The scent of fall is in the air, and, we are checking off another item from our fall harvest bucket list with incredible potpourri!
“Making potpourri Is multi-sensory art. You want the dried materials to look pretty together and relate to a season or holiday. You can blend your own fragrances or buy a pre-mixed oil blend. Either way, you end up with the heavenly scents you love all season long.
You can make potpourri from foliage you find in your neighborhood, or you can buy dried flowers from a craft store. But naturally dried foliage often turns brown, so the makers of Commercial potpourri often enhance certain elements for color.
We are going to do that too. But we are selecting which elements we want to enhance for color. Like these hydrangeas for example. You can use the Floral Paint Black Cherry to spray them and you have the control over whether you want them to be just a little enhanced or rich dark color. Black Cherry looks great with browns and oranges (or in this case, peach), so this is a good choice for a harvest mixture.
Another tool you want to have on hand is a cardboard box to put your flowers in and catch any overspray. I recommend you wear protective eye goggles when spraying.
I’m painting these little dried “Lamb’s Ears” flowers, peach.
And I’m going to show you how to preserve these magnolia leaves using Mod Podge. They will stay a beautiful green
In addition to looking beautiful, there are many different potpourri fragrances. You can buy pre-blended or make your custom scents.
You can buy pre-blended fragrances from any craft store or online. And some of the fragrances are perfect for creating a harvest atmosphere in your home: Apple Cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie, etc. You can also buy pure scents and mix them yourself.
And, you can blend your own by starting with a stabilizer or fixative. We are using Valerian Root. The Valerian root will absorb the fragrance and keep it fragrant for months. Valerian is a musky scent and is perfect for Harvest Season. The fragrances I chose to go with our Harvest blend are: Angelica, Cedarwood, Orange, Patchouli, Pine, lavender, rosemary, and cinnamon
Valerian has also been used as a medicinal herb for centuries.
I chose the Valerian root because it is highly absorbent and holds on to fragrance really well. It does have a musky earthy scent that will function as the base note for the fragrance. It is also inexpensive and comes in a chopped-up form as well as powder.
Using the chopped-up Valerian root as a fixative is better than Valerian powder because powder tends to cover the leaves and dried flowers and look chalky. You can find it online or at a health food store
We are going to add some drops of essential (or fragrant) oil. It is a pre-blended mix. You can make your own depending on what scents you like.
Assemble your potpourri using the heaviest materials as a base.
Cover the freshly scented potpourri with plastic and put away in a cupboard for 2 weeks so the scent can become "Fixed"
If you "cure" your potpourri in covered plastic for two weeks your scent can last for many months. When the scent weakens, refresh with a few drops of the fragrance oil.
Get more from Shirley at EdenMakers.com
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