Homemade Lavender Spray

It's funny how the sun can completely energise us and we suddenly remember all of the projects we abandoned during the winter. These last few days of sunshine and blue skies has awakened the creativity I thought had disappeared completely and I have a whole bunch of crafty things I want to make over the next few weeks (or until the notoriously short Irish summer ends). I decided to start with a super quick and manageable project that I could do after work in the evening and a room spray was just about the simplest thing I could come up with. It's a recipe I've been wanting to make for a while not just because our living room smells like a Victorian basement (drying clothes indoors = lovely damp aroma) but also to help quickly lift anything that might not be smelling so fresh e.g. gym bag, guddies (do people still say guddies??), car, curtains, boyfriend. Lavender was the choice for the spray because it's my go-to summer scent. It takes me back to our holiday in Croatia last year where the markets would be teeming with little bags of this floral deliciousness and I bought as many as I could to take home with me. I still have a little left that I keep in a drawer but I hijacked a few sprigs to use for this spray. It smells wonderful and I've been spraying a little on my pillow to help sleep through these warmer nights. If you don't feel like whipping together a spray then you can introduce lavender essential oil in plenty of other ways. It really is an all-rounder essential oil; it's antiseptic (great for wounds or scars), a sleeping aid, a muscle relaxant (a few drops in the bath will have you chilled out in no time), a pain reliever and can be used as a topical treatment for skin issues like eczema. A bit of an over-achiever really. And if lavender isn't your thing then you can create your own bespoke concoction that feels like summer to you. Like...

Cypress, Lemon & Rosemary

Orange, Lime & Spearmint

Sandalwood, Grapefruit & Orange

The options are endless! So here's to bringing in the smells of summer and fingers crossed this sunshine sticks around for us to enjoy this weekend!

---

Lavender Room Spray What You'll Need

• Bottle with mist nozzle
• Lavender essential oil
• Dried lavender
• Distilled water
• Vodka or gin
• Measuring cup

Method

1. Clean out your bottle
2. Pour in your distilled water first (I used a 6:1 ratio of water:vodka)
3. Then about 25-30 drops of the essential oil (I used the maximum because my sense of smell is pathetic)
4. Pour in your vodka or gin
5. Give the bottle a good shake (with the lid on folks)
6. Cut a few sprigs of lavender just short of the length of the bottle and place inside.
7. Spray around the house like you're a domestic goddess