Out of the dreariness,
Into its cheeriness,
Come we in weariness,
Home.
~Stephen Chalmers
I love the soft fragrances that potpourris offer and using natural (real) ingredients is a wonderful way to make your home smell good and yet not overpowering - just a gentle lingering scent. I am not a big fan of the plug-in types as I am not really all that confident in what exactly they are made of. Do I really want my family and myself inhaling whatever that is? Quite honestly they just smell like, well, plug-in fresheners.
Potpourri is not difficult to make as one might think but to give some thought about the items you use so that they compliment each other - one scent can overpower another. Just a hint of fragrance that you catch every now and then as you enter a room is all you need. Isn't that how it should be...subtle? Something else to think about is the colors and textures used in the mixture. The fragrance is important but I think the look of it is too. Alexandra Stoddard mentions this creating beauty in her book, Living a Beautiful Life: 500 Ways To Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to Every Day of Your Life,
"By creating beauty and order where you live and work you will be controlling the private hours of your life. Home, especially, is one area of existence where you can have control. By concentrating on easy, positive steps - the kind of toothpaste and shampoo and body cream you use, the contour and color of your sheets, the firmness of your mattress, a sunny place set up for lunch, the kind of paint you use, the temperature of your room and tub water - the smells and colors that surround you - these are the things that you can make right for yourself."
She also mentions using our five senses...
"Our five senses need nourishment, and then they can nourish us."
I love how Mrs. Stoddard inspires us here to think about decorating our homes in a way that will nourish all five senses. Most of us only decorate on how things look and not necessarily focus on the feel of a room or how it smells. Fragrances have a powerful effect on the rest of our senses. You can have a room that looks great, feels warm and cozy but if there is an offending odor - everything you have tried to create is forgotten and the focus is on the smell.
If the day and night are such
that you greet them with joy
and life emits a fragrance
like flowers
and sweet scented herbs -
that is your success
All nature is your congratulations.
~Henry David Thoreau
Using the recipe outlined in The Scented Room, I came up with my own recipe with items that I could find here at a local store that sells quite a variety of dried herbs...
Potpourri Recipe
1.5 ounces of dried Red Clover Tops
1.5 ounces of dried Chamomile
2.5 ounces of dried Rose Hips
2.0 ounces of dried Lavender
1.0 ounce of dried Red Roses
0.3 ounces of dried Calendula Flower Petals
2.5 ounces of dried Star Anise
0.5 ounces of dried Bay leaves
1 dried apple peel
5 drops of Lavender Essential Oil
I used all dried flowers and simply mixed the ingredients together in a large bowl and placed into pretty containers in and around my home...
~>~ @ ~<~
Every couple of days, I go around and gently stir the potpourri to release the fragrance and allow the blend of the herbs, spices and oils to permeate one another. You can pick up some very pretty containers at your local thrift and antique stores if you do not have any on hand. The ceramic container in the middle picture is actually a broken piece off of I'm-not-sure-what but I loved the look and thought this would be perfect for holding miniature hand soaps in one of the bathrooms or maybe it could be used as a ring holder on the dresser in our guest bedroom. It ended up holding the potpourri I made and now sits very prettily on the sink in our guest bathroom.
Most new discoveries are suddenly-seen things that were always there.
~Susanne K. Langer
Sometimes it is hard to see items as being used in ways other than what they were orginally intended for. I love finding second hand this and that and reusing them for something completely different especially when I find them at a great price! So when you go into the stores looking for pretty containers - try looking at the items with a different pair of eyes - you may be surprised what you come up with. That, to me, is the fun part. It is the unexpected use that I just love and when I see it in another person's home, I always think, "Now why didn't I think of that!" ~smiling~
There are several methods used to drying flowers, herbs and fruits - you can find all sorts of information on the web about drying herbs and flowers. My favorite way to dry herbs, especially during the winter time, is by using our oven. I put the oven on low and open the oven door slightly to allow for air flow to circulate evenly in and around the herbs for a few hours. This warms up the kitchen and the herb soon fills the whole house with it's wonderful fragrance. Another method is using a dehydator. Be sure to research the best ways to dry each item you plan on using. Some dry better by simply hanging up in a dry dark room.
One of my favorite items in the mixture, I made above, I think has to be the dried chamomile which surprised me because I absolutely love lavender anything. The little yellow flowers added not only a nice fragrance to the potpourri but the were such a nice color added into the mix of green leaves, the dark reds of the roses and the purple flowers from the lavender. The anise also has a unique scent on it's own which you will catch ever now and then as you walk past and the little star shape looks so pretty peeking through the potpourri. I like to place a star or two on top next to a bay leaf to catch the eye.
It is not just the fragrance I love in potpourris but how pretty they can look around your home and be that nice little extra touch that was just needed in a bare spot or nook.
