What makes it feel like Christmas time to you?
For me it is falling snow, the crisp cold air, Christmas songs on the radio, cutting down a tree in the woods, reading as a family the account of Christ’s birth in Luke chapter 2, hot chocolate, to name a few.
Depending on where you live in the world and what your family’s traditions are, your answers will vary from mine.
One thing we may all have in common are the scents of Christmas. I don’t like to fill my home with toxic artificial fragrances, so grabbing some herbs from the cabinet and a few fruits from the counter are more my cup of tea.
The smell of the pine tree sitting in my living room is my all-time favorite Christmas scent, but there are a few other herbs and spices that put me in the Christmas spirit! This recipe I’m about to share includes cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, star anise and orange.
Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 TBS organic whole cloves (buy here)
- 2 organic cinnamon sticks (buy here)
- 2 organic bay leaves (buy here)
- 2 orange peels or 3 tablespoons organic dried orange peel (buy here)
- 3 star anise (optional)
Directions
- Add herbs to a pot with 3 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer on low as desired.
- Keep an eye on the pan to make sure the water does not boil out.
- Can also combine water and herbs in a crockpot and cook on low.
If you don’t like the smell of cloves {like my brother-in-law 🙂 } or one of the other ingredients, just leave it out or substitute it with another scent that you love!
This post is linked to: A Mama’s Story What Joy Is Mine The Modest Mom Raising Homemakers A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Hey Jill- thanks for the natural scent post. We also love the fresh pine/fir smell. How would you recommend getting the pine fragrance into your house? My husband wants candles with pine scent- not natural. So, I just wondered how you would create that fragrance, other than having fresh boughs in the home. I don’t thinks steeping or simmering pine would be good for our pots with the sap-? Any suggestions?
Thanks!
The only other thing I can think of is diffusing essential oils or making a homemade spray with essential oils. I’ll have to experiment with that one of these days!
Money has been really tight lately and $500 would definitely help our family out! I always want to make the holidays special for my kids… but this year we have to be a little less generous because we had so many unexpected expenses this year.
Been there, Vivian! God bless your family!
This giveaway will bless my family with homeschool curriculum!
Curriculum can sure be expensive! 🙂
Awesome…. I can’t wait to try it! Which is better the stove top or crock pot?
The stovetop is good if you want a quick more instant scent. I would go with the crockpot for a slower all-day scent. 🙂
Jill recently posted…Homemade Dandelion Root Hot Chocolate
This giveaway would bless me with some additional herbs/oils. Since fighting back from a deathly illness 4 years ago, we have had so many medical bills and while I am grateful for modern medicine saving my life, it is natural/alternative medicine that is slowly giving me my life back…if that makes sense. Sadly, insurance won’t pay for most of my supplements or alternative treatments, even though it means I need less medication etc. So, I have to be selective in what alternative medicine I use each month. I would plan to use this money to invest in essential oils and some additional herbs that are currently out of my financial reach.
I am so glad you are OK! That’s how believe illnesses should be handled: conventional medicine for emergencies and natural medicine for healing and balance. Best wishes on your continued recovery!
Jill recently posted…How To Make Essential Oil Hand Sanitizer That is Actually Safe for Your Kids
Winning this giveaway would bless my family because every little bit helps. My husband is the sole provider in our family and we do without a lot of things. Being able to win would take a lot of pressure off of the hubby.
Best wishes to your family, Barbara!
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This paypal cash would help us pay for our gas and electric bill this holiday! would be an amazing blessing!
Best wishes to you!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe + $500 Cash Giveaway!
Love the simmering recipe. Now to dig out the simmering pot :~) I have a gas stove, and as forgetful as I can be (yikes)…the little simmering crockpot is much safer.
Wow, what an amazing giveaway. Thank you for thinking of us!
Blessings
You’re welcome, Kathryn!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Dandelion Root Hot Chocolate
can’t wait to try this!
Let me know how you like it!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe + $500 Cash Giveaway!
My husband was in a car accident 6 years ago & suffered a traumatic brain injury & has chronic pain daily. Since he had to take a disability retirement money is tight. This would bless us to get supplements that help him, & some needed clothes.
Saying a prayer for your family, Shirl!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe + $500 Cash Giveaway!
We just had our third child and money has been tight lately. This giveaway would give us the money to finally fix our car. We keep setting aside the money to do so but everything else keeps deciding to break too. The car is still running for right now so it keeps getting put on the back burner.
Congratulations on your sweet baby! I know what it’s like to have everything seem to go wrong at once. Praying all is fixed soon!
Jill York recently posted…How To Make Essential Oil Hand Sanitizer That is Actually Safe for Your Kids
What a great giveaway! Thanks for the opportunity to win. I love your page and all the natural remedies. We use your elderberry syrup recipe the most. 🙂 It is so helpful this time of year.
Thanks so much, Sunshine! It’s great to hear from you!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Dandelion Root Hot Chocolate
This money would be a real blessing as we just wrecked our car and the deductible is $500!
Hoping everyone is safe from the wreck! Blessings to you!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe + $500 Cash Giveaway!
This giveaway would be a huge blessing to me and my family. We’ve had lots of unexpected expenses and medical bills, but my husband is now cancer-free! My oldest son is graduating this year, and heading to college. So, this money would definitely help make our holiday more fruitful and help us get things on track for future college expenses. Bless your family, Jill! I love your blog.
Thank you so much, Amy! I’m praising God that your husband is cancer free!!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Dandelion Root Hot Chocolate
I already left a comment, but I wish I had gone through all the sites first. There are some really great sites part of this – thanks for leading us to them. For our family we would use the money in part to do Christmas presents and the other part I might tuck away for a rainy day. Our rainy day fund is depleted and its so important to have one. Thanks again for the great blog post, the great tips you give (and the other sites I visited give) Merry Christmas.
Feel free to leave as many comments as you wish – I love hearing from you! 😉 I’m so glad you’ve found more sites you love. Merry Christmas!
Jill York recently posted…Homemade Christmas Simmering Pot Recipe + $500 Cash Giveaway!
oh my… $500 would help my husband get a new car as we are just waiting for his to die and he drives many hours a week for his job.
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Praying the Lord provides the vehicle you need, Tascha! Merry Christmas to your family! Great to hear from you. 🙂
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It would bless our family by having a debt-free Christmas!
Debt-free is definitely the way to go!
Jill recently posted…My Review of Essential Oil Pain Relief Blend
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it! Much better than burning Bath and Body works candles 🙂
Thanks for participating in the Giveaway. I followed a lot of people that look like they put out some good stuff!
I do agree that it’s better than not-so-safe candles. 🙂 Glad to hear you found others to follow! Great to hear from you, Mindy! Merry Christmas to you all! 🙂
Jill recently posted…Kratom: A Powerful Pain-Relieving Herb
Love the recipe scent of Christmas. The $500 would help in many ways with something. But for this Christmas coming up would like to help my dad with a few things he has been wanting to get done for past couple years cause he has done so much for me.
That is wonderful! I sure do owe a lot to my parents too. <3
This money would bless us by going toward homeschool costs.
Best wishes!
After spending 3 days in the hospital with my daughter, $500 would help alleviate the medical bills that will be coming our way. Thank you for the opportunity to win!
Prayed for her- so glad she’s home!
I can’t wait to try the simmering pot recipe! I know the giveaway will be a blessing to whomever wins it 🙂 (Especially around Christmas time when finances can be tight for everyone.) Thanks for the opportunity!
Thanks for entering!
We are a family of seven with my husband being the sole provider. $500 would help a lot! =) Thanks for the giveaway!
This would bless my family because we do not spend alot on Christmas! Thanks for this Amazing Giveaway
This money would indeed be a blessing this year. We’ve had a couple rough months and it would be a great help to my family.
Cant wait to tell my wife about this, she will love it!
Times are tough this year so this win would be a little Christmas miracle 🙂
We would use it for our homeschool curriculum.
I can’t wait to try the recipe. I have been thinking a little crockpot would be the way to go. I want to try your DIY Lung formula too. The $500.00 would help out our family so much this year. Thank you so much for the giveaway.
The lung formula is so effective for us – I definitely recommend! 🙂
I love the “smell of Christmas” recipe!! Thank you!
Also, for the contest, the winnings would definitely bless my financial aspect of a missions trip I’m planning on taking later this Summer. Missions is my heartbeat! I lived and worked in a church in Scotland for a year, and this Summer, I’m hoping to head back to help for a couple months to be of assistance during a huge event over there!!
How wonderful! God bless you with a prosperous trip!
Thanks for having this great giveaway for Christmas!!
You’re welcome, Nancy!
What a great opportunity to possibly win so thanks for that!! I’d love to be able to just get caught up on bills and have little extra for to splurge on my family…it’s been so long since we’ve been able to enjoy the holidays giving gifts to each other so that’s what I would do 🙂
Merry Christmas, Lisa. Wishing you the best!
Thank you for the opportunity to win this gift! It will come in handy to bless my children as well as give a bigger gift to my pastor and wife who are adopting!
How wonderful to share!
Any one of your readers would be blessed to whom this generous giveaway! Thank you!
Since switching to Norwex I’ve been looking for natural ways to fragrance my home.
Very generous, I could expand on my herbal skills and supplies to keep us all healthier.Thank You for the chance to receive this gift.