Halloween came down and the fall decor takes center stage. The squirrels in our yard are acting nuts ( pun intended) as they frantically shake down the walnuts from our massive black walnut tree. Leaves and broken walnuts crunch beneath our steps as the squirrels scurry away at our approach to tidy up and winterize the yard.
Thanksgiving starts to enter our minds as we prepare lists and reach out to family about festive plans and gatherings. Some of my best memories as a little girl were coming home from school to a roaring fire in the fireplace on a chilly day, and the aroma of cinnamon & clove filling the air. I felt excited that maybe my mom had been baking a pie! Sadly, no pie. Instead? “Poor mans potpourri” as Mom liked to call it!
Simmering on the stove a pot of orange peels, and fall spices. What a total tease on the senses, but how delightful and soothing the entire house became.
I’ve adopted the tantalizing poor mans potpourri concoction. I always get a ton of compliments whenever I make a fresh batch to simmer, keeping it on low all day. Friends always want to know “Oh my goodness why does it smell so good in here?!”.
I’m forced to disclose its not a pie, nor a candle, but a good old batch of poor mans potpourri. Everyone falls in love with that name too, Mom had given it. It’s a perfect name.
It’s a low, low budget, non toxic and beats out any candle on the market in my humble opinion, by filling every room in the house. I use the batch I make 2-3 times too before throwing it out. I’ve also kept the reserve water and added it to a spray bottle as an organic air freshener.
Fall is my favorite time to simmer poor mans potpourri, but you can simmer a batch all year long, even changing the ingredients for different seasonal scents. For example, in the summer I’ve added orange peels, and fragrant herbs and plants from the garden like Roses and lavender. They don’t smell as aromatic as a fall batch, but definitely smell great and make a fantastic air freshener with the reserve water.
I wanted to share on this post some of my DIY creations I do for home made air fresheners and sprays.
Some of the sprays on the market are pretty toxic and others cost quite a bit especially if going with the organic or holistic route of sprays..
With just a few basics you’ll be creating your own sprays while cutting costs at the grocery store. Let’s start with the featured option first…Poor Mans Potpourri!
First- I chose apple peels and bits today because my two year old wanted an Apple. I usually peel & cut them for him and so I used the scraps from the apple to start my batch. You can use orange peels, apples or even both!
Second- whatever fall like spices you have on hand, throw them in the pot with the apples. Like cinnamon sticks, cloves ( both granulated & whole work), nutmeg, all spice and cinnamon spice.
Next- add water to the pot.
Last- turn on your burner and simmer away…as you’ll soon smell the wonderfully warm aromas fill the house. Don’t turn the burner on too high! Low & slow is key. Keep an eye on it and fill more water as needed. The water can evaporate quickly.
When you’ve turned off your poor man’s potpourri for the day you can store in an air tight container & use again within a day or two. I just put a lid on my pot and leave it till I’m ready to simmer again. I usually get 2-3 uses from a batch, adding more spice and water if needed.
Happy Fall! 🍂🌻🌾🍁🍃🌻🍂
Simply tipShe 