So, even though we are still getting over the sniffles, colds and coughs we spent the weekend being merry and bright!
We made cookies, pomanders and cinnamon decorations to make our home look and smell festive!
And we turned these things
Into Christmas decorations!
The next morning we attached a cinnamon stick to each slice of orange with some twine (I wanted to use raffia but had run out)....and we made Christmas decorations!
It is so easy to make a Winter Potpourri to make your home smell like the Holidays!
All you need to do is mix all of the following goodies together and sprinkle with 10 drops of cinnamon essential oil and 5 drops of clove essential oil.
Present it in a beautiful vintage bowl.
Dry rose petals
1⁄4 cup whole cloves
1 cup whole allspice
10 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
8 small bay leaves
4 whole nutmeg
3 Tbsp star anise
2 Tbsp whole cardamom pods
I put the left-over orange slices, cinnamon sticks and cloves and some star anise into my glass candle holders.
The house really smells like Christmas now!
Thank you dear friends for coming to visit today-I'm so glad you popped in to visit me in my little corner of the world Down Under!
Best wishes always,
Please join me each weekend for the Say G'day Saturday Linky Party!
Your house must spell wonderful. I have never seen orange slices as ornaments before but I love the idea. And those candles must smell heavenly. I can't wait to try both. It is interesting to see different traditions.
ReplyDeleteMy dishes are in the china cabinet and I love the way they look but I can't wait to add Christmas items. I am visiting my folks for a few days and then I am going to enjoy decorating my home.
Traci
Thanks for visiting Traci. The house really does smell amazing!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing all of your decorations soon!
Take care and best wishes, Natasha.
What a great tradition to make the orange slices and cinnamon stick ornaments with your children! Everything looks like it smells yummy!
ReplyDeleteI love all the decorations you made. Wish you have a wonderful Christmas season :)
ReplyDeleteThis is all s beautiful and the best part home made; I just love it. I just have a hard time getting my brain around celebrating Chritmas in the summer while we are in the snow. We live in the best of times with the internet.
ReplyDeleteWow you are so creative and the decorations are just so beautiful ! It is so heartwarming to see mums and their kids baking or cooking in the kitchen together... heres a Happy Mama Award for you , pls pick it up from my kitchen under " AWARDS " thanks for sharing your bundle of joys.
ReplyDeleteWish you a wonderful Cristmas. Leni
ReplyDeleteGood Mornng Natasha...
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh everything looks so lovely. I love these orange slices with the cinamon sticks. They are absolutely lovely. They look so wonderful hanging on the tree. I rather like the twine instead of rafia. It looks older I think.
I have never tried the cloves with the oranges, but I believe you have inspired me to give it a try.
Thanks for sharing sweetie. I love it when you do. Oh, by the way I hope you don't mind. The cookie was so tempting I had to try one.
Country hugs sweetie...Sherry
Hi Natasha! The cookies look yummy! & I think the oranges with cloves are my favorite Christmas scent! We use to do that as children... Love your dried orange & cinnamon ornaments too! I have made ornaments with a mixture of cinnamon, applesauce & white glue.. Have you ever made these? They smell so good on a Christmas tree!
ReplyDeleteYour house looks like you are all ready for Christmas!
Blessings ~ Teresa
Mmm - once again I am inspired. I too shall make some pommanders this evening methinks. Although would probably use what's left of the spices to make mulled wine ;-) Now you know where my orientations lie... Bisous from Ange
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about making these orange and clove wonders and seeing yours I felt inspired. I must make them!
ReplyDeleteAlfazema
I was just thinking of doing this the other day. :-) Today Christmas baking begins, and I can't wait for my house to smell AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteFinally, something I can do! I did the cloves with oranges one year. Except for my thumb almost falling off from pushing in the cloves, it was so pretty. I never thought of putting them in pine boughs, I bet the fragrance is wonderful
ReplyDeleteYummy and lovely!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are feeling better!
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it's still "hard" to realize, that it is Summer for everyone in the Southern Hemisphere. :-)
Aunt Amelia
Dec. 7, 1941
Getting out my oranges and cloves as we speak! Thanks for reminding me of holiday smells, my house needs some of that.
ReplyDeleteTeri
Oh my goodness that handmade ornament is amazing, I loved the orange one, and it looked great in the jar too. Thank you for sharing these amazing ornament creations, I think I'm gonna try one out.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
*-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•:*HEIDI*-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•:*
Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI bet your home smells so delicious with all your homemade decorations and ornaments. Thanks for sharing your ideas--inspiring!
Debi
I just want to thank everyone for leaving such beautiful comments. For some strange reason though, everyone's comments were duplicated (each comment appeared 5 times!!)...I panicked and somehow deleted some of them instead of publishing them. I did read all of your lovely comments and so wish I could publish them :(
ReplyDeleteLove from a very sad Natasha!
Bonjour Natasha! How wonderful you and your kids can have these Christmas cookie baking adventures. The orange and clove decoration is great - I'm going to try it this week. Don't feel sad over the 'accidental delete incident', I'm an expert at doing things like that.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your sweet notes you leave on my blog, your comments are very much appreciated.
Have a fabulous week!
I'll bet your ornaments smell heavenly!
ReplyDeleteI bet your home smells so good with the oranges and cinnamon. You are making great memories for your children. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAwesome ideas. I'm going to have to try them. Rosie
ReplyDeleteNatasha,
ReplyDeleteYour warm, country style is so inviting! I wish I could smell the aromas! Thank you for sharing!
I am totally jealous that it is summer for you. Of course Christmas in the summer would be odd for us, but I just don't like cold. Hope you guys enjoy your time off together.
ReplyDeleteVery pleasant! Can almost smell the citrus! What a neat thing, to be off "forever" for Christmas (you know, forever, when you're a kid). Not bad, Christmas in the summer time. :) Jenn
ReplyDeleteHello! I just found your lovely blog and really enjoyed this post! What a great idea to make ornaments with orange slices. :) Love it! Hope you don't mind that I become a follower of your blog and please come visit my blog some time, alrighty?
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sandra
Very pretty cookies and ornaments...I really want to bake now...
ReplyDeleteKammy
One of the most interesting things about blogging is making friends all over the world. The fact that you have summer vacation and Christmas at the same time is hard for me to wrap my brain around! It looks like things are coming together at your house. I can smell those oranges now!
ReplyDeleteSue
Natasha,
ReplyDeleteGreat ideals,we just bought a case of oranges from my daughters school, I can't wait to try your wonderful ideals. Thanks for sharing.
Sandy
Natasha-I loved doing things like this with my children when they were young--they will always remember it. I think I like the twine better than I would the raffia--more natural! I am running out of places in my house for all these wonderful ideas! Thanks for "playing"!
ReplyDeletewow I can smell how good it is from my house...Love the oranges with the cloves and the cinamon sticks, so sweet...
ReplyDeleteI like what you did. It looks so good that I think I can smell it!!
ReplyDeleteWow you have been busy!! love the biscuits and the orange slices!! I really must get on with doing up our home .... it takes me forever, almost like a "resistance to the end of the year" kinda bug, hehehe!!! Gena
ReplyDeletei think i will make these for the office. cute! love the smell of CHRISTmas.
ReplyDeletejanice
I bet your house smells WONDERFUL!!! My mom used to do oranges like that, and I'd forgotten all about it. I'm so doing this with my boys this weekend. Thanks for sharing it with Mi4M :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the scent of oranges and cloves. Childhood memories come rushing back every time I inhale this delicious aroma!
ReplyDeleteI love the natural and rustic look of the dried orange slices. I'm doing to have to try that!!
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine just how good your house smells!
ReplyDeleteI hope that you will come by and see the ornaments I made: pearl encrusted star, crystal and button ball and an anthro inspired tree topper.
How fun! Everything looks great! Your ornaments turned out cute and I love the orange idea:) Thanks for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteSo adorable Natasha...I love absolutely everything you've done here...and what i love most is having the kids involved like this..must definitely get down to making these with my little girl this week..I bet your home smells just gorgeous and christmassy...! Your blog is the most pleasant place to visit anyday...! thanks again for sharing..
ReplyDeleteYour Friend, Natalie
Oranges and cloves are completely intoxicating ! Thanks for reminding me to fill my home with this amazing scent - yours look so lovely !
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up today !
Hugs
Kate
Simply a wonderful idea! Nice use of natural items! happy Decorating!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great activity to do with your kids!
ReplyDeleteOh my VERY cute! I think I can smell those oranges from here! Sure wish I had some around!
ReplyDeleteI can't even begin to imagine how wonderful your house must smell!
ReplyDeleteNatasha as you know, I love the orange pomanders!! thanks for visiting my post about them too...I got some great ideas from you!
ReplyDeleteJoyeaux Noel!
PS enjoy your good weather...even here in No. California it is grey, dreary, drippy, foggy and cold today!
I bet your house and tree smell wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJust an fyi most people are not getting the correct info in their reader-my updates are over 2 weeks old and I have made multiple other posts. I've been on with Google multiple times and they don't have an answer and I am not getting everyones updates in my reader either.
Cheri
Mmmmmmmm. Orange+cloves=heaven!
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss this???? Wonderful! I can practically smell it all from here!
ReplyDelete