Hello again! Hope you are having a fantastic start of your week so far! I'm headed down to Naples, Florida for a week of fun in the sun with my two best buds. Looking forward to some R&R while back here in Virginia they are preparing for a snowstorm...I got out just in time eh??? LOL! I think so as I'm soooo SICK of winter! I don't know too many people that aren't sick of winter & ready for Spring.
So let's talk about making our homes pretty and SMELL Spring Fresh!
I don't know about you but I love for my house to smell good. I burn soy candles and Scentsy daily (if you are not familiar with Scentsy, go check them out--as they are amazing)...I have eight animals and two teens...there can be some...ummmm..."odd" smells at times LOL. So I do what I can to battle it along with good housekeeping and try to keep the bad smells at bay and keep the house smelling good.
When Spring is close to arriving I start switching out all my scents from winter/fall/warm scents to fresh, spring-like scents. So below are a few fun things I start doing around this time of year.
I love Linen Sprays...I could be slightly obsessed with them. I usually buy 3 at a time and I spray them everyday on all the beds AND on the family room furniture. (yes they can be used on more than sheets). You can find recipes online like this one for making them if you want to (don't let the unscented Vodka ingredient skeer you). I don't pay more than $7-9 a bottle and they last a long time. You don't have to spray the entire bed down people...just a squirt on each pillow and on the sheets will do ya. The one below I got at HomeGoods as they have lots of fabulous ones but marked wayyyyy down. <check the ingredients...if you don't like chemicals you need to check, the less ingredients in a spray the better> I also like these Farmhouse Linen sprays here (the soy candles rock too).
Scent is "Lily & Cottonseed"...perfect for Spring
I am also obsessed with sachets and soaps! Ok I have a few obsessions, but I promise they are ALL good! I especially love homemade soaps. BUT here's the kicker....I don't like to use hard soaps. Nope, I think its icky...especially if they are shared soaps...and they tend to get gummy from the moisture...ick. (I have a few OCD issues I told ya) I only use liquid soap, then we don't have those issues right? But I still love the look and smell of bar soaps and I buy a few every now and again. I prefer to buy soaps made with all natural ingredients, no weird chemicals if I can help it. Then you can take these beautiful smelling soaps and make sachets with them (Etsy has some awesome all-natural homemade soaps). I use them in my linen closet, in my sweater drawers, my pajama drawers....you get my drift..I use them a lot!
So above are a few soaps I had in my stockpile...yes I always have stockpiles. So with some pretty ribbon (get ribbon for .99 cents in the clearance bins) and some tulle (I buy tulle in rolls at JoAnns but you can buy a yard of tulle for about $1.50). With these supplies and 2 bars of soaps you can make about 12 sachets for about $8. The soaps cost me $3 each.
So I use a butter knife (remember safety first people) and chisel off a slice...one slice will make 2 chunks for your sachets. One bar of soap this size will make about 6 sachets. Cut a square of tulle, place the soap chunk inside and tie off with a pretty bow using the ribbon. If you notice the sachet is starting to "not smell anymore", open the sachet back up and cut the chunk of soap in half again and it will last even longer.
I travel a lot for my work and with my family. Almost all hotels leave soaps in the bathrooms, some leave liquid soaps (darn it lol). I always, ALWAYS take the soap and shampoo my friends. Come on...you are paying for the room and they are for YOU...don't feel guilty about it because you paid for it with the room. I will then use the shampoo and liquid soap in my travels...I'm thrifty that way :) If there is bar soap, I take it home to use for sachets to put in my drawers and linen closet. So cost for the soap: "technically FREE" and you should use them!
This soap was pretty small so I just wrapped it up in the tulle. Again you could cut it into chunks to make the scent stronger over time.
So this is my linen closet...yes its still organized in case you are wondering. If you set up a good system that works, its easy to keep up. I put 2 sachets in my linen closet...1 in my Master Bedroom sheet bin and one near the kids sheets. When you open the linen closet it just smells really, really good. Now if you have a super STRONG smelly soap you may want to limit how much you use, that's a personal "smell" choice though :)
I love the smell of clean linen and clean laundry...it is one of my favorite scents next to lilacs and fresh-baked bread. My mom always hung the sheets on the line outside to dry when I was growing up, there is NOTHING like that scent..NOTHING. Its the BEST! I live in a neighborhood where the neighbors would probably A) have a hissy fit and B) call the HOA police to alert them if I hung my sheets outside to dry. I kid you not! Its against the HOA (homeowners association) rules so its a big no-no. So I have to make my linens smell pretty in other ways...hence the spray and sachets.
What's your favorite scent in the whole world?
What ways do you employ to make your house smell yummy?
My favorite smell is lilac. I actually found a lilac perfume and I use it not just on me but also on sheets. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI make my own soap for my family and the scent I use the most is blackberry sage. It is sooooo yummy and it is just masculine enough for my hubby! For candles and such I gravitate toward the winter fragrances such as cinnamon and peppermint. But I like a good natural rose too, so long as it isn't overpowering. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy fav scents are Tranquil Moments by Avon and Freesia by Bath & Body Works. My daughter likes Scentsy too. I got her and my niece a bunch of Scentsy this past Christmas. Have a safe vacation...Liz S.
ReplyDeleteI defintiely love the wintery scents (cookies, bread, pie, etc.) probably the most, but I love the smell of fresh linens. What a fabulous idea you have come up with, I love it! Oh, and i can relate to the HOA thing. I grew up in Potomac Falls (Loudoun County) with a really strict HOA. My dad once power washed his mailbox and got a letter from teh HOA that he had to put the mailbox back in the same condition it was in. Really?!?! He wrote them back and was like, okay, you want me to put all the dirt back on it? Now I have the opposite problem :) Living in WV, there are no rules at all, so sometimes, people have buses, junk, weird plants (I usually prosecute those people:) ) etc. on their property :) Luckily I do live in a subidivision though so there are some rules :) Anyway, great post, I'm definitely going to use these ideas. Have a great trip!
ReplyDeleteHugs, Christine
Also, I meant to ask in my comment, how does Scentsy compare with Yankee Candle? Better? The same? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Suzanne. I've used fragrant bath salts for sachets but never soap. Awesome idea.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scents are those that are fresh smelling. I love Yankee Candle tarts as they do the job. I also like pine, apple and cinnamon scents during the winter months. Of course, my hubby's hobby is a candle making so we use his candles as well. They just don't last as long. Shhh, don't tell him I said that. :)
Hugz,
Cathy Lee
Terrific ideas using soaps as fragrant sachets to keep your linens smelling sweet! I love the smell of clothes drying in fresh air and, yes, I do dry my sheets on a outdoor clothes line! We are in an area where the HOA would frown on clothes line but our backyard backs up to a huge wash and we've placed it so our neighbors on either side can't view it unless they're really nosy and peak over the fence! LOL! Anyway, I if someone made a fuss over it I would point out that it's energy conservation and here in Arizona they really like it when you conserve energy. Plus because it's so dry here the clothes on the line dry faster than in the dryer!! Love the smell of fresh baked bread too. Yep, we bake our bread, only I can't take too much credit as the bread machine does the work! But, hey, still smells good!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my fav scents for washing and body lotion is almond/cherry scent. I think it goes back to my childhood and the old Jergens hand lotion. I love Caswell & Massey's Aloe and Almond products. The only perfume I wear is "Lauren". It reminds me of another favorite scent, Sweet Peas. And it's the only perfume my hubby likes.
I do miss the fresh scent of outdoor dried fabric - there's nothing like that fragrance. For candles/warmers, I like using Yankee Candle Sage & Citrus during the fall-winter seasons and a Scentsy combo of lavender and citrus for the spring-summer seasons. I love your idea of using cake soap as sachets and foresee a shopping expedition or two to create my own. (and I TOTALLY chuckled at your comment - your linen closet is still organized).
ReplyDeletewow your linen closet looks great! I love candles and nice scented things. Here in Hong Kong there is a shop called Shanghai Tang that sells the most amazing room sprays!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder I can't find any more of this Lily & Cotton Seed at Homegoods anymore.....my secret Linen spray is no longer a secret :-( We used it for years as our signature fragrance for our luxury accommodation on the Cape.
ReplyDelete