How to Make Homemade Potpourri (2 Ways)

If you’re like me and love the smells of autumn like pumpkin bread, apple cider, and cinnamon then you should make your very own autumn potpourri to usher in the autumn season into your home.

There are a few different ways to go about bringing those rich wonderful smells into your home.

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1. Dry Potpourri

What You Will Need:

Vanilla extract
Nutmeg
Cinnamon sticks
Whole cloves
Ribbon
Rubber band
a small 4inx4in square breathable cloth( I chose cheese cloth)
Small Glass Jar
optional: dried flower petals

Break the cinnamon sticks up slightly to release the fragrance and mix the Nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla in the bottom of the Glass jar. I used an old garlic jar that I cleaned out a dried, but any glass jar works. Some great ones are baby food jars, yeast jars, jam or jelly jars. Then place the square fabric ( I used cheese cloth because it’s a very open, breathable fabric) over the top and use the rubber band to hold it in place. You can either leave the corners to stick out or cut so that it fits fairly close to the lid shape. I cut mine and used the ribbon to cover the frayed ends of the cheese cloth. There will be some empty space depending on the size of your jar. I placed some dried flower petals and leaf petals in mine. Small red and yellow dried leaves would work really well too! Then you just place it were ever you want or give it as a gift!

If you don’t have some of these spices or herbs in your home, don’t worry! There are a lot of different combinations with other spices. Be creative. Open up your spices jars and take a quick whiff of one and see if the next one smells good with the previous one, and start making your own combinations!

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2. Steaming Potpourri

Another way to bring that autumn smells into your home is by steaming herbs on the stove to get a stronger fragrance. You can use the same herbs and spices as the dry potpourri, but below I’m going to give you a different mix.

What You Will Need:

2 cups of water
1 lemon
rosemary
nutmeg
Vanilla Extract

Cut up the lemon and place all the ingredients in the water, and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for as long as you want. Be sure to always be attentive to the stove being on and don’t leave it going if you’re not around. These ingredients can remain in the pot for a few days with the stove turned OFF and let them simmer again to refresh the fragrance.

Steaming Potpourri also makes a great gift but you would want to use dry ingredients only. Here are some other spices and herb combinations you can try and make great gift jar potpourri…

Pumpkin Spice and vanilla extract
Dried mint and anise seeds
Lavender and Rosemary
Orange zest , fresh ginger, and anise seeds