Make Your Own Christmas Pomander - Guest Post from Stacey

Today's guest post for The Crafting Days of Christmas comes from my cousin Stacey. Stacey runs a lovely company called Designs By Stacey. Stacey has always had a passion for art and when she painted a mural for her first daughter's nursery, it started off a new career for her.

Now mum to two lovely girls, Stacey somehow manages to find enough hours in the day to craft and paint!

Here's a selection of her wonderful work:

  

She has kindly written this great how-to post which I am pleased to share with you all.

This is what Stacey says about her glorious pomanders:

I remember making these pomanders at Llanciach Ffawr on a school trip once and have always fancied having a bash at making another. I spend a fortune on plug ins and especially now that all the Christmas scents are on sale in the shops (I love the smell of Christmas). So, this year, I decided to save my money and make something that will last for much much longer. Some sites have even said that they last for years!

To make a Christmas pomander

You will need: 

about 2 ounces of cloves per whole orange

'x' amount of oranges depending on how many you want to make

ribbon

maybe a thimble (some of the cloves can be quite sharp!)

How to: 

Step 1 - Tie a ribbon around your orange crossing it at the top and bottom and then making a bow. 

Step 2 - Pierce the orange with the cloves- remember to leave a small space between each clove as the orange will shrink as it dries out. 

Step 3 - Hang it up! Simple as that! Your house will smell of Christmas without the need for expensive plug ins! 

Tips: Add a sprig of holly to the bow for extra decoration. Supermarkets can be quite pricey on cloves so try health shops or online. I bought a 250g bag online for £4.20 and it'll make lots of pomanders!

Don't forget to check out Stacey's website.

This guest post was brought to you by Stitch N Ting as part of the Crafting Days of Christmas blog hop!

Dried Orange and Cinnamon Decorations

I love the smell of Christmas. It's a smell that when you close you eyes and concentrate, you can recreate it in your head every time. It makes me think of open fires, family, new pajamas and walks in the snow (when we have some).

I had a few oranges laying to waste in the bottom of the fridge so instead of throwing them in the bin (I hate wasting food) I'd dry them out and make some traditional scented orange and cinnamon decorations.

What you'll need:

Oranges, preferably large ones
Sharp knife & chopping board
Flat baking trays
Cinnamon sticks or cinnamon essential oil
Ribbon / string / wool / elastic for tying and embellishing

How to make them:

Step 1 - Pre-heat your oven to 100 degrees C

Step 2 - Lay your orange so that the top where the stem used to be is at 9 o'clock and the bottom is at 3 o'clock. This means you'll get a nice cross section of the orange when you slice and the piece won't fall apart. Slice your oranges thinly (less than 1cm thick) with a really sharp knife.

Step 3 - Space out your orange slices on some flat baking trays and bake in the oven for around 2-3 hours. I have a convection oven so it gets pretty hot in there! You may need to cook for longer but until the pieces are dry to the touch and don't stick to the try when you lift them up.

Step 4 - If you're using cinnamon oil, drip a single drop on the centre of each orange segment.

Step 5 - Make a small hole at the top of a slice and thread ribbon/string through it and tie to make a loop. Use these as single decorations and embellish with a bow tied to the string.

Step 6 - if you're using cinnamon sticks tie another piece if ribbon / wool around the stick and tie this piece toto the orange's thread.

You can also embellish in other ways such as adding glitter, beads or different scented oils. You could also string them together to make a festive orange garland for your tree or fireplace. How about drying some lemons and cranberries and making your own festive pot-purri? The list is endless!

This post is part of the Crafting Days of Christmas blog-hop! Why not join in on the festive creativity?

The Crafting Days of Christmas Blog-Hop

So today is the 1st of December and that means it's time for The Crafting Days of Christmas blog-hop!
Please visit the link for buttons to add to your blog or see the right hand sidebar of my blog for the code.

There aren't any strict rule to this blog-hop other than add your link to your Christmas blog or craft posts and have a browse at the other links and meet some new bloggy friends and hopefully find some interesting Christmas crafts along the way. You're not limited to one link either, if you write multiple posts about Christmas crafts please feel free to add them to the blog-hop.

Don't forget to comment on any new blogs you follow so that the owners can follow you back!

The first few links are from the following bloggers: Myself, of course! Ros @ Ros Made Me and Kara @ Happy Go Lucky. Click their links below to see their crafty Christmas posts. (Please note the Christmas Pomander link is a scheduled link and won't be live until the 2nd!)

Happy crafting!

(I've also scheduled a few crafty posts of my own for the next few days as I'm going to London over the weekend and will be shaking my boots at the Alexisonfire gig on Monday, oh I cannot wait!)