DIY Orange Pomander

A pomander? It’s a cross between a pomegranate and a salamander. In some countries maybe. But not this one. In actual fact it is a perfumed orange – from French pomme d’ambre, i.e. apple of amber, is a ball of perfumes. Yay!

They also happen to make wonderful Christmas ornaments, gifts and room fresheners. Organic holiday scent diffusers if you will? You don’t need much to make them and they’re gosh darned simple to create.

You’ll need: Oranges, ribbon, pins and whole cloves.

With the necessaries in hand, proceed to secure the ribbon in place with said pins. Tie a bow on top and proceed to push the cloves into the skin of the orange. Place them sporadically or create a pattern out of the cloves. Tie the ribbon directly on top of the orange or create a loop with the ribbon to allow for it to be hung up on a door handle or on the Christmas tree. The pomanders should produce a scent much like that of the fruit mince used in a mince pie – way to add to a festive atmosphere (and induce mince pie cravings all in one go).

Happy holidays dear readers. May they be filled with much joy and festivity.

DIY: Cinnamon Candles

By Dale Anne Scogings

Whether you’re eating cinnamon or smelling it, I’d have to say that it’s decidedly one of the smelliest (in a good way) and tastiest spices. If you’re a fan of the spice, or you know of someone else who is, why not try make a scented candle for yourself, or for the afore mentioned ‘someone else.’

Raid your spice cupboard for your cinnamon sticks. Grab a candle or two – make sure it’s a fairly tall and thick candle. Find some craft glue or super glue. Ordinary glue stick won’t do the trick and super glue can get a bit dangerous, what with the chance of gluing your fingers to the candle in the blink of an eye, so I’d suggest plain old craft glue. Grab some twine, rope, ribbon or any other thin, lengthy piece of somethin’ somethin’ – and you’re good to go. And some newspaper, to avoid getting glue all over your work space.
First, wipe down your candle of choice (preferably a neutral colour). Next spread a layer of glue onto an area of the side of the candle, and begin sticking cinnamon sticks, side by side, onto the candle. Do it in bits and allow each section to dry before adding more sticks. You might have to break up your cinnamon sticks if they’re too thick, or if you need a slither or two to fill in some gaps. Place cinnamon sticks around the entire candle and once they have dried in place, tie a piece of ribbon or twine around the candle to complete it.

Cinnamon is probably the most dynamic spice, so don’t despair if you have some leftover sticks. It works well on top of cappuccinos, use a stick as a swizzle stick in hot chocolate, sprinkle it on pancakes, add it to curry or mashed butternut, or just make another scented candle.

Simple Summer Scents: DIY Bamboo Diffuser.

By Dale Anne Scogings

Everybody likes a nice fragrance, no?

No? Well, in an ideal world everyone would be fans of fragrances. And the world would permanently smell vanilla-rosey-sea-breezey-citrusey. Not all at once though; that combination could produce a smell worse than an over-sized field filled with farm animals – assuming that the field was an animate object. Anyhow; enough about foul-smelling-ambiguously-animate objects, and more about room-freshening-inanimate objects.

Bamboo scent diffusers are a great way to freshen any room in your home. They work especially well in bathrooms and kitchens where, well, where things get a little smelly on occasion. Don’t pretend you don’t know which occasions I’m referring to. Odorous entities aren’t discriminatory beings, they pop up of their own accord and more often than not they pop up promptly before the arrival of guests. So how do you unpop these pop ups? You whip up a bamboo diffuser, that’s what you do.

All you need is a glass jar of sorts, some baby oil, a few droplets of an essential oil (rose, mint, lemon grass, vanilla), some bamboo sticks (chopsticks or BBQ skewers) and some pretties (ribbon, coloured string, stickers, paint, etc.).

Ensure that your jar is clean and dry before pouring in a mixture of baby oil and essential oil. The baby oil should be treated as a base so pour in a fair amount of it. Next, add a teaspoon or two of the essential oil. Then pop in about ten of the skewers into the mixture and let them soak for about half an hour. After half an hour turn them the opposite way around to allow for the dipped ends to protrude from the glass jar. Et voila, you have a bamboo diffuser – a bland bamboo diffuser, but a diffuser none the less. Now comes the fun part, time to decorate. Use your discretion with ribbons, paints etc.

Place it on your kitchen counter, bathroom window sill or your bedside table and let the aroma fill your space. Spread some scents this summer by making a few for your friends, family and colleagues too.