Tuesday

And The Smells of Christmas All Through The House

Remember those days when you looked forward to Christmas break?  When you new you could plow through those last weeks of torture because there would be a couple weeks off to look forward to?  *Sigh* I miss those days.  Munchkie's Daddy has made it to that point in time and now gets to sit back and relax for a few weeks (ha ha ha) after working for over thirty hours straight on his last paper of the semester.  I however, on the other hand, get to cram and work and pull everything together only to get to fit full work weeks into all of the holiday craziness.  The last few days I have been completely stressed out over getting those last few packages sent out and mailing out our Christmas cards.  Do you know how difficult it is to get a family picture when you don't really know anyone? Our first attempt in the dark, using the self timer was a complete disaster and it took a while before we could make another attempt.

The last couple days our couch has been my station for cards and packages.  I have been putting together, folding, stuffing, addressing and stamping all of the cards.  Unfortunately, all of this does not put me in the Christmas spirit, but instead just makes me frustrated.  So I needed to find something that would help me relax while I was getting all of this together.  Something that would really make my house feel like Christmas.

In comes my stove top potpourri.  We have been eating oranges like crazy now that they are in season so I put the rinds of the oranges we have eaten in a pot with a few cranberries (I have a bag of them in the freezer and I add a few to drinks instead of ice cubes) and some spices and soon my house smelled like Christmas.  I highly recommend trying this for a wonderfully smelling house without any effort at all.

Stove Top Potpourri

  • The peels of a few oranges/clementines
  • A handful of cranberries
  • A cinnamon stick broken into pieces
  • A small handful of whole cloves
  • A few whole allspices
  • A whole nutmeg (I put it in a plastic bag, pounded it with something and tossed the pieces into the pot)
  • Water to fill the pot at least halfway

Bring everything to a boil and then immediately turn down to low to simmer. Add water as needed to keep the scent going.
If only you could smell how amazing it is.  Just imagine that steam is Christmas filling your house (or small apartment).

The wonderful smell in my apartment was just the motivation I needed to finish everything up and make it to the post office in plenty of time.  Now, I just have to finish up the last few batches of homemade presents and I'm all set and ready for the holiday rush of working, family and food.

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