OK, OK, I know that Christmas is over, and packed safely away for another year. However, I was finally putting the nice smelly stuff away this afternoon, and thought some others might like to know about it for next Christmas.
Probably around 30 years ago I found a recipe (which I can no longer find) for a nice pot pourri for Christmas - it consisted of sweet smelling things from the spice cupboard: cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, star anise, rosemary needles, probably some other things. I don't much like commercial pot pourri - its usually too intense, with all the fragrance oils in it - but this one just smelled like mulled cider. When Christmas was over I put it all into a cute little Christmas cookie tin, and pulled it out every year after. Because it was in the cookie tin, and the fragrance couldn't dissipate easily, it remained nice. I still have and use that first mix, but over the years I've added in other things - more spice, juniper berries, some dried evergreen needles, some commercial pot pourri which was given to me, and smelled nice, and of which I thought I could add a bit of without overwhelming the whole (it worked!) (lacking that I might have wanted to add in a few drops of some nice smelling essential oil at some point over the years). I've added some small rose buds which I had dried, and tiny cones from some evergreen tree. Just this afternoon I added in some of the dried mandarin peel that I dehydrated last week. I've collected some interesting looking pods and cones, and a few chestnuts, to decorate the top. I've made a note on the calendar to dehydrate some lemon or orange slices next November to add to it. Its grown over the years to needing a bigger tin, and for the holidays I put it out in decorative bowls scattered throughout the house. I always enjoy having it around during the holidays; its the first thing I put out, and the last I put away.
Just thought I would toss this out there in case anyone wants to start one too
Probably around 30 years ago I found a recipe (which I can no longer find) for a nice pot pourri for Christmas - it consisted of sweet smelling things from the spice cupboard: cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, star anise, rosemary needles, probably some other things. I don't much like commercial pot pourri - its usually too intense, with all the fragrance oils in it - but this one just smelled like mulled cider. When Christmas was over I put it all into a cute little Christmas cookie tin, and pulled it out every year after. Because it was in the cookie tin, and the fragrance couldn't dissipate easily, it remained nice. I still have and use that first mix, but over the years I've added in other things - more spice, juniper berries, some dried evergreen needles, some commercial pot pourri which was given to me, and smelled nice, and of which I thought I could add a bit of without overwhelming the whole (it worked!) (lacking that I might have wanted to add in a few drops of some nice smelling essential oil at some point over the years). I've added some small rose buds which I had dried, and tiny cones from some evergreen tree. Just this afternoon I added in some of the dried mandarin peel that I dehydrated last week. I've collected some interesting looking pods and cones, and a few chestnuts, to decorate the top. I've made a note on the calendar to dehydrate some lemon or orange slices next November to add to it. Its grown over the years to needing a bigger tin, and for the holidays I put it out in decorative bowls scattered throughout the house. I always enjoy having it around during the holidays; its the first thing I put out, and the last I put away.
Just thought I would toss this out there in case anyone wants to start one too
