This homemade Christmas stovetop potpourri recipe is a festive all-natural holiday air freshener! See how to make an aromatic Christmas simmer pot with oranges, cranberries, cinnamon and warming spices.
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Christmas Stovetop Potpourri
This Christmasstovetop potpourri recipe needs to be on your holiday craft project list! My Christmassimmer pot uses fresh fruits and spices to create an all-natural air freshenerthat will make your house smell like Christmas – completely without artificial,potentially harmful fragrances.
Make thisstove top potpourri with oranges and cinnamon and enjoy natural Christmas smellswafting through your home. This simmer potpourri will not only evokes thefestive spirit, but also freshen and clean the air.
Add thiseasy Christmas simmer pot recipe to your holiday list. It’s not holiday seasonwithout the scent of cinnamon and oranges, right?!
Christmas scents: What are good holiday scents?
Whodoesn’t love the smells of Christmas?! But how do you make your house smell Christmassy?When I think of Christmas scents the warm aroma of gingerbread and freshly bakedcookies, roasting chestnuts, delicious oranges, homemade cranberry sauce and thewonderful smell of the Christmas tree come to mind.
Whencreating a stovetop potpourri recipe for the holidays, we try to incorporate materialsthat represent these holiday scents, like citrus fruits, cinnamon and otherspices, conifer twigs or needles. Fresh cranberries create a sweet and fruityaroma that is very festive. Crystallised ginger chunks and vanilla beans givethe homemade potpourri a smell similar to fresh gingerbread – delicious stovetop scents!
What areyour favourite holiday smells? Let me know and leave a comment below!
Christmas stove top potpourri ingredients
A Christmasstovetop potpourri is a wonderful DIY holiday home fragrance idea. Thankfully,this simmering potpourri recipe is quick and easy, and only utilizes easy-to-find,natural materials.
Here’s arethe ingredients we need for this simmering potpourri recipe:
- freshoranges slices and/or lemon slices
- freshcranberries
- conifertwigs (e.g. pine, spruce, fir)
- cinnamon sticks
- crystallized ginger, fresh ginger or driedgingerroot
- vanilla beans
- star anise
- clove buds
- cardamom pods
You canorder the spices either online or find them in the spice aisle at your localsupermarket. Of course, it’s totally possible to swap and switch stovetoppotpourri ingredients and use what you have at hand.
Homemade potpourri with essential oils
Since we’reon the topic, I also want to talk about Christmas scents essential oils and answerthe questions Can you use essential oils in stovetop potpourri recipes? Yes,you can use essential oils in a simmer potpourri. I love For a festive homemadepotpourri, choose essential oils from the following groups:
- spiceessential oils: cinnamon bark, anise, clove,ginger, vanillaoleoresin
- woodsyessential oils: pine, balsam fir, cedarwood,spruce, cypress
- citrusessential oils: orange, lemon, mandarin
- herbessential oils: peppermint, spearmint
- others:frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood,wintergreen
It’sbest to limit yourself to 1 to 2 essential oils. Start by adding drops and addgradually more until you like the intensity, but don’t exceed 25 drops total. Usingtoo much essential oils can cause headaches. If you have cats or dogs, skip theessential oils.
How to scent a holiday Christmas simmer pot with extracts and spice mixes
Essentialoils aren’t the only way to add fragrance to stove simmer recipes. The flavourextracts in your kitchen cupboard are excellent ingredients for how to make astovetop potpourri smell stronger and even more festive.
Extractsare often more affordable than essential oils, and you can use them for baking holidaycookies, too. Use aromas that are Christmassy and that you like. Be creative,mix and match to create your own holiday fragrance profile.
Here aremy favourite extracts to use in a Christmas stovetop potpourri recipe:
Spicesmixes are a third way to scent your homemade potpourri, for example, gingerbread spice or pumpkinpie spice.
How to make Christmas potpourri: How do you boil a potpourri?
Making aChristmas simmer pot is super simple and hands-off! The only thing you have todo after setting up the simmering potpourri recipe is occasionally checking toadd more water.
Let meshow you how to make Christmas stovetop potpourri in a saucepan:
- Cut the oranges into slices or wedges.
- Fill a pot or saucepan half full with water.
- Add the orange slices and other ingredients.
- Optionally, also add essential oils or flavour extracts.
- Bring the stove top potpourri to a mild simmer.
- Cook on low flame and replenish the water as necessary.
Christmas crockpot potpourri
Another methodto enjoy a stove simmer recipe is a crockpotpotpourri. Now, how do you make a Christmas crockpot potpourri? The instructionsfor how to make a holiday crockpot potpourri are super simple:
- Firstgather your ingredients.
- Thenfill your crockpot or slow cooker with water until half full.
- Simmeron the lowest setting and replenish water as needed.
How long does Christmas potpourri last?
How longyour Christmas potpourri lasts will depend on the cooking time. The cranberriesare going to pop after a while, and the orange flesh will dissolve into thewater, too.
In case you cooked the simmer pot only for a short time, say less than 1 hour, you probably can use the homemade simmer pot recipe a second time.
Can a simmer pot be reused?
If, however,the holiday stovetop simmering potpourri recipe has boiled for a couple ofhours the fruits and some spices will be mushy and I don’t recommend heatingthe liquid potpourri again.
Aftertaking the stovetop air freshener off the heat, let it cool on the counter –the simmer pot ingredients will continue to deodorize your home.
Dry potpourri recipe and stovetop potpourri gift
For aneasy holiday DIY gift project, check out my stovetoppotpourri gift ideas. These 6 dried potpourri recipes are made with dry ingredients,so they have a much longer shelf than this homemade Christmas stovetoppotpourri with oranges and cinnamon. This DIY includes packaging ideas for potpourrijars and free printable stovetop potpourri gift labels.
And for more simple simmer pot recipes, check out my fall stovetop potpourri with apples. This apple cinnamon simmer pot is wonderful for the holiday season, throughout winter and as a Thanksgiving potpourri recipe.
Holiday Simmering Potpourri Recipe
Yield: 1 Christmas stovetop potpourri
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: easy
This homemade Christmas stovetop potpourri recipe is a festive all-natural holiday air freshener! See how to make an aromatic Christmas simmer pot with oranges, cranberries, cinnamon and warming spices.
Materials
- 1 orange, cut into slices
- 2 cups / 200 g / 7 oz fresh cranberries
- 2 -3 conifer twigs (pine, fir, spruce, cedar)
- 6 cinnamon sticks
- 2 chunks crystallised ginger (can sub for fresh/dried ginger)
- 8 anise stars
- 2 vanilla beans
- 1 tbsp cloves
- 1 tbsp cardamom pods
- 2 – 3 cups / 500 – 750 ml fresh water
- 10 – 20 drops essential oils (optional)
- 1 tbsp flavour extract (vanilla, almond, rum, peppermint)
Instructions
Stove Top Method
- Cut the orange into slices or wedges.
- Fill a pot or saucepan half full with water.
- Add the orange slices and other ingredients.
- Optionally, also add essential oils or flavour extracts.
- Bring the stove top potpourri to a mild simmer.
- Cook on low flame and replenish the water as needed.
Crockpot/Slow Cooker Potpourri
- Cut the oranges into slices or wedges and add to a slow cooker or crockpot.
- Add other ingredients and cover with 2 to 3 cups water.
- Let simmer on low throughout the day.
- Check occasionally and top up with water when necessary.
Notes
How long does Christmas potpourri last? Can a simmer pot be reused?
How long your Christmas potpourri lasts will depend on the cooking time. The cranberries are going to pop after a while, and the orange flesh will dissolve into the water, too.
In case you cooked the simmer pot only for a short time, say less than 1 hour, you probably can use the homemade simmer pot recipe a second time.
If, however, the holiday stovetop simmering potpourri recipe has boiled for a couple of hours the fruits and some spices will be mushy and I don’t recommend heating the liquid potpourri again.
After taking the stovetop air freshener off the heat, let it cool on the counter – the simmer pot ingredients will continue to deodorize your home.
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