Homemade Potpourri For Christmas

A few years ago I tried to make dried orange slices to make homemade potpourri for Christmas and to to hang around the flat.I wanted to make it naturally festive without the use of tinsel and tacky hanging creations you see in shops.I failed miserably, burning several trays and gave up.Since then I’ve made at least two new decorations each year to replace the tinsel tat I have in my Christmas decoration box.

So I decided that this year I would have another crack at it and I Googled away.And low and behold, surprise surprise! Maggy from Red Ted Art was top on the search page.So I followed her instructions and I had great results.

As usual I put my own spin on them and I took 3 dried orange slices of different sizes and pierced them together with cloves in the centre.

I then took a bowl and mixed together 2 tbsps of mace and cinnamon with half a grated nutmeg.I put all the slices into the spice mix, pressing it firmly into the oranges.Shaking off the access, I left them to dry in an airing cupboard.Yesterday I placed a few over the radiators and the smell wafted through the flat.

I have quite a few of the slices left over, so I decided to use these beech nuts and seeds together in a table decoration.

I layered up the sides of a basket with the orange slices then finished off the with scattered beech nuts and seeds.

I also made these orange pomanders.I used a marker pen to divide the orange into 4 then 8.Along the lines I pushed in cloves.Then I took a sharp small knife and cut out segments in between.

I then rolled them in the same spice mix as for the dried orange slices.These are only a few days old so they need time to dry and shrink before threading up and hanging up either in rooms or the Christmas tree.

Our tree doesn’t go up until the 21st as we celebrate the Celtic festival of Yule so I have plenty of time to make some more pomanders.
You could bag up a few slices and give them away as presents and decorate with a ribbon hand made tag.

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07. December 2012 by Aly Hodge
Categories: CHRISTMAS, CRAFTS, FESTIVE FRIDAY | Tags: CHRISTMAS, homemade, orange, potpourri, slices, spices | 3 comments

http://www.muminthemadhouse.com Jen aka The Mad House

They are brilliant. I love the pomanders. I never thought to cut parts out at all
Jen aka The Mad House recently posted..#SavvySpender twitter Party Round up
http://www.goingveggie.com veggie val

Thanks! I always wondered how those pomander thingies were made. Bright Yule Blessings!
veggie val recently posted..Are You a Lazy Vegetarian?
- http://www.plus2point4.co.uk Aly Hodge
  
  You can cover the whole orange if you like but this way it’s cheaper and you still get the same effect.
  Aly Hodge recently posted..Limoncello