This Yuletide season I made clove-spiked orange and star anise ornaments to hang in the kitchen window. I added cinnamon sticks to some, and placed a few in a dish with pods and pine cones. The delightful little stained glass disks are a lovely reminder of the sun that is returning at Yule.
Now it’s the end of January and they are so lovely that I just couldn’t throw them out! So I decided to reuse them as a base for my simmering potpourri blend. Not only does this smell outstanding, but it so lovely to behold. Oranges have an invigorating scent, perfect to energize you out of the winter doldrums.
They are fun to make and they smell amazing! I dried them in the oven on the lowest temperature for about 20 minutes, then let them sit open in a bowl for a few days. Once dry, I pressed a hole through the top of the “meat” of the orange, and then hung with twine in my kitchen window.
The dominant scent of the potpourri is the licorice aroma of the star anise, but then the oranges, cloves and cardamom come through in layers with a delicious and warming aroma. Fill a small pot with water and the ingredients and let this potpourri simmer on the stove for hours (make sure your water doesn’t boil away, refill water as needed!), the smell will fill your home. This is the perfect spicy and cozy wintertime potpourri.
This is a fun project that evolves over a few weeks of the winter, a perfect magical project to get kids involved in!
Dried Orange and Clove Simmering Potpourri Recipe
Ingredients:
3 Cinnamon Sticks
5 Whole Star Anise
3 Dried orange slices with cloves (or fresh orange slices with ¼ tsp cloves)
½ Tsp Ground Cardamom
2 Bay Leaves
½ Tsp Orange Peel
Instructions:
- Place the ingredients into a small pot of water on the stove.
- Set the burner to a low setting like “2” or “3”, and let the blend simmer.
- (Keep an eye on the pot and make sure it does not run out of water or it will burn. You can keep adding water to the pot for several hours. These spices will last.)
Note: If you don’t want to dry the orange slices, you can purchase them here.
References:
Witchipedia.com. “Cardamom”
Elune Blue. The Magick of Oranges: The Happiness Fruit — Orange Magical Properties and Uses
