Monday Makes & Finds: Shakespearean Magic Potions

This week I've been a bit scattered in my plans and projects.  I've started several and finished none.  

One of the things I did do was to clean out my spice cabinet. . .

which, left me with several extra bottles to make more Halloween potions with.  :)  I decided to turn to Shakespeare for inspiration:

 Not having most of the ingredients on hand, I Googled what the heck "blindworm's sting" might look like and the Herb Society of America did not disappoint.  They posited that this list was actually code for a list of  herbs.  

• Eye of newt – mustard seed
• Toe of frog – buttercup leaves
• Wool of bat – holly or moss
• Tongue of dog – hounds tooth
• Adder’s fork – violet
• Blindworm’s Sting – knotweed
• Lizard’s leg – ivy
• Howlet’s wing – garlic or maybe ginger

THIS, is a much more do-able list.  However, there is still no blindworm's sting in my vicinity that I know of.  I figure I can split the difference between fantasy & herb lore here.

Toe of Frog = grains of rice. (check)

Eye of Newt = I had intended to use a tiny jam jar & some blugar-shaped pasta but, while cleaning, found a bottle of candy eyes I had intended to bake with last year.  Perfect! (check)

Wool of Bat = dryer lint. (check)

Tongue of Dog = sour tape chewy candy (check)

Adder's fork = Found some faux violet flowers at the 99c store. (check)

Blindworm's Sting = Oolong tea. (check)

Lizard's Leg = Maybe a nice green powdered sage--E. hates it, so we have a tin aging in the cupboard. (check)

Howlet's wing = I have an awful lot of turmeric; I think that will do. (check)

I'm so excited that I've been able to through this together mostly re-purposing stuff I have on hand! Bonus points since I can actually cook with some of my potions supplies.  :) 

Maybe next year I will attempt to make (or find) an apothecary's box like one of these: 

And of course I'll need a potions book. . .