The Herbs I Use

When I make my dolls I stuff them with two different types of stuffing, one very soft and one harder for the weight and balance it brings.  I always however add herbs to my dolls, I like to think they leave with a little bit of home.

I live in a tiny little bungalow that backs onto the woods but I have a big garden!  Being a great believer in natural remedies and the power of green plants I grow a great many herbs.  I make tissanes and teas for all kinds of ailments, soaks of herbs in oils to rub on and at this time of year we all make nettle beer.

All my dolls travel with lavender in their stuffing, it gives a gentle scent and brings a feeling peace and calm to the dolls. Sadly the scent fades but I believe the presence of the herb gives them a tender calm.

All the other herbs I use to add a little scent and colour to the doll I am making at the moment.  I add the herbs before I have even painted the face but the fabric and the dolls shape give me a sense of character.  Rosemary they say is for remembrance but for me it banishes negative energy and points the way forward.


Thyme is a lovely herb, it is for passion and purpose, it is also great when your cooking.  There are so many thymes, I must grow five or six, each with a distinctive smell and the bees love them.

Chamomile is an all time favourite the colour and the scent, this herb has so many uses.  To help you sleep or to help headaches it really does invoke peace and harmony and I love to use it in my dolls.


Rose petals and rose buds I use for love, they are one of my treasured stuffings.  I confess I buy my roses from Apothecary Oils in Mawdesley, I do not have the right setting for many roses in my garden.  I love, no adore the smell, I buy her rose water by the gallon and in summer nothing is as refreshing as a spray of rose water.

Finally I use nettle all the time, it is a real sense of Lancashire and the woodlands to the bottom of my garden.  I treasure my nettles, they grow in the woods away from any pollutant and make the best nettle beer.  Nettles lift a tired spirit, when you are totally pooped a cup of nettle tea is the best thing you can have.  So I use nettles for energy, some dolls just speak out to be full of energy.  A mixture of nettles with lavender and chamomile gives a wonderful balance to a doll.

So this is another of my secrets, I am sharing because Becca thought people who buy or commission a doll should know all that makes up Pook's Studio doll.  They really are folk dolls for grown ups, little totems of womanhood and as you know they all have big bottoms!