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Mae
Apr 19, 2016

Lilac Water


Lilacs are blooming! Hooray!

The drowsy, peaceful smell clinging to these adorable,

little flowers, has the power to heal my soul. Well, it feels like it anyway.

Every spring, I gather together my bin, scissors, and happy thoughts, and head out to the lilac bushes to collect as many lilacs as possible for lilac water. What is lilac water, you may ask? I will let you in on a secret, it's the most magical, calming, clean smelling liquid ever created! :) I make it once a year for so many different uses: perfume, linen spray, air freshener, mood lifter, ice cold tea, lilac rice, potpourri ... and the list goes on and on! Ready to make your own? Of course you are!

*If, for some crazy reason, you do not have a lilac bush on your property, ask your friends, family, or neighbors for some of theirs. Lilac water is not only great around your own house, it makes a perfect gift, year round!*

Once you have decided which bush to trim from, get your shears, (regular scissors work well also), a basket, (buckets work great) and start clipping the flowers. Make sure to only take the bunches that are mostly open and leave the mostly closed ones, (those are for the birds and bees)!

For the easiest and best way to trim them, cut the bunches off

where the green stem meets the brown branch.

Now you have a gorgeous basket of sweet,

heavenly flowers, it's time to pluck them off.

That's right, pick off every single flower from the stems.

This is the time consuming part. If you have friends and/or

family you can get to help you, (I usually end up doing

this part on my own) put them to work! Your hands will get

sticky from the nectar and pollen but at least you'll smell pretty! :)


(To be honest, I usually get about halfway through picking them off and end up cutting them off just below the flowers. I know the green part doesn't have any smell, but my hands start cramping from pulling all those flowers!)

After all those tedious hours of pulling off every single, individual flower, (wink ;) wink), add cold water to about 1/2 inch from the top of your bowl. Press the flowers down to get all of them wet. They are super fluffy when picked so they will float. It's okay if they don't stay submerged because....

...You need to cover them for at least 6 hours.

I generally set them aside and completely forget about them

until the next morning. The longer they sit, the more intense the

smell will be. That in mind, do NOT let them sit longer than 2 days!

They will start to ferment and that does NOT smell pretty!

I always strain the liquid at least twice before pouring it into jars.

It's now ready to make everything in your life better! :)

Well, at least everything will smell better. :)

*To use it as a perfume, I fill a spray bottle about 3/4 full with

lilac water, add a drop of vanilla extract, and a teaspoon of alcohol,

( I like something without it's own smell, so I use everclear.)

You'll smell great and it will lift your spirits, pun intended. :)

*For linen spray fill a spray bottle with lilac water and 2 Tablespoons

of white vinegar. Spray onto sheets as you make the bed.

This works great as an air freshener as well!

*Lilac rice and lilac ice tea are easy to make.

I will add the recipes soon! :)

For potpourri, spread out the soaked flowers on a drying rack, (or old screen). Let them dry completely, then add them to your favorite herb and flower bowl. They'll help keep any room smelling fresh.

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