How to make Christmas Potpourri & Ideas on how to use it

For me, the smell of orange and cinnamon just means Christmas and I love anything that brings the lovely fragrance to my home.

In this blog post, I wanted to share with you my tips on how to make your own potpourri at home and ways in which you can use them. Christmas Potpourri is a great gift, especially if you wrap it nicely in a festive bag and add your own gift tags with Christmas wishes.

I’ve included two different versions of Christmas Potpourri – one is traditional – dry version and the other is instant on the hob potpourri version, which fills your home with cinnamon fragrance in next to no time.

Ingredients for dry Christmas Potpourri

• dry orange slices
• dried apple rings or slices
• dried small crab apples
• dried rosehips
• dried acorns
• small pine cones (painted or sprayed gold)
• whole cinnamon sticks
• whole star anise
• Sparkly, red or gold decorations

Tips on making the Christmas Potpourri

• Make sure that everything is perfectly dry before you start mixing the ingredients together
• As the natural fragrance starts to fade, add a few drops of orange oil to the mix or sprinkle some water over the mix. This refreshes the dry potpourri and carries on releasing fragrance.
• To make the Christmas potpourri extra special, add few small Christmas tree ornaments, baubles or some glitter.

Christmas Potpourri made on the hob

This is a great way to introduce some festive fragrance to your home and it’s much quicker and cheaper than candle! Just add few slices of oranges, mixed spice, cinnamon and cranberry in to a sauce pan of a simmering water and you have an instant Christmas fragrance.

Christmas Potpourri Recipe (made on the hob)

Get the instant Christmas fragrance with this orange potpourri made on the hob, simmering gently for as long as you needed.

View this recipe >>

More Christmas Inspiration

• Mini Apple Pies Recipe >>
• Melted Snowman Water Bottle Printables >>
• Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Snowman >>
• Christmas Tree Brownies Recipe >>

Print

Homemade Dry Christmas Potpourri

Delicately fragranced dried Christmas Potpourri with oranges, cinnamon and star anise.

Prep Time5 mins

Activity Time20 mins

Oranges Drying2 hrs

Materials & Ingredients

• 2 medium sized oranges
• 2 red small apples
• 12 small pine cones
• 12 whole cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole star anise

Instructions

To dry oranges & apples

• Slice the oranges and apples int to medium to thin slices (5-7 mm)
• Place the slices on a cooling tray set over oven baking tray and dry in the oven for 2-4 hrs on about 100C. If you are not in a hurry, you can add them to the oven after you finish baking or cooking your dinner to save on energy.
• If you are happy to plan ahead, the oranges and apples will dry on (or next to) warm radiators. Just make sure you place them on something like a thick paper towel or baking cooling tray.
• To speed up the drying process, turn your orange and apples slices regularly.

To Make the Christmas Potpourri

• Gather all the potpourri ingredients and mix them carefully together
• Place in a decorative bowl and display in the room.
• Extra tip – if you have a golden colour spray, you can paint the cinnamon, orange or the star anise in gold to add a festive colour.
• If you’re giving your Christmas potpourri as a gift, arrange it in a pretty cellophane bag and tie with a red ribbon and your personalised Christmas tag.