Think twice before you throw away those dead flowers. Your husband gave you roses for Valentine’s day, it would be a shame to throw them in the trash can. Good news! You can give them a new life by making homemade potpourri. It is quick, easy, and it means you don’t have to throw away your favorite flowers. Making homemade potpourri will give dead flowers life again, and make your house smell great. You can even refresh your potpourri over and over again. See how easy it can be.
You’ll Need…
- Flowers
- A cookie sheet
- Parchment paper
- Scissors
- Essential oils
- A spray bottle
- Your choice of herbs, citrus, or spices (optional)
Image Source: Pixabay
Preparation
- First, gather your flowers. Potpourri works best with flowers that are fragrant. Roses, lavender, lilacs, gardenia, or jasmine work well. You want your potpourri to smell nice so gather flowers that smell good! There are some flowers that look pretty but don’t have the best scent. Do your best to to avoid these flowers. Preheat your oven to 200℉.
- Then prepare your flowers to go into the oven. If the flower you’re using has a whole head, like a rose, cut the stem right beneath the head.
- If you want to use individual petals, you can. Lavender and lilac petals are easy to use. Just grab the stem with one hand and slide the stem between your fingers in the other hand. All the petals should fall off.
- Cover your cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put individual petals in a single layer on top of the parchment paper. If you’re using the head of a flower, the whole thing goes on the parchment paper.
Adding Scent
- Now is the fun part. Add scent to your potpourri! Have fun mixing and matches different scents and see what you like. You can add thinly sliced citrus fruits for a fresh scent.
- Next add whole sprigs of herbs. Rosemary, thyme, or lavender always smell great.
- Then add whole spices like allspice cloves. A cinnamon stick would make your house smell amazing! It’s all up to you. Do whatever you think would go good together. Put these ingredients on parchment paper with your flowers.
- Use your favorite essential oils in a spray bottle with water. You can add as many or as little drops of essential oils as you’d like. Play around with the strength of the scent. Spray all of your ingredients on the parchment paper with your essential oil mixture.
- Now put all your ingredients into the oven. For all the flowers to dry out it should take around 2 hours. Make sure that you are not burning the flowers or the spices. No one wants potpourri that smells burnt. Once all of the flowers are dry and brittle, they are done.
- Put all of your ingredients in a bowl or small pouch and enjoy their scent!
Summing Up
Potpourri is easy to make and will last a long time. Your house will smell amazing day after day. If your potpourri is running out of scent, simply spray it again with your essential oil mixture. Instead of throwing away dried, wilted flowers make potpourri. Your flowers will live forever.
Image Source: Pixabay
