Have you ever wondered how to make homemade holiday scents? If you have, read on to find helpful tips, ideas and resources to make holiday scents that will fill your home with the delightful festive smells and fragrances of that special time of year.
Holiday Scents Create Memories
For some people the aroma of warm gingerbread baking in the oven brings nostalgic memories of holidays at grandmothers' house. For others, the smell of a fresh evergreen wreath hanging on the door reminds them of family gatherings and fun filled times.
Just as there are many heart-warming memories associated with the delightfully pleasant smells of the holidays, there are many ways to make beautiful scents that will create new memories for your family and friends.
Popular Holiday Scents
Many popular holiday scents are easily recognizable such as peppermint, cinnamon and evergreen. Although a single scent is often used in holiday crafts or candle making, many holiday scents are made of a blend or mixture of aromatic essences.
The number of single holiday scents combined with the number of possible blends and mixtures gives you limitless combinations to explore. When making your own holiday scents, experiment with different amounts of each ingredient, until you have the aroma that is the most pleasing to you.
The following is a list of some of the popular holiday scents and blends:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Allspice
- Gingerbread
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla
- Orange
- Lavender
- Peppermint
- Pine
- Evergreen
- Bay leaves
- Apple pie
- Vanilla and mulberry
- Apples and cinnamon
- Vanilla, apples and cinnamon
- Holly berry, orange and cinnamon
- Orange and cinnamon
- Orange, cinnamon and pumpkin
- Vanilla, nutmeg and maple
- Orange and cloves
- Cinnamon, cloves, and orange
- Frankincense and myrrh
How to Make Simmering Potpourri
Fill your home with the festive scent of the holidays by making your own potpourri. Add the ingredients, mixing and matching them until you have the perfect blend for you. You can make a mixture of dried potpourri to display in a beautiful holiday bowl or centerpiece, or make a pot of simmering potpourri using your stove top, the oven or a crock pot.
A wonderful blend of ingredients that makes a delightfully festive simmering potpourri includes:
- 2-3 cinnamon sticks
- 3/4 teaspoon cloves
- ½ orange
- ½ lemon
- ½ lime
- 1 bay leaf
Simply put all the ingredients into a pot of water and let them simmer on the stove.Another great version of this simmering potpourri is made without the lemon and lime.
How to Make an Orange Pomander Ball
Originally used as an air fresheners in the 1600s, the scent of a pomander ball typically lasts for many months. Over the centuries pomander balls became a traditional holiday decoration filling the air with its delightful aroma.
Making a pomander ball is simple to do. All you need is an orange, whole cloves and a ribbon, The Instructables website provides excellent directions on how to make a pomander ball.
How to Make Homemade Holiday Scents: Resources and Tips
Making holiday scents means knowing where to find the ingredients and experimenting with the different blends. There are many websites that sell a variety of essential oils perfect for adding that special something to a pot of simmering potpourri or a batch of candle wax.
- Aroma Web provides a list of essential oils popular for the holidays along with recipes for making a holiday diffuser blend, a sugar and spice blend and a frankincense and myrrh blend.
- Creative Fragrances offers more than 100 holiday fragrances that are safe for using in potpourri, skin care products and candles. The flash point of each oil is provided.
- Aroma Essence offers great instructions for making homemade scented gifts including scented hot pads, a lavender wreath and a cranberry aroma candle.
- If you decide to make holiday scents using whole cloves, it is usually much less expensive to purchase them at a health food store where they are sold in bulk instead of the spice section of a supermarket.
When you know how to make homemade holiday scents, you can create a variety of beautiful blends to use in your home or give as gifts.
