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I don’t know about you, but I love the smell of Christmas. Give someone the gift of a Christmas scent (homemade holiday potpourri) this holiday season!
Fresh pine, cinnamon, vanilla, and orange. So fresh, yet so cozy. To me, there’s nothing better than a snow day and a pot of homemade potpourri simmering on the stove. It’s winter perfection.
Last Christmas, I made potpourri in a pot for us all to enjoy, but this year I thought, why not take those scents and turn them into a gift for all our friends and family to enjoy as well. I know, I know, I am just so nice…right. Seriously though, this is such a quick and simple gift, I cannot believe I never thought of it before!
I have customized these cute little bags to my liking, but feel free to use a little more of this and a little less of that so that your Christmas scent is just PERFECT for you.
I also used fresh cranberries and oranges in my bag. Since I will be gifting these bags to Asher teachers tomorrow, I stored them in the fridge. If you would prefer, you can make these using all dried fruits, and then you don’t have to worry about the fruit going bad. For me, the fresh cranberries and oranges make a huge difference both in appearance and in smell, just sayin.
OKAY, and now for a fun/sort of serious part of this post. In keeping with my goal to really try to give back this December, today I have partnered with ZWILLING J.A. Henckels (aka my bestest buddies) to gift THREE readers one of my FAVORITE Staub pots. I’m pretty excited about it, AND you get to choose your favorite color (my favorites are the matte black and grenadine)! I know, so fun!
Staub is hands down my all time favorite cookware. Their pots, skillets, and dishware are honestly the best. I know you guys will LOVE this Staub Cast Iron 4 Quart Cocotte. It’s the pot I use most in the kitchen!! Love it!
While I am so excited to be gifting you guys some of my favorite cookware, I am also really excited to share a little info about the charity I am giving to this week. My mom has always made a point to give back, especially around Christmas. This year, she has really inspired me to give back myself, and today I wanted to chat a little about a charity I think is pretty close to a lot of people’s hearts.
St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital works day and night to help save the lives of thousands of children battling cancer. Cancer is something that has probably affected most us in some way or another. I know it has greatly affected my family. This is one of the many reasons I feel so lucky to be able to give back and help support such an amazing organization like St. Jude’s.
I was laying in bed the other night finishing up some work, I think it was like 11:45 pm and I was so ready for bed, but me being me, I just couldn’t go to sleep without a little something fun. At least for a few minutes of a Christmas movie was a must. I told myself I would only watch ten minutes, but of course, I picked one of those sappy, tear-filled Hallmark Christmas movies. A huh, you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, long story short, the movie was about a young boy with leukemia. His mother wrote a blog about their journey, staying at St. Jude’s, and the everyday ups and downs. To say that it was intense is an understatement. I totally cried my way through the ending, but even though the story was so sad, it was also very upbeat and positive at the same time. It’s hard to explain, and I am a horrible story-teller, but the point is that it really made you think and be grateful and so happy for what you have, you know?
I really could not think of a better organization to donate to this Christmas. Kids are everything, full of innocence, energy, and life. Knowing that by giving, even just a little, I can help to fund research that can potentially help save lives, is a great feeling.
So today I am encouraging you all to give a little back too, if it’s at all possible! Please check out the St. Jude’s Website, watch the videos, learn about the kids, and learn how you can help save a life.
Sorry if that all totally sounds like an ad, BUT it’s Christmas, and it’s a time for giving, not just receiving… of course that’s fun too!
To enter the Staub GIVEAWAY: tell me what is on your bucket list of things you MUST do before Christmas? Do you want to go ice skating? Bake pounds of Christmas Cookies? Decorate Gingerbread houses? Make Homemade Holiday Potpourri for gifting?
Leave your answer in the comments and I will pick THREE winners one week from today!! Oh, and if you do decide to give to St. Jude’s, please email me or let me know in the comments. I will send you a big internet hug! 🙂
Happy potpourri making friends!
Christmas Potpourri.
Servings: 1 BAG HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS POTPOURRI
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries OR 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2-3 cinnamon sticks crushed
- 1-2 star ansie optional
- 1 tablespoon cardamom crushed
- 2 teaspoons whole cloves
- 1/4 cup candied ginger
- 1 vanilla bean halved lengthwise
- 1 fresh pine or 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 cup Satsuma or tangerine OR 1/3 candied orange peel
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients except the orange in a burlap bag or glass jar. If using a jar, add the orange and seal the jar. If using a burlap bag, tie the sack shut and then tie the orange onto the outside of the sack. You can also just place the orange inside the sack. Decorate as desired.
- If using fresh cranberries and oranges, gift the potpourri within 2-3 days of making and keep stored in the fridge. If you use all dried fruits, the potpourri can be stored at room temperature for up to a month.
- To make the Potpourri, add the contents of your bag (or jar) to a medium size pot. Add water until it comes 3/4 the way up the pot. Simmer on the stove over low heat, adding water every so often to keep it from drying up.
If only you could smell my potpourri simmering away. SO Christmasy!! And isn’t that Staub pot the most beautiful thing ever? It’s really a work of art! I know I have already said this, but it’s my favorite!
Lastly, if you make this Homemade Holiday Potpourri be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
This post was originally published on December 6, 2015
My bucket list is full of homemade gifts, including my homemade Chai mix, cocoa with a kick, lotion bars and holiday snow globes – most of which I’ll be doing with my 7 year old son:)
Well, shopping for a Christmas tree was first on my list.. but I can cross that off already, since my husband and I got one yesterday! Yay!
Next is: decorate tree, cover our home and garden with little lights, make hot cocoa with real chocolate, cook the most delicious veggie recipes, make natural wreaths, style a festive table for 2, cocoon and binge our way through the holidays and most of all: ENJOY the most wonderful time together 🙂 (I’m a sucker for Christmas ;))
On my Christmas to-do list this year:
Try some new Christmas cookie recipes, pick out a REAL tree for the first time, find gifts for loved ones that give more (like products that donate part of cost to St. Jude), sip hot cocoa by the fire & watch the grinch
Making and decorating a gingerbread house is definitely on my bucket list this year!
Been thinking about making a potpourri in a pot for some time now, so I guess this is one of the things on my bucket list. We currently live in Dubai, so we are flying back to Europe at the end of the month, and before that I need to buy a lot of spices, dates and other dried fruits and nuts for presents. Then at home, I want to make some nice DIY presents (probably engraved wooden cutting boards) and then just enjoy myself. It will be nice to see all my family and friends again, so I really want to make the best of it.
We have a nice charity going on in Slovenia – become a Santa for a day, where you buy a big shoe box of little presents for the children in need. This year we will miss the deadline, so instead of doing this, we were thinking of visiting an animal shelter and help with dogs and buy some food and blankets for them.
Tieghan, I wish you and your family happy holidays, lots of mesmerising moments together and of course lots of new readers! Marry Christmas!
love, Anja
Beautiful!! I bet your house smelled heavenly!!
Thanks Alana!
By baking and buying presents
So much on my Christmas bucket list! Lots of homemade goodies to make and bake, but #1 on my list is fancy decorated iced cookies….and maybe letting my two boys help decorate a few :). I’m usually a little bit controlling of my kitchen space ahehe, but I think they’re almost the age where they could have fun with some rolling, cookie-cutting, and (ok course) licking of utensils! St. Jude’s is one of the charities I donate to throughout the year. When my first little guy was born he needed lots of surgeries throughout his first year of life. Even though we didn’t use St. Jude’s, it just made me realize how completely devastating it would be to lose a young child to disease or other medical condition due to lack of funds OR lack of medical progress. They do amazing work there and truly change lives!!
And I just have to say how much I LOVE your blog. I think I’ve been following for over two years, and rutinely have multiple requests for your recipes that I make. Thank you so much for sharing your life and and your kitchen!
I really love this idea for the staff at my children’s Montessori school, so I will do that and I love making home made marshmallows and sharing with our neighbors for Christmas.
The top of my Christmas bucket list is sending Christmas presents. All of my family lives in other states. Shipping is SO hard to do around the holidays. Often, they get presents in February. 😉
I love your idea of adding in a sprig of pine! I’ve never thought of doing that! I make a similar potpourri every year. A pot goes on the stove the second it turns November. Love it!
We just picked out our Christmas tree and brought it home. I always have to look at a bunch of them and my family makes fun of me for trying to find the perfect tree. The kids picked out a Charlie Brown tree (muddy and a bit flattened) to fix up for themselves. Lots of baking and a marathon gift wrapping session will be coming up soon. I just have to make sure that when I have helpers I don’t let them see or wrap any presents that are for them by accident. I enjoy my Henckel and Zwilling knives and am sure that I would like the Staub pan.
Before Christmas gets here I want to relax! This time of year is so hectic that sometimes I forget to just breathe, and then I get super stressed out. So this year, I’m putting “relax” on my bucket list.
Such a great, festive, pretty useful gift! My bucketlist consists of going to NYC to visit my brother and finish Christmas shopping, and baking all of the cookies, cutout butter cookies most importantly of all. Thanks!
We are just trying to relax before Christmas. Thank you for the giveaway!
I’m dying to make something yummy with eggnog