As a young girl, at the beginning of the Christmas season, I remember my mother sitting down with a bag of oranges and a glass jar of cloves and making orange pomanders. She would place them all through the house and I was always amazed at how fragrant they were and how they made our house smell like Christmas. I have continued this tradition and I love how that wonderful smell takes me back to my childhood and many happy holiday memories.
Pomanders are super easy to make and typically last several weeks. All you need are oranges, whole cloves, and some sort of sharp object to pierce the skin of the orange. A toothpick works well for me. You can make the design as fancy or simplistic as you like. In the interest of time, I decided to keep these pretty simple. The wonderful fragrance will be the same regardless of the design. While pomanders can stand on their own in a bowl or compote, there are other versatile ways to incorporate them into your holiday decor.
In an earlier post I showed a similar picture where pomanders add color and texture to our dining room table decorations.
Here I grouped three pomaders in the middle of a centerpiece. It's nice to add a couple of lemons to the mix, however the lemon skin is much tougher than the orange skin, which is why I only made two of the lemons this time around.
Adding some navy velvet ribbon turned this pomander into an ornament. I can even see these as a place card holder or even a party favor.
These traditional, homemade pomanders will easily add a touch of Christmas and fragrance to your home. They are simple to assemble and definitely fall under the label of "Cheap and Cheerful". Do you have any crafty traditions that your family has handed down through the generations?? If you do, I would so love to hear about them. As always, thank you for stopping by. I hope I have inspired you to make a fragrant pomander or two to add to your Christmas decor. Here are some other great Christmas decorating, craft, and baking ideas from a few of my friends.
