4Eighteen: The Scents of Fall

Posted By: Kristi

Fall is my FAVORITE time of year. I love everything about Fall; college football, fashion, the food, the colors, falling leaves, cuddling up, and the scents are some of my favorites. I am going to share some of the ways I like to start off the fall season in our house.

Growing up my mom always made our house smell amazing, beginning in the fall. As soon as I had a place of my own I wanted to do the same, best of all...it is easy!

Fill a pot with water and add some cinnamon sticks.

Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Turn the oven on high until your mixture is boiling. Once boiling, turn the oven down to simmer and let it sit. Before you know it your entire house will be smelling yummy! Make sure you remember to turn your oven off when you are done. = )

Note: You can also cut up apples and add them to the mixture. I am allergic to apples so I never have them around, otherwise I would have added them too.

Another favorite of mine are pomander balls. My Granny K (Grandma) and Mom taught my sister and I how to make these when we were younger. We made a couple and took them to a friend of my Grandma's. She loved them! I have never forgotten that day and decided it was time to make them again.

Here's how you do it...

You will need:

Oranges, apples, lemons and/or limes

Whole cloves

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Ginger

Something sharp and pointy (I used a corn holder)

Ziploc bag

Plate

Instructions:

In my tutorial I am using an orange, feel free to use any of the listed above.

Place your orange over your plate. Your plate will keep your area clean, this project can get a little messy. Juices from your fruit will squeeze out and the cloves may break a bit, the plate will be there as a catch-all.

Puncture your fruit with your sharp pointy object.

Remove the sharp object and insert the cloves into the holes you created.

Continue this process until you have created a design you like (or filled the entire piece of fruit).

I repeated this process on three oranges.

In a plastic bag add 1 teaspoon of each of the following: nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger and place your fruit inside. Shake it all up until all of the cloves are covered.

Create this mixture for each piece of fruit you created and then set the pieces of fruit in a bowl to dry for up to two to four weeks. Make sure the bowl is in a dark dry spot and to turn your fruit daily.

The scent will not go away for years and they can also be fun to decorate with. Here are a couple Google images of ways you can decorate with them. I will try to remember to show you what I come up with in a few weeks, once they are dry.