Christmas Countdown | Part 6: DIY Stove Top Potpourri Gift/Tree Decoration

Festive paper cups

Festive cardboard coasters

Ribbon

Cellotape

Scissors

Dried clementines

Cinnamon sticks

Cloves

Pink peppercorns

All spice

Mixed spice

Nutmeg

Christmas tree sprigs

Hi everyone,

I love typical, winter/Christmas scents. Spices and fruit, anything reminiscent of mulled wine and Christmas baking. I decided to attempt a little DIY project that could be given away as gifts. 

I looked up a few potpourri ingredients and after reading a few different ones, I realised you can just pick and chose what you want to add. I went for an array of my favourite scents.

I started the night before by drying out my clementines. I did this by slicing them into +/- 1cm slices and placing them on a rack, in a baking sheet as this prevents them from sticking to the baking sheet. I heated the oven to 120°C and left them in for about 1 1/2 hours, with the oven door slightly ajar. I turned them all over every 20-30 minutes just to make sure they weren't sticking. After 1 1/2 hours they were mostly dry but still a tiny bit sticky. I didn't really mind too much though. 

I chose to use festive paper cups to hold all of the ingredients, but I think it would probably look a lot nicer in clear plastic bags or clear plastic wrapping paper, bundled together and tied with some ribbon. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any clear wrapping paper. 

I got the cups and the set of coasters in IKEA for 0,99€ each. I had to cut the coaster to fit the top of the cup and then I poked two holes through the coaster. I threaded some ribbon through and tied it into a knot on the underneath side of the lid. This is so that you are able to hang it on the tree. Then I filled the cup with all of my ingredients, about 4 pieces of clementine, 2-3 cinnamon sticks, a teaspoon each of cloves, pink peppercorns, nutmeg, all spice and mixed spice, and a few sprigs of Christmas tree.

I taped the lid on and then decorated the cup with more ribbon. I also attached another cinnamon stick to the front of the cup. Feel free to decorate the cup however you want. And there you have it! 

You can attach a little note saying to pour the contents into a pan with water and let it simmer gently to fill the house with delicious, festive smells. It smells just like mulled wine (without the wine obviously). I think you could even use this to make mulled wine, but I would just use a bit less of the nutmeg and no tree sprigs.