Independent of its many other properties and uses, lavender has long held a place of honor in the world of decorative crafts. As a dry flower, lavender brings two key attributes as a favored raw material to crafters – longevity and durability of form and color. Here are just a few of the more popular.

Lavender Bouquets & Flower Arrangements are perhaps the most widely accessible crafting uses of lavender, and can and have been rendered over the centuries in a multitude of sizes and forms, alone or in combination with other flowers, fresh or as a long-lasting dried flower.

Learn how to create a stunning centerpiece using fresh lavender from your own garden with local floral designer, Erin of Camas Designs.

Lavender Wand and Basket making is the perennial favorite craft during the summer bloom. With the lavender flower stalks freshly cut – a prerequisite for successful wand-making – there are few other crafts from which so much beauty and utility can be created by so many with so little in the way of materials. Learn how to make your own fragrant Lavender Wand or Lavender Basket using fresh lavender from your own garden.

Lavender “Tussie-Mussies” are a favorite Victorian-era rendition of centuries-old miniature lavender bouquets or boutonniéres, complete with doilies or lace! Many variations on this theme have appeared over the years according to the imagination of the crafter. Another historic crafting tradition with roots in the Middle Ages is the Lavender Kissing Ball. These spherical creations offer a nostalgic and modern twist to the more common wreath or swag.

Lavender Buds are deployed in a wide range of “packagings”, ranging from simple sachets for stand-alone use, to providing an aromatic experience with stuffed animals, to elaborate “pockets” attached to or bordering linens such as pillowcases, sheets, throws, cushions, lockets, etc. They are also commonly offered in loose decorative bowls alone or in combination with other crushed dry flowers as Potpourri. Two winter holiday ideas we like are Lavender Sachet Ornaments and a Lavender Ball Garland to fragrantly decorate for the festive season.

Lavender Wreath making is probably the most common craft employing lavender, having been around for centuries as a means of floral decoration for a variety of occasions - winter holidays or autumn color for example. Providing the right lavender cultivar is used, the great durability of lavender makes it a particularly suitable dried flower for wreaths. We elect to use Lavandula x intermedia ‘Grosso” for our wreaths for exactly this reason, given its property of minimal bud shedding over the years. As importantly, it also retains its deep purple color well — so long as it is dried in a relatively dark environment such that provided by our dedicated large Drying Barn at the farm.

Lavender Swags are a variant on the wreath concept and provide a simpler, yet equally attractive, means of bringing festive color and texture to a front door or living space.

And whatever else the crafting imagination conjures up …

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