A simple stovetop Christmas potpourri to make your house smell like the holidays! With orange, evergreen, spices, and cranberries for a festive scent, this is an easy craft for the winter and uses 100% compostable ingredients. You can use the same pot a couple times, too.
If you like the sounds of this, try my autumn simmer pot for a little seasonal variation and make some orange pomanders for more naturally scented holiday decorations.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Spices: you can tell here that my cardamom is a little older, and that's fine! (See below.) This is an ideal Christmas mix but if you don't have one or two, that's all right too.
- Evergreens: this can be a sprig cut from a branch outside. If it smells good before cutting, it'll smell great when simmered.
- Cranberries: fresh or frozen, it doesn't matter.
How to Make Christmas Potpourri
Step 1: add all of the ingredients to a pot and bring to a low boil.
Step 2: simmer, uncovered, for about half an hour. If you want to keep it going longer, you'll have to top up the water about every half hour.
Top Tips
- Use older ingredients: spices in particular will degrade as they age and won't add as much flavour to cooking and baking. They still smell great, though, and can be used for recipes like this. A slightly dried out orange is ideal as well.
- Get fresh greens: you don't want dried out evergreens for this recipe as they do lose most of their scent.
- Use it again: this can be used for 2-3 days, as long as you refrigerate the mixture, covered, once it's cooled back down. If you leave out the cranberries and use orange peel rather than orange slices, you can use it for up to a week, reheating daily, and refrigerate overnight each time.
FAQ
What does Christmas potpourri smell like?
It smells a little spicy and a bit like a Christmas tree. Think Christmas tea with all the orange and spices, plus a tree in the background!
How do you make natural Christmas potpourri?
No need for fake scents! Use holiday spices, evergreen sprigs, cranberries, and orange slices to make a potpourri that's completely natural and smells great.
How do I make my house smell Christmassy?
In addition to making a holiday potpourri, you can bake a batch of sugar or spice cookies, light some nice candles, and hang out the orange pomanders.
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Christmas Potpourri
Equipment
- Medium sized pot
Ingredients
- ½ orange sliced
- 5 pods cardamom crushed
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 2 cloves star anise
- 2 sprigs evergreens
- ¼ cup cranberries optional
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized pot and cover fully with water. Leave about an inch of space at the top of the pot.½ orange, 5 pods cardamom, 2 sticks cinnamon, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 2 cloves star anise, 2 sprigs evergreens, ¼ cup cranberries
- Cover and bring to a low boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low to simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. At this point you can either turn it off, or add more water to cover and continue to simmer to get an even stronger scent through your home.
- You'll have to continue adding water every half an hour if you want to keep simmering. Otherwise, let it cool down fully and refrigerate for up to three days, reusing as often as you'd like in that time.