How To Make Wedding Day Favours - Reed Diffusers At Wedding Belles Love
We have so many complements on how our boutique smells so amazing, well this section of our blog is how we hand make all our own products, that we give to each of our brides to take home after saying yes to the dress with us. Here is a simple guide to make your own reed diffusers and gie them to your wedding guests!
Here is our step by step guide, with a link below with a full shopping list, let us take away the work for you, and you can have fun making these beautifully smelly favours, or make them for gifts, or your own home.
I have to admit, before we moved to our new boutique, I was always purchasing candles, wax melts, spray air fresheners etc, the list is endless. Here is how to make your own essential oil reed diffusers, giving a natural fresh fragrance for your home. They are also much cheaper and all natural safer products to use, you can customise your own fragrance blends to suit you, using different essential oils. I also think they look beautifully natural with the reeds peeping out of the glass jars, which if you are creative you can recycle old jars or decorate according to your taste and theme.
These simple 5 steps are easy to follow. So lets begin.
Step 1, The Jars.
so these jars are from a charity shop, which were around £2 each, However the link below are the ones we use in our boutique, as we like them uniformed, as bulk buy and reuse them time and time again, they are certainly worth the investment.
When you are choosing your jars, if you look for small, short jars with a narrow opening at the top, this will allow the oils to evaporate slower giving better value for money.
Examples of jars you can repurpose for this project include old perfume bottles, small oil bottles, or even small vases.
Step 2, The Carrier Oil.
We have tried different carrier oils, the best one we have found was sweet almond oil. This is because the oil is lighter and travels up the reeds more easily, heavier oil such as vegetable oils are thicker so don't tend to travel as easily if at all.
You will use about 3/4 of oil for each diffuser. It might be a good idea to work out how much oil you need before you order, you can do this by filling the jars with water then times it by how many you are making, so you don't have any waste, unless you are making them for your self, its sometimes cheaper to buy in bulk.
Step 3, Alcohol (Binder)
You need to also add a small amount of alcohol to the oil this will to help thin the oils as well as bind them together this will help the oil travel up the reeds more effectively. You need to use a high concentrate of alcohol at least 90% You only need about 1 tablespoon of the binder, you can use perfumer's alcohol, surgical spirts, or plain vodka.
Step 4, Essential Oils (Fragrance)
So this is where you can get creative, you can either use 1/2 different essentials oil, or we buy ones premixed this for us is easier as we a fragrance we know we like and love. You will add around 25-30 drops of essential oils. Time to let your creativity run free.
Step5, The Reeds (Sticks)
We use rattan reeds, you will need 5-6 reeds per jar, this is because they contain small holes/channels that help the oils travel up and fragrance the room. Bamboo are less porous, so they are harder for the oils to travel up. the reeds need to be about twice as long as the jars this helps them to distribute the scents better. After you have made the oil and are happy with the smell, once the reeds have soaked for about 2 hours, turn them over so both sides are saturated, continue to turn the sticks once a week, until the scent has diminished, them replace your diffuser oil.
Find your shopping list here:
Shopping list
1/4 cup sweet almond oil
5-6 reed sticks
25-30 drops of essential oils, or premade oil
1 tablespoon of at least 90% alcohol
Small jar with small opening
Measuring jug
Warning labels