The Smells of the Season

Making my home smell wonderful is so important to me this time of year.  The smells of the evergreen, cinnamon, orange and spice all mean the Holidays are here.

A stove top potpourri mix is an easy inexpensive way to make your home smell wonderful.  Packaging the mix in a Holiday bag makes a wonderful gift for friends, neighbors, teachers and co-workers.

Here’s how I make my concoction:

Holiday Stove Top Potpourri Mix

  • one whole orange or just the orange peel
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1 Tbsp. whole cloves
  • 3 sticks of cinnamon or a small handful of small pieces of cinnamon
  • a bit of grated nutmeg if desired

Quarter the orange.  Put all the ingredients into a saucepan.  Fill pan with water.  Place on the stove on the smallest burner, on the lowest setting.  Refill water as needed.

It’s just that easy.

I love to use an orange that is starting to get old… or just use the peel of an orange.

Another important tip is don’t allow the water to completely evaporate. I always refill the water when I turn it on.  One mix stays good for weeks.  With heating the mix does turn brown, but continues to smell wonderful, so I usually make only batch in a season.

It’s not the Holidays without the delicious scent… it makes me think of cranberry sauce or wassail.  Yum.

Stovetop Potpouri

A stove top potpourri mix makes a perfect easy gift this season.  It is inexpensive, homemade and useful.

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P. S.  If you are interested in a few ways to package stove top potpourri as a gift, I blogged about it here.  I even included a PDF you can download with the instructions for use.


123 Comments

  3. This probably is a dumb question, but what do you store it in? You don’t just leave it in a pan on your stove all season right?

    • Laurie, I just keep it on the stove all season. I am careful to only turn it on when I am home. And it really does last. I’ve never had any trouble with it going bad… and I’ve done it last several years in a row. I do use it everyday, so maybe getting heated at least once a day keeps it from going bad.

    • Lorena, do you have dried or frozen cranberries available? I think either would work really well. If you don’t have those available you might have to experiment. I personally would try apples (sliced up) with the orange, cinnamon and cloves. It’s all about the smell… and few things smell better than apples cooking.

      • Thanks Calli, I think I can find dried cranberries. Anyhow, I have added a little quartered apple and it really smells good! I was considering making another little pot with some fennel seeds and some anyseed too…

        • Lorena, a friend of mine uses the same recipe except the cranberries. So it works (and smells wonderful) without the cranberries.

  12. I’m so excited that I actually have all these things on hand. I usually just let some water and drops of essential oil simmer (or I just light one of those smelly –in a good way– candles), but I’m definitely up to trying something new.

  14. I have been doing this for years. I keep a pan of water on the back of the stove that I throw orange peels, apple and pear cores, and leftover chai spices in. When it gets sludgy it goes in the compost and I start another pot. Nothing ever gets wasted around here.

  16. Thanks so much for the recipe. Not only will my little house smell fresh and Christmassy, this will reduce the dryness in my little house by providing some needed humidity!

  20. I wonder if adding some evergreen sprigs would smell nice. I know they sell candles/tart melts with all these scents mixed. I’ll have to give it a try:)

  22. We received a cute little bag of this potpourri last year from a friend. They only thing different was that they added a lemon to it. I loved simmering it all season and am planning on making a bunch of these for neighbor gifts this year! Thanks for posting!

      • It does go brown and looks bad, but it continues to smell wonderful. I make it every year and usually keep the same batch for 2 or so weeks. Sometimes I make it with the orange peel and the mix still goes a brown color. Since no one eats it I’ve never worried about the color… I just love the smell.

  26. Thank you for this recipe! Bought the ingredients today and have it simmering on the stove now! Fabulous smell and the family loves it! I could only find dried cranberries, they seem to work just fine.

  27. Found this via Pinterest. Bought what I needed this morning & immediately put it all together. I’ve got it in my small crockpot on the low setting & my house smells fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

  29. I was so excited when I saw this post that I ran out right away and bought everything to make it. Well, I was pretty bummed after that. My kitchen smelled just ok the first day but I couldn’t smell anything in the rest of my apartment (note, APARTMENT, not a 5 bedroom house or anything). The next day I lit it back up and the same thing. I kept trying different options for a few days, getting to to boiling then turning down to a simmer, just starting on low, smooshing the ingredients to release scent. Nothing seemed to work. After about day 3 I was getting hardly any scent anywhere. Any thoughts or tips / tricks on this?

    • Im having the same problem and i cant figure out why my whole apartment wont smell this good. Also when i turn off my stove and the water cools i cant smell it anymore which is a bummer

    • I have tried doing it on my stove top and a little dipping pot thing and nothing happend either. I tried boiling as well and I even tried adding a orange spice tea bag that has most of these scents. I am now trying the crock pot. Now my question is do I cover it or no

  31. I just made this and it’s on my stove right now. My house smells amazing! I had to bring it to a boil first to get the scent to come out, and then I turned it down to a simmer (about a 2/3 on an electric stove). Thanks for the how-to. :)

  33. Hi I’m new to trying this out and needed some advice. I have everything accept the cloves. Should this be a problem? Also if I put it all in a pot on the stove should I be covering it with a vented lid or is it okay to leave it without a lid all together? Thank you so much.

  34. Why just for the holidays? Why not use it as potpourri in your house through out the year, using citrus fruits? Orange, lemon, lime, whatever. Shouldn’t have to be just for holiday season.

  35. Mmmmm….we make a potpourri similar to this, but without the cranberries. I will have to try this recipe.

    I use a tiny crock pot (little dipper) for potpourri and it works great. I have it on my windowsill near the front door and the whole house smells wonderful. The good thing about it, is that I can leave it on when I leave the house. When I come home, the whole house smells so good!!

  36. I found this post via Pinterest and am asking you and your commenters to help me out here. What size Crock Pot should I get? Also, I was thinking of including a little pot with the gift bag of the potpourri & need help deciding on the size.

    • I have used any size. I also get my crock’s from any resale -goodwill etc. dont get them confused with the ones you may use to cook with!

  37. During the summer months I use Vanilla extract and water and let it simmer..as it turns to fall i add cinnamon powder..then more for winter.. I love the smell in the air this adds!! Love all the things you put in yours..

  39. The orange turned moldy on the stovetop overnight – ick
    I’m not home during the day so it’s just sitting there in some water. There’s no way this can last 3 weeks as is. Plus the spices will lose the scent.

  40. I have done the dame thing with dried lavender and rose petals. smells so good. you can also add a couple drops of essential oil to the water and boil.

  42. Hello… Could u please tell me the ingredients if I want to give this as a gift? How would I preserve the oranges and cranberries?? Thanks

  43. I just got the stuff to do this! It is on the stove, I dumped the entire bag of cranberries in the pot, a huge quartered orange, 3 cinnamon sticks and a package of cloves (the small packages from the spanish isle at the grocery store). Can’t wait for my home to smell like Christmas!

  47. I always leave a pot of water on our coal stove all winter long to keep the air moisturized…think I’ll plop these lovely ingredients in it to make the house smell delish!

  48. I love this idea… but I am going to dehydrate the cranberries and oranges so I can pack it for shipping or wrapping

  50. I like the idea of using a tiny crockpot… and if you use a little “Fruit Fresh” or lemon juice it might help retain the colors. You could dehydrate the fruit and spices and put it in decorative plastic bags or in pretty jars to give as gifts.

  51. I love this recipe. My Mom gave it to me years ago. She also used an apple in her recipe. Quartered of course. I use an old teapot for only this recipe. The smell is just wonderful. It truly does make the whole house smell great. My mom has passed on now, but this smell is one of many things that remind me of her. I miss her so much……….Kim

  52. I just purchased all the ingredients I needed spice wise at the Dollar tree and the oranges and cranberries at Valu King I spent 3.00 at dollar tree and 2.38 at Valu king and have enough for lots of them I just got 2 oranges though figure I can use the spices later and buy more oranges closer to chrismas

  54. If you can find the cinnamon teas at the dollar stores..it makes all the difference in the smell. I do this with all sorts of spices, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice..mix it all in..smells great, just for heaven sake use a big pot, keep it full of liquid and don’t forget like I did and nearly burn the house down. Hubby hates my stuff like this now. But it really does smell great. I don’t use the fruit though, but the berries are pretty..will add those.

  55. Tried it and loved it! Thanks for sharing! The only change I needed to make, was that it didn’t spread through my apartment until I turned the heat up slightly. I guess the lowest setting on my smallest burner is just a little too low to heat it up. Thanks again!

  60. I absolutely love this smell. But i can only smell it in my family room and kitchen. How can I have my whole house smelling this good?

  61. I found this on Pinterest. I made my first batch and the whole apartment smelled wonderful but within a couple of hours I was getting a terrible headache. It turns out I’m allergic to cloves. I poured the whole thing down the disposal (which smelled phenomenal from the oranges). I made a new batch sans cloves plus vanilla extract. It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.

  64. I made this tonight. It is fantastic. I found cloves and cinnamon sticks in the Hispanic food section. We have a great selection where I live. Hope that helps someone!

  65. Found cinnamon sticks at Amazon.com. Very reasonable. Had to pay shipping, but still cheaper than driving all over to find them.

  66. I made this and put it in an emptied candle jar and put it in my candle warmer. I dont like the idea of turning it off and on using the stove top method. It smells great 24/7!

  68. I love this idea and your packaging suggestions! Thank you for sharing. I have my first batch on the stove right now and I’m hoping to make up some gifts of the potpourri for my boy’s Sunday school and Awana teachers! What a great, affordable and useful gift!
    Wishing you and yours a lovely Christmas season!

  70. I have been trying to think of something I could use at my desk at work….and think a MUG warmer with a glass mug would work for this recipe. Thanks so much for the recipe!!

  71. I’m going to try a candle warmer and put everything in a glass jar. Then I can turn it on and off when I don’t want to use it and put a lid on it when it’s not used. Thanks for the great idea.

  73. I make this also for the Holidays, just made it yesterday . I love the smell . The teapot and crockpot idea is great. Happy Smelling!

  74. I’ve got this on the stove as we speak! I used apple instead of cranberries as that’s what I had on hand. I’m very excited! Thanks!

    • Hi Michelle, I use a cast iron enamel pot and I’ve never had it leave any lasting smell. I’ve never had any one mention a problem…

  76. I didn’t think to use dried cranberries and used cherries instead and it still smelled great in the house. Coupled with the wood burning in the fireplace last night and tonight, it was really nice.

    I’ll probably try this with sliced apples and oranges next time.

    Thanks for sharing this great recipe.

  80. I want to give this kit as neighbor and co-worker gifts, any suggestions for a cute saying to put with it?
    side note… I bought my cloves and cinnamon sticks in the bulk food section at Winco and saved a huge amount of money over the pre-packaged items.

  85. I put cinnamon, cloves and citrus peels or juice in a pan with water and boil it whenever my house seems to hold onto cooking smells like fish or fried foods (they smell good while cooking and eating them, but no one wants to smell them afterwards). Never thought to use cranberries, great idea. Apple peels would probably smell great too. I haven’t tried to keep the mixture more than a few days, though, since i don’t use it every day. And I usually use ground cinnamon.

  92. I’m not sure if these are dumb questions…..but cloves of what? Or are cloves just a thing? Also on your stove do you just turn in on low heat? Thank you, I’m really looking forward to making this!

  95. if you cook this in red wine and add some brown sugar you have great mulled wine for the cold winter evenings……mmmmmmmm delicious…

  97. I am trying it in a small crackpot so I can move it from room to room for guests to smell. Sorry haven’t read all the comments I’m new and just wanted to share before I head to surgery

  99. Hi there!

    I started a blog over a year ago, and I referenced this on it. I LOVE this recipe and have used it for two christmases now. Thanks!

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