Stovetop Potpourri {Tutorial}

Hi!  I am so glad to be visiting today at Pocket Full of Pink. What a great blog this is!? A big thank you to Karen for giving me this opportunity to do my first guest post!




I am Katie from Creative Outlets of a Thrifty Minded Momma.  I started this blog about 3 months ago in an attempt to stay sane in this crazy house of mine  I have been married 5 years to my high school sweetheart and we have 2 blonde-haired-blue-eyed beauties, affectionately named Boog (3) and Bear (2).  I have a bunch of different balls to juggle and blogging seems to be the best way for me to keep them all up in the air.

One fact... I don't cook well.  I am a cliche beginner.  So I find it ironic that I am sharing something with you that I did on the stove.  Fortunately for the world, no one has to eat it :)









Turn Up the Homemade Stovetop Potpourri!




When my husband and I first started dating (November...10 years ago, ahhh) I remember going to his parents house for the first time.  It was Christmas time (and that is no joke in this household!) So when I say that it was decorated for Christmas, that is an understatement.  Place about 10x more emphasis on decorated and you might be closer :)




I loved it.  I mean, we decorated for Christmas growing up, but not like this.  The one thing  that stood out to me most was the smell.  It was like Heaven in December and I haven't kicked off the holiday season without that smell since. It marks the beginning of the holidays for me.  Isn't it funny how a smell can bring such a rush of feelings?




Here is how easy it is...




Get together some whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, apples, and oranges.

*Since you won't be eating it, check the dollar store for cinnamon sticks and use those- it's cheaper and you don't have to feel bad about adding a bunch of extra!







 








Slice your apples and oranges and plop them in the pot.  No need to be fancy here.  This is how I usually get them in pieces :)

Fill up the pot with water.  Just make sure to leave enough room for the water to boil a little!

Being the inexperienced cook that I am... I didn't know what whole cloves were nor what they looked like. (I was even worse 10 years ago  But they are very easy to find in the spice section of any grocery store.

Add in your cloves and cinnamon sticks.

Turn your stove to medium high and wait for the bubbles to start.  **note to self, clean oven knobs before next guest post**

Once it starts boiling, turn it down to LO and let it simmer all. day. long.

Add a new stick of cinnamon and a few cloves every now and then.  Throw in the remains of all those apple and orange snacks. Let it sit.  You don't have to change it out every day  or even every week.

Here is what mine looks like after 2 weeks.  Trust me though, it gets even better with time!

Some basic rules of thumb that I have figured out:

*It's all flexible... leave out the orange, add some extra cinnamon, add some lemons and allspice.  Whatever you want.

*The higher the heat = more steam = more smell.  Just make sure to add water more often. You will smell burnt cinnamon when it gets too low!

*Don't do this every day for an entire month.  While your house will smell wonderful, your electric bill probably won't!  Don't ask me how I know...




Maybe one day this smell will welcome the holidays into your home for you and your family like it does mine.




Thank you, again, to Pocket Full of Pink for having me and please stop by and visit me sometime.  Take a look around and leave a comment or two... I would love to get to know you!








-Katie






Thanks for stopping by Katie!  I want to try this Potpourri!  Can't you just smell it?  Love it during this time of year.