Linen water and vodka!

January 13, 2014

Good morning everyone! have you ever made your own best press? the first time I tried it I LOVED IT! I got it as a gift about 10 years ago and quickly used it up. well, I went to buy some more and was stunned at how much it cost! I looked up the "recipe" for it and I thought I had ended up in the wrong site or that it was a joke. I found that all the recipes included vodka. its to preserve the linen water (or best press)! who da figured? so I've been making my own ever since. its not quite as good as Best Press but does the job and costs only pennies. I am an ironer and go through a lot of this stuff. you can use any type of vodka you want. the cheaper the better! I used the smirnoffs because it was a gift! as I was leaving to go to the liquor store, I mentioned to the mister that if I died before him, when "they" were cleaning out my sewing stuff and came across my vodka bottle, I'd appreciate him explaining why I had an opened bottle of vodka down in my studio. "mmmmmmmmm," he replied with a little smirk on his face, "sure I will". I'm suspecting he won't so let it be said here. I am not a closet vodka drinker (although some days I've thought about it). here's the recipe I use:

Nancy's Linen Water
1/4 cup vodka (any kind)
10-20 drops lavender oil or any fragrance you like
mix this together and then add 2 cups distilled water

I use the original Best Press bottle and I taped the recipe right on the bottle. as simple a recipe as it is, I still forget the amounts! this is a really inexpensive alternative to best press and your material smells really nice as you're ironing, but the scent doesn't overwhelm you or stay. try it and tell me how you like it.

 

 

 

this is one of the gifts I made for Christmas this year. The top pillow I made for my dil using the Cocheco Mill works collection I had on hand. I made a large pocket in the back of the pillows (like you see in photo #2) that holds a magazine, journal or book. I made the other two pillows (with a pocket in the back) to match the quilts I made my grandchildren for their birthdays. the mister and I put an envelope with cash in it for each, with a magazine that they would be interested in, some candy and a note. They are 12 & 14 now and seemed to like this gift. I was happy with how the pillows came out. in the middle picture I tucked in the fairy doll I made my great niece, Sammi. btw, that fairy book is really good. it gives good guidance on how you can make your own fairy. it also has a great section on making felt gnomes. i used some specialty yarn i had kicking around and glued it to her head for her hair. it came out really cute and Sammi loved it. I would recommend this book if you're interested in making fairies.

 

and finally........this is what i made for my etsy shoppe to sell. I never did get my shoppe up and running again but plan on it soon. these outfits are never wasted though. sadly, my granddaughter has outgrown her dolls but my great niece (who is 8)has  American girl dolls. I can always give her the leftover outfits . it is hard to sell my crafts up here because I no longer have a customer base. between work and my girlfriends in the seacoast and my boys in college, I never needed to advertise anything I was selling! one of my goals for 2014 is to become more proactive with my etsy shoppe and I thought I might go around to some of the specialty shops around here to see if they would let me put my wares in on consignment. I also need to be more aware of the background when I'm taking my pictures! this is obviously an unfinished wall down in my sewing studio. i'll have to retake these pictures for my etsy shoppe! i will put the info for my shoppe on this blog when I get it all set again.

 

meanwhile, the mister and I are catching squirrels in our have-a-heart traps and we just caught #2. we are taking them up the road and releasing them in the national forest. we were ignoring them because of the weather but yesterday we counted 8 in our back yard. they are eating the birdfood and word is getting out that its a great place to dine. we don't want them trying to get in the house and we do want to feed our winter birds. well, i'll write again very soon. I still haven't caught up on all I want to tell you! have a great day and I will too! nancyb