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Making your own potpourri using fresh flowers from your garden can be a fun and inexpensive way to preserve your garden’s unique scent. Making your own potpourri can be as simple as a bowl of lavender buds, or you can make a more complex potpourri using a variety of dried botanicals and fragrance oils. A bowl of potpourri is a great way to scent any room in your home or you can use your potpourri to make wonderful gifts for your family and friends.
With summer in full bloom, now is the time to gather your fresh flowers. There are many common leaves and flowers that dry well for potpourri such the leaves or flowers from lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, rosemary, jasmine, or roses. You may also want to try taking small wood shavings from any cedar, cypress, or juniper trees you may have. Once you have collected your ingredients, pull the petals off the stem of the flowers, separate all leaves and spread your ingredients out on a baking sheet. Let them air dry for several days. Once your ingredients have dried, toss them together in a large bowl. You may also want to add a few ingredients from your local craft store such as dried eucalyptus leaves, or sage leaves. You may also want to add a few drops of essential oils to add a stronger or more complex scent to your potpourri or to refresh old potpourri, just make sure to add the oil to a fixative before adding to your potpourri. Common fixatives such as orris root, oak moss or cellulose fibre absorb the oil and allow a slower release of the fragrance. These fixatives should be available at any good local craft store.
Now that your potpourri is complete you can enjoy summer’s scents year round. To retain the beauty and scent of your potpourri, keep it in a covered container until you are ready to use. Your potpourri will look beautiful in small bowls or vases and will add a nice scent to any room in your home. For beautiful gifts or to add a little scent to your closets or dresser drawers, place a small scoop of your potpourri into small organza gift bags with ribbon ties and you have made a lovely scented satchel. These make great gifts for friends and family to enjoy year round.
