Stovetop potpourri is great for making your house smell good. It also looks adorable in the jar. I love adding a dry fruit tag and giving them as gifts. Christmas Day has all the scents that I love about Christmas. It makes me think of stockings and pajamas and spending time with family by simmering it on the stove.
It is so much fun to create different scent combinations. It is intriguing how adding just a few different scents can impact the feel of a fragrance.
Ingredients
4 dehydrated orange rounds
2 rosemary sprigs
11 dehydrated cranberries
6 whole cloves
4 pinecones
3 cinnamon sticks
twine (18 inches)
wide-mouth pint jar
lid and ring
The oranges are dried by slicing them into 1/4 inch thick rounds, dehydrating at 135 degrees, or placing them in the oven on its lowest setting.
I really like to make my potpourri jars for gifting. So, I start by choosing my favorite orange and a small cinnamon stick. I set these aside for use later.
I then place 3 pinecones in the bottom of the jar. I use this and 2 cinnamon sticks to hold up the orange rounds so they don't fall over into a messy stack. I add 1 orange, 1 rosemary sprig, and 8 cranberries to the bottom. I then add 6 cloves and another pinecone in front of the orange slice. I use the pinecone to elevate another slice of orange before placing 3 more cranberries and another sprig of rosemary. I like to make sure these are all in different areas of the jar so that the colors show from all angles.
I then place my last orange near the top.
The lid and ring are then added.
The last step is to cut a hole about 1/4 inch from the edge of the orange that was set to the side earlier. It's easier than it seems due to the fruit being so dry. I usually just press a scissor tip to it and turn the scissors.
The twine is then folded in half and the folded end is placed through the hole in the orange. The cut ends are threaded through the folded end and the cinnamon is placed in the loop before it is tightened. This fruit tag is then tied around the ring.
To use stovetop potpourri, just add the jar contents plus the "tag" to a small pan of simmering water or add it to a crockpot with water on the high setting. Maintain your water level so it doesn't burn and you should be able to get about 6 days of good scents out of one jar.
