Start the gift Giving season!

Any time of year is great for giving gifts. I love giving surprise gifts to teachers, neighbors, and co-workers! I especially love seeing someone’s face brighten up when receiving an unexpected gift.

I know I mentioned that giving gifts doesn’t have to be for a holiday, but Thanksgiving is the perfect time to show your appreciation to family and friends, especially to the host/hostess of the Thanksgiving feast.

A great gift-giving idea is making a batch of autumn scented potpourri. Below I’ve outlined a simple potpourri recipe that you can use or alter to your liking.

DIY Potpourri

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There are many “recipes” for potpourri out there, but it really just comes down to adding fragrant items of personal preference. If you don’t like a particular scent like cinnamon or citrus, leave it out of your mix. Also, something to consider is to add some color and volume. I added the orange to give my potpourri some color and added twigs and eucalyptus pods to add more bulk.

The bottom line, don’t feel like you have to follow this recipe exactly. Mix and match ingredients to your liking.

for My Potpourri Mix, I used:

1. Dried Orange Slices

2. Dried Apple Slices

3. *Cinnamon Sticks

4. Various Autumn Spices. I used *whole cloves, *star anise, *whole nutmeg, *whole allspice, and *cinnamon essential oils

5. * Mason Jars

These items are easy to find at your local grocery store, but if you can’t find them there, there’s always Amazon.

Step 1

Gather all the great smelling stuff you want to add to your potpourri.

Follow these simple steps to add dried apple and orange slices to your potpourri mix.

1. slice an apple and orange very thin

2. place in a 200° F (95° C) oven

3. Flip each slice every 90 minutes until you archive desired dryness.
   

Step 2

Break up the whole spices in a molcajete or mortar and pestle.

Cut up or tear apart the apple and orange slices to your desired size.

Step 3

If you want, you can add some organic sticks, twigs, and leaves from your yard.

I found some sticks and eucalyptus pods. They don’t have much of a scent but adds to the potpourri mix nicely, adding some bulk and texture.

Step 4

Place all of the ingredients in a big zip lock bag, and if you want, add some essential oils. I added a few drops of cinnamon essential oil, but other oils will work, or none at all. It is entirely up to what you like.

Autumn Watercolor Gift Tags

These tags were made from my post-Watercolor Autumn Clip Art

Go to the post to download!