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Looking for a fun, easy, and festive Christmas gift idea? Why not try making stovetop potpourri! This simple DIY project is perfect for any last-minute shoppers. Plus, it’s easy to customize with your favorite scents. Scroll down to download free printable tags that you can use to label your gifts. Happy holidays!

It’s Christmastime! And that means it’s time for one of my favorite traditions: neighbor gifts! Since I was a little kid, my family always made small gifts to take around the neighborhood and to teachers, friends, and loved ones. Sometimes we even sang carols as we stood on doorsteps, in the freezing winter cold. Looking back, it was one of the best ways my mom taught us the spirit of Christmas.

I love to make cookies and treats to share, but find I end up eating as many as I give away, and I have looked for ways to give a sweet treat without all the downsides. A few years ago a friend gifted me some winter potpourri, and I found the perfect Christmas gift!

FREE Christmas Potpourri Printable Tags

We designed five different printable tags that you can print off at home and add your own personal message at the bottom. These are free to download!

Best Christmas Gift Ever?

This is absolutely the best Christmas gift for friends and neighbors. It smells delicious. The Christmas scent brings the holiday spirit to everyone who receives it. For the giver, it’s great because it’s low cost (about $1.50-$3 depending on if you use a jar or a gift bag), easy to prepare, and doesn’t leave your kitchen or house a mess. You can make them in about five minutes, with no clean-up! What’s better than that? It’s unique, beautiful, thoughtful, and everyone enjoys it.

What is Potpourri?

You may be familiar with the dry, dusty potpourri on your grandma’s coffee table, but this is a whole lot better. It has a fresh, unique scent, is colorful and vibrant, and at the end of the season, you toss it, instead of leaving it to turn to dust bunnies on the shelf.

Potpourri is versatile, but it’s basically a combination of pleasant-scented plants, fruits, flowers, herbs, and spices put together to freshen up a room or area with its scent. Christmas potpourri starts with cinnamon and orange and adds cranberries, cloves, pine, and ginger. Variations include combining apple, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon for an apple pie scent, or pine, ginger, apple, and cloves for a wintery forest scent.

How Do You Make Potpourri?

Fresh potpourri is incredibly easy to make. You simply combine fresh fruit, flowers, and spices that compliment each other. I include a few recipes to get you started, but there are so many varieties you can make! Just remember to pick items that compliment each other. If you want to brainstorm your own scent combos, look at your favorite lotions, sprays, and desserts for inspiration. We include several tried and true combos to get you started.

When compiling the potpourri, the contents should be about two cups or less. So, one apple, orange or clementine, lemon or lime. Then add three or four cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, a small piece of nutmeg. Or, a small wedge of ginger or a handful of cranberries. You can add a sprig of pine branch, or one pine cone, a few sprigs of rosemary, mint, or lavender.

If you’re gifting the potpourri, don’t cut the fruit beforehand. This will allow it to stay fresh until your friends decide to use it. Use a pretty clear jar, or a clear cellophane gift bag, tied with a nice ribbon.

To gift, put the whole fruit or flower along with the spices into a bag or jar, close, and label with instructions for the recipient. We include a printable tag for a Christmas potpourri gift, complete with the instructions for how to use it.

How Do You Use Potpourri?

When you are ready to use the potpourri, slice the fruit, and place the potpourri in a small pot or heating crock. Cover with water and heat on the stove on low. When the water runs low, add more to avoid burning. The evaporation of the scented water spreads the wonderful smell through the house.

When you leave the house or area for a long time, be sure to take it off the stove or unplug the crock. If you want to keep it to use another day, simply put the contents into a spill-proof container and store in the fridge .

After a few days, you’ll notice it’s all a little mushy and doesn’t have the strong scent from the first days. That’s the sign it’s reached its end. Just drain the water and put the contents into the garbage can.

What Combinations Can I Make?

The best thing about potpourri is that it’s versatile. Here are some Christmas-themed scent combos, as well as some you might enjoy at other times of the year.

Christmas Cheer

Orange or clementine
Handful cranberries
Three cinnamon sticks
Small chunk ginger
A few whole cloves
A pine branch or pine cone

Winter Wonderland

Apple
Pine cone or pine branch
Small wedge ginger
A few whole cloves

Apple Pie

Apple
Three cinnamon sticks
Half or one whole vanilla bean
A small chunk of whole nutmeg, or 1/4 teaspoon grated

Pumpkin Pie

Three cinnamon sticks
One half or whole vanilla bean
Small chunk nutmeg, or 1/4 teaspoon grated
A few whole cloves

Lemonade

Lemon
Mint
Half a vanilla bean

Springtime Fresh

Lemon
Lavender sprigs
Handful coconut chunks (not shredded coconut)

DIY Stovetop Christmas Potpourri Gift + Printable Tags

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Materials

Christmas Cheer
Orange or clementine
Handful cranberries
Three cinnamon sticks
Small chunk ginger
A few whole cloves
A pine branch or pine cone
Winter Wonderland
Apple
Pine cone or pine branch
Small wedge ginger
A few whole cloves
Apple Pie
Apple
Three cinnamon sticks
Half or one whole vanilla bean
A small chunk of whole nutmeg, or 1/4 teaspoon grated
Pumpkin Pie
Three cinnamon sticks
One half or whole vanilla bean
Small chunk nutmeg
A few whole cloves
Lemonade
Lemon
Mint
Half a vanilla bean
Springtime Fresh
Lemon
Lavender sprigs
Handful coconut chunks (not shredded coconut)

Instructions

When compiling the potpourri, the contents should be about two cups or less. So, one apple, orange,clementine, lemon or lime. Then add three or four cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, a small piece of nutmeg. Or, a small wedge of ginger or a handful of cranberries. You can add a sprig of pine branch, or one pine cone, a few sprigs of rosemary, mint, or lavender.

Hopefully, these recipes will help you find a combination that fills your home with love, happiness, and the Christmas spirit this holiday season. Merry Christmas!