Holiday Craftiness

I'm sure you've seen scented pine cones for sale at Michael's, Target, Home Depot and a number of other places. They smell like Christmas, and look wonderful and rustic simply piled into a bowl. I can tell you from my own experience that the ones from Home Depot lose their scent in about a week, while the ones from Michael's last past New Year's Day. So, so if you must buy them, I recommend Michael's. But the question I'd ask is...why buy them at all, when pine cones are free? They literally fall from trees, people!

You can either refresh the pine cones you purchased last year (this is what I'm doing), or you can go gather them fresh from beneath your nearest pine tree. Look for different sizes and shades. To scent about 2 pounds of cones, all you need is:

• 3 ounces of cinnamon oil, or nutmeg oil, or BOTH
  
• 1/2 pound of cinnamon sticks
  
• a small paint or pastry brush (preferably an old one, as you won't be able to use it for pastry again)
  
• a heavy duty plastic garbage bag

Brush the pine cones with your essential oil and place them in the garbage bag with your cinnamon sticks. If you have any leftover oil, just sprinkle the rest around in the bag. Then seal the bag tightly, gently toss, and let it sit! Leave it sealed for at least a week, or better yet, for a few weeks, gently tossing now and then.

I'm going also going to add dried orange peels to my mix. You can experiment with different essential oils, too - like allspice, orange, vanilla or clove. I like how they look in a big glass jar with a few colored ornaments.

There you have it - an easy and virtually FREE centerpiece for your table that smells yummy to boot! Let me know if you like this idea.