One of my favorite things about the holidays is the smells it brings.  Our memories are so tightly bound to our sense of smell and can bring you right back in time.

I started making these potpourri simmer kits for myself years ago. We had just moved into our new home, the day after Thanksgiving, I was 35 weeks pregnant and desperate to make my our new house smell like ours and the holidays.  So i decided to throw together some simmer kits and absolutely fell in love with them.  They are easy, inexpensive and make a huge difference.

Now, I regularly give them as gifts to friends, co-workers, teachers and neighbors.  I really love that I can grab all the ingredients from the regular grocery store.  You can mix and match any ingredients that you want but here are my favorite:

Simmer Potpourri

• Cinnamon sticks
• dried orange slices (see directions below)
• fresh cranberries
• star anise
• whole cloves
• Rosemary

Dried orange slices are made easily at home. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Then slice 2 oranges into thin slices, place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 4-6 hours.

Combine ingredients into small jars or paper bags.  Add a cute tag with a ribbon and you’re set.  You have the cutest gift to give.  Make sure you set some aside to make a simmer pot for yourself. I absolutely love these little printable tags.

To make a simmer pot, simply dump the ingredients into a small saucepan and cover with water.  Let simmer on the stovetop all day, adding water as needed.

If you don’t have the time or desire to grab cute jars for this project, adding the ingredients to a paper bag and secure with a little piece of ribbon.