Sweet, crisp apples. Warm, smoky cinnamon and cloves. These are the signature scents of fall. The smells that leave you yearning for a cup of hot apple cider, a good book, and a cozy blanket. Enjoy these scents in your home – and gift them to a friend – all season long with this easy DIY fall potpourri!
Ingredients:
- 1 orange
- 1 apple
- 1/2 cup mulling spices
- Optional: pinecones, acorns, bark, and other nature items for potpourri that will sit out on display.
Directions:
Slice apple and orange into very thin slices and lay on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. My orange was large and harder to cut thinly the closer I got to the center, so I cut thin slices off each side, and then used just the peel (cut into thin julienne strips) from the center part of the orange.
Bake at 225 degrees for up to two hours, checking fruit every half hour. You want the fruit to be dried (or nearly dried; it can continue to dry out sitting at room temperature if needed) but not burned. I noticed my julienne orange peels were fully dried after one hour so I removed them from the baking sheet and put the slices back in to dry out longer.
Once the orange and apple peels are dried, add them to a bowl and mix in 1/2 cup of mulling spices. The mulling spices I used contained a combination of cinnamon, cloves, allspice, star anise, and orange which smelled amazing!
The best way to use this potpourri and have your house smelling like a delicious fall day is to add 1/2 cup of mix to a sauce pan filled with water. Bring water and potpourri to a boil and then reduce heat and let it simmer for as long as you’d like. If you opt to simmer it for a few hours be sure to check it periodically to ensure you still have water in your pot, and add more water as necessary.
This recipe yields approximately three cups of potpourri. It can be stored long-term in an airtight bag or jar – or package it up in 1/2 cup portions and gift it to friends and neighbors!
Another way to enjoy this potpourri is to add it to a bowl or dish for display. You can make your potpourri mix stretch a little further and give it additional interest by adding pinecones or other items from nature. If you opt to include nature items, be sure to bake them prior to use to get rid of any teeny bugs that may be hiding out. I baked my little pinecones at 225 degrees for 30 minutes.
Your potpourri can sit out on display for several months. Stir it as needed to refresh the aromas. For extra scent, stir in a few drops of your favorite essential oils such as cinnamon, vanilla, orange, or clove.
Dusty Rogers is the blogger, mother, maker, decorator and drinker of the wine at All Things G&D - a lifestyle blog where home dรฉcor, DIY and organization, healthy meals and kid-friendly snacks, party planning and entertaining all happily play together in the sandbox. Dusty lives in Madison, WI with her husband Greg and their daughter Kate, and she spends her days balancing high maintenance tendencies with a desire to keep things simple.
