No Sew Scented Sachet Bags With 5 Herbal Recipes

Scented sachet bags are often hung in a closet, or kept in drawers to freshen enclosed areas. They can even be placed in decorative glass jars with lids and opened to release the fragrance into a room. They make terrific gifts!

 

Scented sachet bags differ from potpourri, in that they are usually not placed on display and viewed for their beauty. This gives you the freedom to use the many varieties of herbs and flowers that can be grown at home without worrying about how they look. Focus instead on the fragrance of the herbs and spices as you begin blending your own.

Using Fixatives to Capture Scent

When making sachets, fixatives are used as the vehicle to lock in essential oils and fresh scents. In each of the recipes below, you’ll find that the oils are added to the fixative, not to the dried plant material. This simple step can give your sachets a long, fragrant life.

Powdered fixatives work better in muslin bags or drawstring cloth bags where the powder can be evenly distributed and kept confined.

However, chunky pieces tend to keep their scent longer and can be used in sachets or pillows when the weave of the fabric is loose – like lace- then the chunks won’t be able to sift through the lace as the powder can.

Common fixatives

• Cellulose fiber (corn cobs)
• Pine shavings (look in the pet litter aisle)
• Cat litter (unscented)
• Clary sage leaves
• Orris root chips
• Cinnamon chips
• Frankincense resin
• Salt

Creating a Homemade Sachet Blend

The basics of sachet making are simple.

1. Use aromatic plant materials that have been thoroughly dried;
2. Choose decorative plant materials, also thoroughly dried, if it will be used as a visual potpourri;
3. Add other aromatic ingredients, such as whole spices, chips of pleasant-smelling wood and citrus peel;
4. Combine essential oils and fixative, to preserve their fragrance.

Except for the essential oils and fixative, most of the ingredients are free for the picking in your homestead garden.

Use the general drying requirements for herbs and store them in tightly sealed glass containers until you are ready to make your sachets. Protect them from heat and sunlight.

You can make sachet ingredients ahead of time and let them age for 2 to 3 weeks. These should also be stored in glass, using plastic or metal may interact with the essential oils that contain the scent.

If you will be making sachets throughout the season, put a fixative and essential oils, with other aromatic ingredients, like spices and orange peel, in the jars sometime before you complete your mixture. This gives the fixative time to pick up the scents of the oils and spices.

Three No-Sew Sachets Ideas

Sometimes you need a quick gift idea that can be accomplished without pulling out the sewing machine. Try one of these easy to make – no-sew – sachet bag ideas.

1. The 10×10 Cloth Drawstring Bag

Cut a piece of sturdy cotton cloth to the size of 10×10 inches square. There is no need to hem the edges. This is the perfect size to fill with ½ a cup of sachet herbs and then tie it all together with a piece of twine or ribbon.

Using leftover scraps? Use smaller pieces of fabric and adjust the volume of herbs for the bundle.

2. Lace Drawstring Bags

Similar to the cloth drawstring bag, you’ll need a piece of muslin or cloth, and a piece of lace at least 10×10 inches square. The muslin helps keep the fixative, herbs, and spices contained in the lace.

3. Purchased Muslin Bags

Sometimes it’s just easier to purchase muslin drawstring bags and have them on hand for sachet making and for herbal baths. These can be purchased in sizes ranging from 3×4 inches to 8×12 inches for making small pillows.

Look for 100 percent cotton muslin with a natural drawstring. You’ll find them at Amazon or your local craft store.

 

5 Herbal Scented Sachet Bags Recipes

Fall Spice Sachet

Makes 2-3 sachets

• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 teaspoon star anise
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• (optional: substitute vanilla and almond fragrance oils at 5 drops each)

The salt acts as the fixative in this recipe. Coarsely grind the cloves, allspice, star anise, and cinnamon sticks with a blender until they are chopped and only slightly powdered. Combine the ground spices with the rest of the ingredients. This sachet can be placed in the kitchen or bathroom for an air-freshener or used as a simmering mix by adding 2 tablespoons of the mix to ½ cup of water.

Old Fashioned Sachet

Makes 2 sachets

• 1 ¼ cups dried and crushed lavender flowers
• ½ cup dried lemon verbena leaves, crushed
• ½ cup dried rose geranium leaves or rose petals, crushed
• 2 tablespoons fixative

Using a glass bowl, add the fixative to the crushed herbs and flowers. Split in half and wrap in colorful 10×10 inch pieces of fabric, gathered with lace or twine.

Lovely Lemon Scented Sachet Bags

Makes 4 sachets

• 5 drops lemon verbena or lemongrass oil
• 3 drops bergamot oil
• 2 drops honeysuckle oil
• 1/5 cup orris root or another fixative
• 1 cup whole lemon verbena leaves
• ½ cup calendula flowers
• ½ cup lemon thyme leaves (substitute lemon-scented geranium or lemon balm)
• ¼ cup orange peel
• ¼ cup lemon peel
• 1/8 cup ginger root, cut
• ½ a crushed nutmeg

Using a glass bowl, add the oils to the orris root. Add the remaining ingredients individually, stirring to incorporate the scent.

Freshly Herbal Linen Sachet

Makes 7 sachets

• ½ cup anise hyssop
• 1 cup sweet bay leaves
• 1 cup eucalyptus
• 1/2 cup lemon verbena
• ¼ cup santolina
• ¼ cup southernwood

Many of these herbs can be grown in your herb garden. For those that cannot grow sweet bay or eucalyptus, they can be purchased inexpensively at San Francisco Herb Company or Botanical Interests.

Combine the ingredients in a glass bowl and split equally into small sachet bags. Place these around your linen closet and tuck a bag into suitcases or backpacks while in storage.

Cottage Garden Scented Sachet Bags

Makes 10 sachets

• 13 drops rose essential oil
• 8 drops bergamot essential oil
• 5 drops musk essential oil
• 3 drops sweet orange essential oil
• ½ cup orris root (or other fixative0
• 3 cups dried rosebuds and petals
• 2 cups dried chamomile flowers
• ¼ cup cinnamon chips
• 1 teaspoon lightly crushed cloves
• 10 whole pieces of star anise

In a large glass bowl, mix the oils with the fixative until it is evenly covered. Crush 3 of the star anise pieces and add the anise and cinnamon to the fixative. Add the other ingredients individually, mixing thoroughly as you go. Split into ½ cup portions and fill individual 5×5 square or muslin bags.

I’m collaborating with some of my favorite homesteading bloggers for this gifts from the homestead series. You’ll find wonderful ideas for baking, crafts, body care, and herbal elixirs.   Not just for the holidays, these gifts can be made at any time of the year. Be sure to bookmark this page and save the pin to your favorite gifts Pinterest board.

Gifts You Can Make in an Hour or Less

Creative Cookie Packaging Ideas  || Rootsy Network

Create a Giftable Indoor Herb Garden Kit || Not So Modern

Two Holiday Chai Tea Blends: The Perfect Fall or Winter Gift || Healing Harvest Homestead

Soup in a Jar: the Perfect Comfort Gift || Dehydrating Made Easy

Snickerdoodle Cookies || Nancy On The Homefront

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds (with printable gift tags) || A Modern Homestead

How to Make & Give Homemade Hot Cocoa Mixes || Homespun Seasonal Living

How to Can Homemade Salsa || Not So Modern

Make Gift-Worthy Bread Mix In A Jar – Great for Your Own Pantry Shelf Too! || Oak Hill Homestead

Make Your Own Lotion Bars || Learning and Yearning

Easy Homemade Bath Salts Recipe || Better Hens and Gardens

Peppermint Foot Salve || The Self Sufficient Home Acre

SPF Lip Balm Recipe || Our Inspired Roots

3 Bedtime Bath Teas for Kids || Homestead Lady

DIY Flaxseed Neck Heating Pad for Soothing Muscles || Joybilee Farm

No-Sew Scented Sachet Bags With 5 Herbal Recipes || Rockin W Homestead

Fall Air Freshener DIY || Feathers In The Woods

 

Gifts You Can Make in a Day or Less

Easy Applesauce Recipe For Canning or Eating Fresh || Hidden Springs Homestead

How to Make Hot Process Soap Complete Picture Tutorial || Healing Harvest Homestead

Crockpot Apple Butter with Canning Instructions || A Modern Homestead

DIY Quilted Mug Rug || Flip Flop Barnyard

Feathers & Hugs – How to Create a Psalms 91 Throw || The Farm Wife

DIY Flower & Veggie Row Markers || The Self Sufficient Home Acre

Make Your Own Veggie Hod || Nancy On The Homefront

Horseshoe Farm Sign – Fun DIY Gift for the Horse Lover || Homegrown Self Reliance

 

Gifts You Can Make in a Week

Easy Primitive Throw Pillow Tutorial || Hidden Springs Homestead

How to Make a Rag Quilt || Flip Flop Barnyard

Make Your Own Plant Pots and Baskets || Homestead Lady

 

Special Gifts That Take One Month to Create (but are well worth the wait)

Making Herbal Vinegar || Better Hens and Gardens

Elderberry Elixir – A Delicious Immune Boosting Gift || Homegrown Self Reliance

How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract || Farming My Backyard

How to Make Strawberry Wine Step-by-Step || Stone Family Farmstead

How to Make Cold-Process Soap from Scratch || Oak Hill Homestead