changing around you. It’s an invitation to join in and celebrate with nature!

Autumn for New Zealand falls in the calendar year on March, but often warm weather ensues for much longer and this year it was once we flipped the calendar page over to April that we really noticed a difference outside.

Walnuts have started to drop from our tree in larger numbers, and leaves steadily drift down, creating satisfying crunches under our boots. Our small apple tree is finally decorated with red balls just out of reach of outstretched hands. We have observed the sun dipping lower in the sky, bringing less sun to our backyard and more to the Northern facing front of our home.

The nights have started to cool off and we enjoyed a cozy family cuddle around the first fire in our lounge. Hot drinks were passed around and eagerly slurped by mouths ringed with chocolate moustaches.

I’ve particularly found a new joy in embracing Autumn and all it’s adjustments after a long summer.

In New Zealand, there is saying that you will experience four seasons in the same day. This often rings true and is the reason a kiwi never leaves the house without another layer to put on..just in case!

After getting excited about the seasonal change, I reminisced on some of my most memorable Fall | Autumn traditions from childhood. Caramel apples, pumpkin picking, corn mazes, hay bale rides…

Embracing these memories and pulling from my American roots, I set out to bring the season inside with a bit of crafted home decor from my garden and foraging locally.

Not too long ago, I fashioned some simple vine wreath frames from pruning some overgrown honeysuckle vines in our backyard.

As you may know, vines can quickly become quite widespread and invasive if not trellised or contained within a certain area.

I’ve posted a quick tutorial for this exact backyard vine frame pictured above on Instagram. If you missed it, head over and check out the video.

The seed thought for this specific wreath was first sown when I spotted an abandoned lot in our neighbourhood with a vast area of unattended grass that was tall and dry. An inviting sight amongst the brick and cement sprawl of nearby houses.

Let me stop and say.. Yes, I love to forage. Especially when it’s so close to home!

Clippers in hand and two kids asleep, I cut enough straw to make several bundles as I knew I would need a fair amount for the finished wreath. (I ended up using close to 20 individual small bundles!)

The easiest way to cut tall grass is to grasp as many stalks together as you can reach, then use your clippers to cut below where your hand is holding the bundle. Otherwise, it can become quite a tedious and laborious task to gather all you need if you are trying to cut individual stalks!

I also cut a few dried plants gone to seed from my front yard that are the same colour, but have a lovely texture element that contrasts with the smoothness of the long stalks of grass.

To begin the wreath, I collected the following items:

Vine wreath frame
Yarn
Scissors
Garden clippers

Note, a practical alternative would be to use jute or garden twine to wrap the bundles around the wreath. I used light coloured wool yarn as this is what I had on hand at the moment. If you can find light coloured floral wire that could work as well.

I first cut all the dried grass even shorter, approximately 40cm or about 16 inches. This was for the ease of working with the bundles on a smallish workspace.

To begin, place a small bundle at a slight angle off the wreath.

Secure the string (yarn) under the wreath in a knot and wrap twice tightly around the base of the bundle. It’s important for there to very little movement once it’s secured to the base.

Trim the length where it is flush with the vine wreath. These ends will be hidden as more bundles are added on top.

Add a second bundle on top slightly angled off the side again making a fan shape. This is when I added in some of the dried textured plants with the tiny seed pods as well.

Wrap the string around the base and stalks again two times and tighten.

Continue this process adding small bundles and securing around edge of the wreath creating a fan like effect.

Don’t worry if it starts to look a bit wild!

After it’s finished we will tidy up the straggly bits sticking out with a trim.

When you are nearly finished, as you connect with the ends of the first bundle, take care to lift the grass as you continue to secure a few small additional bundles.

Do this carefully so the wreath has a seamless look all the way around the circle.

Next, take your scissors and give it a trim angling your scissors in towards the centre in a feathering technique.

This will help you avoiding a straight cut that doesn’t look as natural. I gave mine a good trim of the overall length creating an appearance of more fullness.

Once you are happy with the outer edges of the wreath you can embellish the inside with some bright and contrasting colours.

I used some pops of colour with orange rosehips from our garden. As I cut from two different rose bushes there were smaller and larger rose hips to draw the eye inwards.

You can use any dried foliage like the brown seed pods and fresh magnolia leaves for contrasting with the light colour of the wreath. I used a selection from my backyard and from a recent foraging trip.

Find a home for your beautiful wreath where everyone can enjoy it!

This wreath suited the dark blue wood of our back doors, but also looked lovely inside in our guest bedroom.

It’s a great option for anyone who may have seasonal allergies as there isn’t any lingering fragrances or pollen in the wreath.

Leave a comment below and share this idea with a friend!

I’d love to see your Autumn creations so please tag us on Instagram or use the hashtag #thekiwinest .🍂

Featured

These 5 simple evening tasks that will make Monday mornings easier!

Waking up early on Monday morning can take some major Mom motivation, so set yourself up for success by doing some quick prep with five simple tasks the night beforehand. Then you can wake up with peace of mind, knowing you are starting the day organised and prepared for success!

Today I’m going to share my daily evening routine that makes mornings a breeze! Monday morning, Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning.. yep let’s just say I’ve got you covered for every morning of the week.

First, let me share – I’m not a morning person. At all. Unless staying up after midnight counts.

This can and has caused issues when one becomes a parent of not one, but multiple (three to be exact) young children who tend to jump out of bed as soon as the first ray of sunshine hits their window (we have a rule they need to stay in bed they can see light out their window!)

I had to get organised. Plain and simple, disorganised was not cutting it. I had to get up and set an example for the rest of my family.

I tried getting up earlier.

It seemed doable, so I carefully snuck out of bed at the sound of my alarm as not to wake my nearby sleeping baby. I headed to the kitchen to make some coffee and tried not to walk on egg shells even though there were multiple closed doors between myself and said sleeping children.

My working husband was surprised to see me awake – yes it’s a rare sight to see me up before sunrise! I whipped up and served hot breakfast for the kids in Super Mum style. It was ready at the table when they popped their heads through the kitchen door with sleepy eyes and big smiles.

This lasted possibly three days. At this point, motivation waned as the sleep deprivation of waking 5-6 times a night with a teething baby, toddler who needed help getting to the toilet and eldest who just wanted to tucked back in again wore down any inkling of wanting to crawl out of bed early.

So I started thinking about how I could make mornings run smoothly, but still wake up with my kids.

First I realised my prime real estate for planning mornings was in the evening. This put me in preparation mode for the following day.

I looked at what was not working in the morning, what I could move to the evening before and what I could eliminate completely.

What was not working in my situation – waking up to a untidy, cluttered kitchen, children not ready for kindy in time, spending too much time on yesterday’s mess, clothing not washed and ready for kids (« Mum I don’t have any clean underwear!) , and meals were hit and miss the following day.

Have you heard the saying that successful people do the same things, every day. Or something like that. As in, they simplify to reduce the amount of energy exerted into every day routine activities and utilise the majority of their energy towards purposeful projects and pursuits.

I found these five daily evening tasks evolved organically from this process of simplifying mornings!

The first task I complete is to tidy up and reset the house.

Luckily at this stage it doesn’t take me hours of cleaning and picking up toys like it did in the early days. The kid’s rooms are their responsibility in the evening. This means they put their dirty clothes into the washing basket, hang up any dress clothes or jackets on their beds and put away stray toys and books that have been pulled out during the day.

The lounge would have had a recent tidy up before dinner so a few stray couch cushions and wayward trains only takes less than 5 minutes on the way back from good night kisses.

A quick walkthrough of our single bathroom to pick up any clothes, towels and bath toys. This only takes a few minutes to complete.

Our kitchen takes the majority of this clean up time, especially if we have had a late dinner. I have moved my kids toys out of the kitchen, so it’s mostly putting dirty dishes into the dishwasher and removing any clutter from the day aka papers, abandoned toys and small items from dropped off from various places in the house.

Let me tell you.. When I’m doing this reset, some days I’m just tired and I think, well I could just leave this until tomorrow. But, I stop myself and remember that this reset is just as much for my children as my own self discipline. It’s a blessing for my children to be able to wake up and the mess of yesterday has been erased. It’s creating a clean slate for a new day!

The second task is to set up my dishwasher to run overnight.

This super simple task sets you up with a kitchen full of clean dishes, glassware, utensils etc.. this makes meal prep for breakfast and lunches easy as when everything is ready to use!

Our dishwasher has a timer so I set it to run after 9pm to save on power during off peak pricing (we save close to 70% on energy usage during this time!)

Often I run my dishwasher a couple times a day and this second run may not have a full load. I use the quick rinse mode which only takes 30 minutes but still sanitises the dishes and glassware. This way I keep my regular routine of filling and emptying the dishwasher still economical.

The third task I do before bed is empty the rubbish, recycling and compost bins.

Where we live we have rubbish, recycling and green waste bins that are collected either weekly or fortnightly. The largest bin is the recycling, medium size is rubbish and the smallest bin is for green waste. Or as my daughter pointed out and said to me recently, that’s the Daddy bin, Mama bin and baby bin! I guess kinda reminiscent of the story of Goldilocks and the three bears..

To match these sizes we also have corresponding bins inside the house. The largest bin being recycling and smallest is compost/food waste the size of a used ice cream container.

This ensures we don’t tip the scales in terms of what we are going through in the house and what needs to be removed is able to done quickly and efficiently.

I hate an overflowing rubbish bin. Taking out our bins every night ensures this happens far and few between now. Since we have a toddler still in nappies, the bathroom bin is also emptied to reduce any unpleasant odours setting in overnight! Not exactly what you want to wake up to during the night or in the morning. A fresh smelling bathroom is a pleasant and realistic expectation when waste is removed promptly.

Taking out the kitchen compost guarantees my toddler doesn’t do a good dig through it in the morning looking for leftover fruit and pretzels picked off the floor! We keep our green waste container under the kitchen sink for easy access for adults and kids.

The fourth task is to do a large load of laundry

Sunday night is my large load of washing night. I typically toss in all the used towels from the weekend. This includes face cloths, hand towels, tea towels, bath towels, dish rags and any clean cloths hanging around. This tidies up the bathroom and also makes certain towels are changed and rotated in a timely manner.

Other nights when I am all caught up on washing like tonight (it’s Monday night as I write this post) it may just be a small load of soiled outfits from garden play in the afternoon or cleaning cloths from a day of cleaning.

When I get up in the morning, I can unload the washing and pop it up on the clothes line in 10 minutes or less. Since we don’t use a dryer which is common here in New Zealand, this makes certain the washing will have plenty of daylight hours to dry.

The last evening task is to take meat out of the freezer.

This is my meal prep for dinner the following evening and it has helped immensely as I often have forgotten to do it in the morning amongst other jobs.

If it’s a large piece of meat like a whole chicken or leg of lamb I will let it defrost in the sink overnight and put in the refrigerator as soon I wake up. If it’s a smaller tray of meat like steaks or chicken tenderloins I put it directly into the meat drawer of our refrigerator.

This simple step will help with sorting dinner the following day with meat that is defrosted and not past it’s use date. This means I don’t even need to think about dinner at breakfast time!

I hope these five simple steps will help you reduce morning anxiety and stress that can come with the responsibility of a family.

Please leave a comment and let me know what has helped you prepare for the next day and a morning flow that suits your family and makes life as a Mum easier!

You can share this post with a friend or family member who might find tips helpful!

DIY Kids Rice Pack with Lavender for Comfort – Easy Sewing Tutorial

Having a warm comfort pack for sore tummies, ear pain, and even cold for bumps and tumbles is such a blessing! This easy to sew handmade rice pack features soothing lavender buds and rice from our pantry. The children love the soft, woven fabric and it’s light enough for a toddler to carry. This wheat bag alternative can be completed quickly even with basic sewing skills, yet is durable and looks well made.

My husband and I have our own individual wheat bags (no arguments there) for back aches, neck pain and a general warmer in winter. I love that we can just put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and instant heat and comfort follows.

Unfortunately, they are much too large and a bit heavy to use comfortably on a child. So I decided to create a child’s wheat bag alternative that is approximately 1/3 the size and perfect for little hands to hold.

When I researched ideas for filling the wheat bag, I found wheat kernels are not the safest option for children. This is due to their incredible heat holding ability that often makes the internal temperature much hotter than the external fabric. It was observed to be a fire hazard particularly when reheated repeatedly over a short duration and put into children’s beds.

I also dismissed using buckwheat groats which is another suitable alternative to wheat. This was mostly because it’s less cost effective and the average household has a bag of rice in the pantry. Another option is flaxseed or linseed, but again a more expensive option and you would need to purchase a fair amount to fill the pack.

We have recently harvested and dried a large amount of French lavender and with plenty to spare I decided to include some in the rice mixture filling. This gives a lovely, subtle aroma when warming the rice pack.

Lavender is rich in a chemical compound called linalool. Linalool is known in aromatherapy for its relaxing effect on the central nervous system. Lavender can help with quality sleep, reducing anxious feelings and soothing muscle spasms. The perfect ingredient to include in this comfort pack!

If you’re wondering how you could use this rice heat pack with your children, I’ve included some popular options below from our household.

Applying to an upset tummy while your child is lying down. This works well for tummy bugs as well as general constipation. I often apply some diluted essential oil and use the heat pack afterwards to enhance the effects of the aromatherapy.

For a chesty cough during the night, place on child’s chest. Cold air can aggravate a cough especially when lying flat and the warmth helps to ease the tightness in the chest.

Warming chilly hands after being outside on a cold day. We’ve all seen those icy cold, red hands after being outside in the winter. This rice pack works wonders without shocking the skin like hot water.

Gently holding to a sore ear to soothe pain. I think we can agree ear pain is the worst and apart from giving pain relief medication, most people feel lost on what else to do. Using gentle heat on the ear is surprisingly soothing and can ease a toddler back to sleep in the middle of the night.

Using as a comfort after a soft tissue injury. Often we use cold packs for bumps and tumbles, but warmth can work just as well for soreness. Heat increases circulation in the area and can aid in the healing process.

Sewing A DIY Rice Pack with Lavender

Before you get started you will need to select a suitable fabric for the project. I really love this woven cotton fabric from a scarf I own. I recommend using a 100% cotton fabric and stay away from flannels or synthetic blends which can pose a higher risk of a fire hazard. The material you use should feel soft and comfortable against the skin.

The frayed edge provides a textural look and sensory experience for children handling the rice pack.

Next you will want to gather the following tools to begin creating your DIY rice pack.

Sewing scissors or quilting roller
Fabric
Cutting board
Ruler (acrylic or metal)
Thread
Sewing machine
Pins
Rice
Dried lavender buds
Iron (optional)
Funnel

Step 1: Cut two pieces of fabric in 6 inch by 9 inch rectangles. If you don’t have a cutting board and quilting roller you can make a template out of paper (tissue paper works best) and pin to two layers of fabric. Then cut around the template with scissors creating two identical rectangles.

Step 2: Match the right sides together so the wrong sides are on the front and back of the rectangle. Pin along the length pushing pins in towards the centre.

*If using a patterned material with lines, ensure these match up when putting the rectangles together.*

Step 3: At your sewing machine, adjust stitch length and stitch width to a smaller, tighter stitch. Test on two scrap pieces and adjust accordingly.

Step 4: Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, stitch a straight seam down the length of the pinned side. Remove pins, pulling out as you sew. Check inside the seam and iron open if desired.

Step 5: Pin along the opposite length and repeat step 4. Continue by finishing top width of the rectangle. Turn fabric inside out- now the right sides should be facing out and the seams hidden inside as pictured below.

Note: If you are not using a frayed edge as pictured you will want to fold in the bottom edge about 1/2 inch and iron flat before turning the fabric inside out.

Step 6: Stitch 3/4 of the bottom length using a pin to mark the stopping point.

Step 7: Begin adding rice into remaining gap slowly with a funnel. Mix in 2 Tablespoons of dried lavender buds. Don’t overfill the bag. You want a thick, smooth even layer when it is flat.

Step 8: Finishing sewing the remaining width on the bottom closing up the gap.

Tips for warming the rice pack safely:

– Warm in microwave at intervals of 30 seconds to desired temperature, no longer than 1 minute and 30 seconds total.

– Ensure turntable is working in microwave as this can create inconsistent heating.

– Putting a small jar of water in the microwave with the rice pack (no more than 1/4 cup) will add humidity, heating the rice pack quicker.

– Always check temperature of rice pack against your own skin before using on a child. Check with child the temperature is also comfortable for them.

– Don’t reheat the rice pack until it has cooled completely or reduce the time by at least 1/3. Repeated heating will cause the temperature to rise quickly inside the pack.

– Store the rice pack once it has cooled and not beforehand.

Love this easy sewing tutorial? Share it with a crafty friend!

We love seeing your creations on social media! Tag us or hashtag #thekiwinest