Homemade Christmas Potpourri
~Gift ideas and for Your home!!!!
Are any of you (or your little owlets) having trouble getting into the Spirit of Christmas? Well, let your nose help you out! Homemade Christmas Potpourri will help fill your house with comfy Cinnamon, Orange and many other traditional Christmas smells. Put the Potpourri in a pot on the stove with water and let it simmer while your at home and enjoy!
Last month I pinned (Pinterest) a bunch of Christmas Potpourri ideas because 1st I wanted to try it and 2nd I REALLY wanted to give some as gifts. So the past month I have tried some and found likes and dislikes.
Fresh fruits vs. Dehydrated ones ~~~ Hands down Dehydrated fruits looked better and smelled better. Personally I was surprised how lacking the fresh fruit was, but better for me since I wanted to incorporate dehydrated fruit in my gifts. You can dehydrate fruit in the oven or a dehydrator very easily. Note: I sprinkled a little cinnamon on my apple while dehydrating for looks!
Stove top vs. Crock pot ~~~ I was really hoping that the crock pot would work out better, BUT I would have to say I got better total house smell coverage with the Stove top. The Crock pot was nice since I didn't have to worry about the water evaporating as much. The Stove top on the other hand required me to refill with water about 2-3 time a day. There were time I simply turned the stove off and then back on later in the day. I kept it on simmer.
How Strong is it? ....Well, I have a 3200 sqft house and I was hoping it would engulf the entire house, but it didn't. It was funny how it would linger in various parts of the house, but all in all where it did smell it made me instantly happy with every whiff. I had MUCH much better success when I added cinnamon oil to the pot.
How long does it last?..... Well, my first one (crock pot) lasted a week, but then I got tired of it and threw it out. I think it would have lasted 2 weeks max, but not very potent. (remember my house is big). The stove top fresh fruit will last 2 weeks and dehydrated fruits will last 3+ weeks. My Potpourri never went "rotten" and I personally didn't keep it in the fridge at night. I simply covered my pot/crock pot.
Chunky is good!!! Not only is it visually appealing, but it holds up really good since it will be reheated constantly for weeks. When dehydrating the fruit..I did do 1/4 slices, but fresh fruit was quartered. Use whole leaf Basil and if you are using pine needles....why not cut off a small branch and put it in....stem and all.
So here are my favorite concoctions
Homemade Christmas Melody
6 Dehydrated Orange Slices
1 Dehydrated Lemon slice
4 Dehydrated Sliced Red Apple
5 Cinnamon Sticks with Cinnamon Oil ( see Tip bellow)
1/4 Cup Whole Cloves
1 1/2 Tbl Allspice or Nutmeg
4-5 Bay leaves ...preferably whole
TIP: OK, since my house may be a little bigger than most.....I was not getting enough potency from my potpourri as I would have liked. Adding some Cinnamon Oil helped tremendously. Use extreme CAUTION when handling cinnamon oil....if you get it on your finger and touch your lips or eyes it burns like crazy. So, I didn't want my gift receiver to be injured from my gift. I used a small dropper to suck cinnamon oil out of the little bottle and put a few drops in the INSIDE of the cinnamon stick where they don't touch it.
Easy Gift Wrapping Idea
This is a Dollar Tree (dollar store) jar, Homemade Christmas Potpourri, red raffia and Tag. I am a printable "label" maker....not a hand writer or crafty cricuit person. Simple, easy, print, stick your done. I used a Avery Name Badge 5395 and Christmas Plaid print paper for this cute Jar. I love the display of the glass jar.
Labels says:
Christmas is just a “Sniff” away!
Here is your
Homemade Christmas Potpourri
Simply put entire content in a pot w/ water
on the stove & simmer
all day long. Keep an eye on it
and add water as needed.
Good for the whole month!
For all of you on a stricter budget:
Homemade Christmas Potpourri, Clear Cello Bag, Christmas paper folded in half, Label and stapled. Cute and in anyone's budget!
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