The week following the Solstice has been filled with the promise of returning light through the gathering of family, the giving of special gifts, and time spent reflecting in nature.
Out the window the morning of the 25th.
What a beautiful time to slow down and embrace the simple things that we are thankful for.
Before a meal…
The twinkling lights, delicious feasts, and special moments with family have been a little dream-like for me: I feel relaxed, happy, and filled with anticipation for exciting things to come in the new year!
Reminder of returning light.
For this year’s holiday season, I made a collection of handmade gifts of various shapes, sizes, and uses. In this little pile-up there are potholders, salve, catnip-filled cat toys, wallets, and dream pillows.
Sample of handmade gifts.
The dream pillows are a fun way to embrace herbs in your life at any time of year, especially during this season of snow! They smell wonderful, aid in relaxation with the aroma of lavender and hops, and they also contain herbs like mugwort to assist in bringing prophetic, meaningful dreams.
Flashback: Harvesting mugwort in the summer.
These little pillows can be slipped into the pillowcase, placed under or near the pillow, or can even be hung on the wall near the bed.
Dream pillow.
To make them, you’ll just need to mix together aromatic and otherwise useful herbs for sleep and dreams.
The dream pillow mix looks good enough to eat!
I mixed together 1.5 parts lavender, 1.5 parts peppermint, 1 part mugwort, 1 part hops, 1 part chamomile, .5 part rose petals, and .25 part rosemary. However, the combinations are endless (maybe try some of these)!
To make your own pillow, cut out a rectangle (or any shape you’d like, really), and sew all but one side with the right-sides together.
Flip the 3-sided pillow right-side out and fill with your herb mix. I also added a little cotton and rice for texture.
Fold in the edges of the side that has not yet been sewn, pin, and complete the final edge.
You have a dream pillow!
Sweet dreams!
Want one without having to make your own? I have extra for you on my Etsy site. I’d love to send one to you along with good wishes for peaceful sleep!
Shared on:
These Light Footsteps 
What a great idea! I would love to have you share your posts on The HomeAcre Hop!
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/01/the-homeacre-hop-2.html
What a thoughtful and useful gift! And a great way to share a love of herbs with others! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this post on Wildcarfting Wednesday! 🙂 I’m so glad you linked up. 🙂
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The herbalist that I got these herbs from mentioned that they could probably also be used as an herbal tea. Not only does it taste amazing, just about everyone I shared it with has noticed an increase in the vividness of their dreams. Thanks so much for sharing.
Great to hear! Yes, I drink a tea with a similar blend that really seems to help with dreaming, too. It’s amazing how much plants can help us.
Keep on dreaming!