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With less than a minute of prep, you can make your whole house smell like Christmas in no time! This tried-and-true Christmas simmer pot recipe makes for a yummy (all natural!) seasonal air freshener, and makes a beautiful easy DIY Christmas gift in a jar!
If you’re asking yourself, what can I simmer for Christmas smell? What can I boil to make my house smell like Christmas?
Friend, you are in the right spot!! This easy DIY Christmas simmer pot recipe is one of the simplest things you can do to make that happen!
I can’t wait to show you how easy it is to put this thing together, and I’m seriously just so thrilled for you to experience how good this will make your house smell.
The combination of scents from these ingredients that you toss into a small sauce pan and simmer over low heat is absolutely incredible! It’s so fun to have one of these going all day when you’re at home – your family will love it, and if you’re having guests, you’ll make ’em feel right at home with one whiff as they walk through your door!
And, this simmer pot potpourri not only makes a great addition to your own home for the holidays, it also makes a super simple & inexpensive, but still thoughtful and beautiful gift to give. Makes an especially great gift if you’re needing to make some gifts in bulk.
Make Christmas Simmer Pot Mason Jar Gifts!
I have a quick tutorial for how to turn this recipe into a gorgeous Christmas gift! It’s a perfect gift idea for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, Bible study members, etc.
Check out the Christmas simmer pot mason jar gift tutorial – you can even get the free printable labels to add on your mason jar lids! 😃
How to Assemble an Easy DIY Christmas Simmer Pot
Let me walk you through how to assemble the simmer pot. We’ll have your house smelling like Christmas in just a few minutes! Yum!
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Easy Christmas Simmer Pot Ingredients:
- Peel from 1 or 2 oranges (you can also use orange slices if you’re wanting to make this as a gift and make the jar look prettier, but there’s a ton of scent in the peel, so if you’re just making this for your own home, the peel will suffice)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- Small fresh Christmas tree branch (see tip on this below! It’s a good one!) or a couple of sprigs of rosemary
- Cranberries (just add enough for color – these don’t add any scent, but they sure make the simmer pot & mason jar look gorgeous and festive!)
Simmer Pot Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a small saucepan on the stove top.
- Pour water into the saucepan – just enough to cover the ingredients.
- Set to simmer over low heat. You’ll start noticing a scent within about 15 minutes.
- Check your pot every 2-3 hours to see if you need to add more water (it’ll evaporate, but just keep adding more – there’s still plenty of scent there!)
- Use your simmer pot for up to 2-3 days just by continuing to add water.
Simmer Pot Tips
- Get Christmas tree clippings from a tree lot for free! This is seriously one of the best little “home hacks” I’ve ever given – if you don’t have a real Christmas tree (we don’t – we have my sweet late Granny’s artificial tree, and I’ll never give that thing up!), drop by a place that sells live Christmas trees and ask if you can take a few stray branches from the ground. Every time I go and ask, they always gladly let me take some scraps home. I cannot even tell you how much of a difference it makes to add a live tree branch to this simmer pot! It SMELLS AMAZING.
- Even though you’re using fresh ingredients, you really can use the same exact simmer pot for 2-3 days straight. I typically don’t replace the ingredients in mine until day 3 of using the simmer pot. The scent sticks around for quite a while, you just need to keep adding water as it evaporates.
- The cranberries add nothing but festiveness and color, so if you can’t add them, don’t worry about it.Just know that they’re not an essential part of the scent, but I still add them in mine – they’re just so doggone gorgeous, especially in those mason jars!
This really does make such a gorgeous gift in a jar for Christmas! Head over here to see how simple it is to put this gift together, as well as to get the free printable labels to add to your mason jar lids. They help add that personal touch, as well as make it easy for you to give your recipient instructions on how to use it.
Enjoy making your home smell like the cozy holiday season!
I’m on a mission to make things easier for us during the holidays without compromising beauty, fun, or quality. This easy Christmas stovetop potpourri is such a great way to accomplish that! I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it makes you and your people feel even more at home. 🙂
Easy DIY Christmas Simmer Pot Recipe (Less than 1 minute prep!)
This easy simmer pot recipe tells you exactly what to boil to make your house smell like Christmas! You'll love this easy stovetop potpourri!
4.61 from 41 votes
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Prep Time: 1 minute minute
Total Time: 1 minute minute
Servings: 1 Simmer Pot
Author: TheAmericanPatriette
Ingredients
- Peel from 1 or 2 oranges*
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- Small fresh Christmas tree branch** SEE TIP IN THE NOTES! or a couple of sprigs of rosemary
- Cranberries: optional***
Instructions
1. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan on the stove top.
2. Pour water into the saucepan - just enough to cover the ingredients.
3. Set to simmer over low heat. You'll start noticing a scent within about 15 minutes.
4. Check your pot every 2-3 hours to see if you need to add more water (it'll evaporate, but just keep adding more - there's still plenty of scent there!)
5. Use your simmer pot for up to 2-3 days just by continuing to add water.
Notes
* If you're wanting to assemble a simmer pot to give as a mason jar Christmas gift, you might want to use orange slices vs. orange peels, just because they're prettier
** For fresh Christmas tree sprigs, if you don't have a real tree in your house, go to a place where they sell fresh Christmas trees (a local mom-and-pop Christmas tree lot or even just Wal-Mart or your grocery store!) and ask if you can pick up & have some of the Christmas tree scraps on the ground. I'm sure they'll tell you yes - works for me every time! I collect a big handful and then replace a the sprigs in my simmer pot every couple of days.
***Cranberries are purely optional. They don't give off any scent at all, so if you're only making the simmer pot for yourself, you can easily forego this. They're just beautiful to add in a jar if you're giving this as a mason jar gift!
NOTE: After 2-3 days of using your simmer pot, throw away all of the ingredients in it, wash the pot, and then start over with fresh ingredients.
Love this idea and want to remember it for later? Be sure to save it to your favorite Pinterest board!
