How to make potpourri for Christmas + 3 easy aromatic recipes
Aromatic potpourri is a popular DIY that will naturally scent your home. It is often displayed in a decorative bowl or jar and placed in your living space as a beautiful and aromatic decoration. Potpourri is also a great way to reuse petals from the flowers in your garden before they dry out! Dried potpourri combines beautiful dried petals, flowers buds, fruits, herbs, and spices with aromatic essential oils to create the perfect scent for your home. The best part about this DIY is that it is completely customizable with different ingredient combinations. In this article, we show you how to make potpourri for your home or as a holiday gift for someone special in your life.
DIY potpourris are a wonderful home decoration and holiday gift
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How do I make my own potpourri?
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Before people had essential oils and handy diffusers to scent their homes, many turned to potpourri! This mix of aromatic herbs and spices naturally scents a room and brings joy every time you look at it. If you are wondering how to make your own blend at home, you have come to the right place. This aromatic DIY is the perfect wintertime decor and a fun project for the whole family. Moreover, you can create a crafty homemade all-natural gift for the holidays! You can display potpourri in a bowl as a centerpiece, put it in small bags for your drawers, or stick one in your car to bring the soothing smells everywhere with you. So, without further ado, let’s start with these aromatic DIYs:
An aromatic potpourri in the living room is a must during the holidays
What are the ingredients of potpourri?
Basically, there are two essential elements in a good DIY potpourri. The first is the bulk herbs, flower petals, and fruits that make up the base. These dried elements will add their own scents to your potpourri, but these natural scents will fade over time. That is where essential oils come into play. By adding a few drops of your favorite scent, you will revitalize your entire potpourri! So, start by choosing your base ingredients. You want to create your custom mixture where elements look good together. Here is a list of aromatic potpourri base ingredients:
- Allspice (whole)
- Anise (star pods)
- Arnica flowers
- Bay leaves
- Bilberry leaves
- Bird’s Eye Chili (whole)
- Bitter melon fruit
- Buck thorn bark
- Calendula flowers (whole)
- Cardamom pods
- Cedar berries
- Cedar leaf
- Chamomile flowers
- Cloves (whole)
- Coriander seed
- Cornflowers
- Curry leaves
- Grapefruit peels
- Hawthorn berries
- Helichrysum flowers
- Hibiscus flowers
- Hop flowers
- Horse chestnut
- Juniper Berries
- Lemon peels
- Lycii berries
- Maitake mushrooms
- Mullein flowers
- Myrtle leaves
- Orange peels
- Patchouli leaves
- Rosebuds & rose petals
- Senna leaves & senna pods
- Tangerine peels
- White sage (cultivated)
Dried herbs, flowers, and even fruits make up the potpourris base
You can completely customize your potpourris base to your liking
What is a fixative for potpourri?
A fixative powder is a medium for adding essential to your potpourri. These oils will heighten the aromas of the base that you chose! The fixative is actually the key ingredient in a potpourri since it reduces the evaporation speed of the plant scents, which helps the longevity of your potpourri. They can be found in health shops, craft stores, aromatherapy shops, and even in your garden or the wild! Here is a list of some fixative options you can choose from:
- Angelica Root Powder
- Benzoin Gum Powder
- Calamus Root Powder
- Cellulose
- Frankincense Powder
- Lavender Flowers
- Myrrh Gum Powder
- Oakmoss
- Orris Root Powder
- Sandalwood Chips
- Sweet Woodruff
- Tonka Bean
- Whole Cloves
Orris root powder is one of the most popular potpourri fixatives
How do you make potpourri smell?
As we mentioned above, essential oils are the thing that will make your potpourri smell amazing for a long time! Essential oils are great for aromatherapy and other DIYs such as cleaning products and hacks. Just select your favorite essential oils, and think about the best smelling combination you can create for yourself! The options for customization are endless. Here is a list of some of the best smelling essential oils you can try:
- Angelica root oil
- Basil oil
- Bay oil
- Bergamot oil
- Cardamom seed oil
- Cedarwood oil
- Chamomile oil
- Cinnamon oil
- Citron oil
- Eucalyptus oil
- Grapefruit oil
- Jasmine oil
- Lavender oil
- Lemon oil
- Lime oil
- Mandarin oil
- Neroli
- Orange oil
- Patchouli oil
- Pine oil
- Rose oil
- Sandalwood oil
- Tangerine
- Thyme oil
- Ylang-ylang
Essential oils are small but extremely potent and aromatic
What do I put potpourri in?
As we mentioned above, you can place your potpourri in a bowl and use it as an aromatic centerpiece. You can also fill the potpourri in small mesh bags that you can leave around the house, in your car in your clothes, or in drawers. You can also use mason jars to store your potpourri! What’s more, you have a lot of creative freedom here, so just think about where you want to locate your homemade potpourri.
You can store potpourris in a glass jar, so the beautiful flowers are always visible
How do you make potpourri out of rose petals?
What you will need:
- one dozen roses
- small rosebuds (optional)
- a large plate
- a newspaper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender
- rose essential oil
- rosewater (optional)
- sealable glass container
Step-by-step instructions:
- First, remove the rose petals from the flowers.
- Then spread the petals over a plate covered with a layer of newspaper, which will help dry the flowers. Add small rosebuds if you want.
- After that, place the petals in a warm, dry spot for two to three days.
- Once the petals have started to crisp around the edges, place them in a sealable glass jar.
- Next, to set the scent of the flowers, add a fixative, which will lock in the aroma. Sprinkle the mixture with half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ground lavender.
- After that, sprinkle with four to five drops of rose essential oil or rosewater.
- Next, close the container, and shake.
- Leave it in a warm, dry spot for 24 hours, and then shake again.
- Finally, open the jar, and enjoy your homemade potpourri!
You are done!
Your first step is to remove the rose petals from the flowers
After that, store the petals in a glass container, so they can dry
After the rose petals have dried, add some drops of rose essential oil and mix them
How do you make orange peel potpourri?
What you will need:
- glass container (for mixing)
- A glass bowl, mesh bags, or jars (for storing)
- 1 tbsp crushed lemon peel
- 6 tbsp crushed orange peel
- 2 tbsp marjoram
- 1 tbsp crumbled bay leaf
- 3 tbsp lemon verbena
- 3 tbsp lemon balm
- 2 tbsp orris root powder (fixative)
- 3 tbsp lemon thyme
- 2 drops orange blossom essential oil
- 2 drops lemon essential oil
Step-by-step instructions:
- First, mix the dry ingredients in a clean glass container.
- Then add the wet ingredients and essential oils and mix well using a spoon or with your hands.
- Finally, seal the container airtight and store your potpourri somewhere in your house for one month before use. This will help mix all the different aromas.
You are done!
Start with the making of the potpourri base
Next, add the citrus essential oils to the mixture
Put the mixture in a glass jar and add a bow for a perfect DIY gift
Another great combination is colorful flowers, roses, and dried orange slices
Put them all in a bowl and add a splash of your favorite essential oil
How do you make potpourri from lavender buds?
What you will need:
- 2-3 cups of dried lavender flower buds (add other dried flowers if you want)
- 1/2 teaspoon of orris root powder
- lavender essential oil (add more oils if you want to mix scents)
- a glass jar with a lid
Step-by-step instructions:
- First, place the dried lavender buds into the jar along with other base ingredients of your choice.
- Then add the orris powder fixative and a couple of drops of the lavender essential oil. Add more essential oils if you want.
- Next, shake the mixture well and set it aside in the closed jar for about a week.
- Shake the jar well periodically and keep it out of direct sunlight and heat.
- After a week, you can place your lavender flower potpourri into a decorative container of your choice.
You are done!
Start with aromatic lavender buds
Next, add your lavender essential oil and mix well
Finally, store the lavender potpourri in mesh bags and leave them in your closet
