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Since last year ( 2020) I've been learning herbs and teas and their healing properties and what helps with which ailment. Over the winter I found that Violet's have the ability to help with Seasonal Depression, Sore Throat, Headaches, and many other pains and aches.


When foraging, I've found that picking in the morning seems to be the best time, the flowers are more open, fresh, and vibrant than towards the end of the day. Violets stop blooming in late spring or summer when temperatures begin to get hot. There are ways to keep them blooming, however.


I wanted to share a few of the recipes that I've been making with Jelly, Honey, and Syrup. I'm working on loose-leaf tea next!



Violet Jelly

Instructions

  1. Take 2 cups of violet flowers without stems and place them into a jar. Pour 4 cups of boiling water over them. Allow the violet tea to cool and then place in the fridge to steep for up to 24 hours.

  2. Strain the violet tea. You should have 3 1/2 to 4 cups of liquid. Pour this into a large saucepan.

  3. Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice to the tea. The color will change from green to purple!

  4. Add 1 package of powdered pectin and bring it to a boil.

  5. Add 4 cups of sugar and return the jelly to a boil. continue boiling for 1 to 2 minutes.

  6. Remove from the heat and stir and skim for 5 minutes.

  7. Pour into jelly jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.


The Magic Of The Violet Jelly ( and syrup) when mixed with lemon juice.




Violet Honey





Instructions


  1. fill a jar with violets and pour honey over it. You may have to do this a couple of times.

  2. Then you let the honey infuse with the violets for 3-6 weeks.

  3. Once you've let them infuse, you strain the flowers and honey.


Infused Violet Honey!










Violet Syrup


Violet Syrup: Deep Purple & Lavender Color

Instructions

  1. Take 3 cups of violets and rinse them off.

  2. Boil water, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Pour over the violets, and let sit for 24 hours. You can do this for 3-6 hours if you don't have the full 24 hours to wait.

  4. Strain the " Violet Tea" and put it in the saucepan.

  5. 4 cups of sugar and stir.

  6. Once everything has mixed well together, pour into your jar.

  7. Add a few drops of lemon juice and see the color change to purple.

  8. Enjoy!

Violet Loose-Leaf Tea

Instructions

  1. Take 1-2 cups full of violets and place them on a plate. Put them somewhere they can dry out and not get wet or dust on them for about a week.

  2. after they've dried out ( they should be a little crunchy) put them in a jar for future use for tea making!



Updated: May 21, 2021


Waterbender Cosplay inspired by Katara


Research & Inspiration

I wanted to find a costume that when I teach sewing/cosplay at conventions, was comfortable and easy to transport. Katara in Avatar the Last Airbender, learns and teaches the group in a lot of ways, and I felt like this was a great teaching cosplay!


Kimono Fabric & Trim Choice

There are a lot of different fabric colors and options for Katara's water bending kimono, I decided to go with 6 yards of light blue Crepe Scuba Knit & 2 yards of white Cotton Broadcloth. I purchased the fur trim from Joanne's 2 yards.


Kimono Pattern Drafting

Daniel took brown drawing paper and held it up and drew the pattern for the kimono. He also drafted the patterns for the sleeves. It worked perfectly.


Kimono Construction

Basically what I ended up doing was sewing the back to the two sides. Added the sleeves. I took Bias tape and went around the neck and sides of the garment so the trim was white. We also added velcro to the top that overlaps, so it stays in place. The belt we measured to my waist and added velcro in two different places so it stayed in place.


The white fur trim I added all around the bottom of the kimono.


Final Thoughts

That was it! I'd say overall it took about 5 hours max? Personally, I'd like to make a few more of these easy to construct Kimonos to wear around conventions. They're very light and flow very nicely.



Completed Cosplay


Katara Inspired Cosplay

Photos by Chayla Photography




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