/13-adef4de6a4b74492bb119ff79c58dd5a.jpg "How to make potpourri: 5 simple steps")
Insight
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Work time:
30 minutes
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Total time:
4 – 8 weeks
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Yield:
1 pot of potpourri
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Competence level:
Beginner
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Estimated cost:
$5 – $30
Potpourri is a cleaner, greener alternative to toxic chemical fragrances used to scent your home. It is often made from natural plant materials like dried flowers, herbs, spices, fruits, seeds, leaves, cones, and essential oils. The flavor blend is commonly sold in stores, but the most environmentally friendly version is usually the homemade version.
Making your own potpourri allows you to tailor the scent to your preferences. It also means making the most of leftover food from your pantry, flowers from your garden, and locally harvested plant materials. Here we provide a classic dry potpourri recipe that you can easily customize with whatever ingredients you have on hand, including spices and stale fruits.
Customize your Potpourri Scent Profile
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Potpourri – which literally means “a mixture of things” – is endlessly customizable. Lovers of fruity flavors can base their blend around apples, lemon, pears or cranberries. Those who love floral scents might prefer dried roses, lavender, sage or jasmine. Maybe you want to create an autumnal scent with apples and cinnamon or a springtime scent with lemon, rosemary and vanilla.
Here’s what you can use to create your own scent profile.
- Flowers and leaves: Lavender, roses, jasmine, and strawflowers are prized for their fragrance and among the easiest to dry. Often their leaves are also fragrant and add an earthy touch to the mix.
- Fruit: Oranges, lemons, limes, apples, pears, and cranberries smell great and give the potpourri a fresh look.
- Herbs and spices: Rosemary, mint, thyme, sage, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamom are common.
- Essential oils: Eucalyptus, cassia, bergamot, sandalwood, cedarwood, fir and vetiver add a citrus, spicy or earthy aroma.
How to dry fruits and flowers
The most efficient way to dry flowers and fruit for potpourri is with a dehydrator, but you can also get by with a simple oven. Separate the petals and leaves from the flowers and cut the fruit into slices about an eighth inch thick. Place on a rack and heat at 200 degrees for about two hours, turning every 30 minutes.
What you will need
Ingredients
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Orris root powder or vetiver roots
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Dried fruits (optional)
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Herbs and spices (optional)
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Essential oils (optional)
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Dried flowers and leaves (optional)
Instructions
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Start with a fixative
Vetiver is a common fixer for potpourri.
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A fixer is a preservative. In dry potpourri, it is used to preserve the flavors of other ingredients by reducing the rate of evaporation and, therefore, slowing the release of their aroma. Orris root powder is common for this, but you can also use something more substantial and aesthetically pleasing like vetiver roots. Both of these items are commonly sold at craft stores.
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Add spices and essential oils
In an airtight container, mix your hairspray with your chosen powders or liquids, including spices and essential oils. The idea is to thoroughly coat the fixative with these ingredients, perhaps best accomplished by sealing the container and shaking it.
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Mix flowers and fruits
The second most fun thing about making potpourri—the first is playing perfumer—is choosing flowers, fruits, and herbs that go well together. Rose petals, for example, make orange peel pop, and dried leaves, like lemon balm, balance out the abundance of color. Like blueberries in muffin batter, these large chunks should be added at the end.
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Set aside to heal
If creating scents and aromatic works of art with your homemade potpourri is the best part, then practicing patience while the scent matures is the worst. For potpourri to last properly, you should allow the mixture to cure in a sealed, airtight container for a minimum of four weeks. Eight weeks is better. Keep the container in a dark, dry place throughout this step.
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Transfer to a decorative container
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After your potpourri has marinated for a month or two, you can safely transfer it to a decorative container — a mason jar, a fish bowl, the ceramic dish you bought on vacation in Morocco — and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The scent should last about three months.
How to Make “Wet” Potpourri
Wet or “wet” potpourri is an older method of making potpourri that doesn’t require you to dry the ingredients first. To make wet potpourri, it’s best to avoid fruit. Plants are doing well and may be wilting. Start by creating a bed of plant matter in an airtight, metal-free jar or jug, then layer the essential oils, then the non-iodized salt, and repeat the process.
Once the container is nearly full, compress the potpourri with a weighted object and seal the container. Allow the mixture to ferment for three or four weeks, stirring every few days to break up any crust that may form at the top. Do not add spices or fixatives before the two week mark.
