Make Your Own Potpourri at Home

Many people believe that you’re able to enjoy the bouquets you receive as a present is for a limited time – while they’re alive on your dining room table. Even changing the water, placing your blooms in the refrigerator or using old wives’ tricks to prolong the life of the flowers can only keep them alive for so long. However, even after your flowers have begun to die, you can preserve them for a variety of projects. Try taking your fall flowers and turning them into potpourri to keep for yourself or give as a gift this holiday season!

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How to Dry Flowers for Potpourri
Making potpourri isn’t as simple as letting your flowers die and spraying them with perfume. There’s an art to making a perfect creation. If you’re making it out of flowers that you’re enjoying for their aesthetic value, wait for the flowers to droop slightly to snip them off of the stems. Don’t let them to get too droopy though. Bruised or damaged flowers may not be able to absorb enough essential oil. There are a few methods for drying these petals:

• On a tray: If you live in a warm climate, you can dry your flowers on a windowsill in the sun. Place them on a tray and cover them with a paper towel. Each day, flip the petals over. Do this until the petals feel slightly brittle, but not crumbly. It will likely take a couple of weeks.
• In the oven: If you want to expedite the process of drying your flowers, simply place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 2 hours.
• Hang them: Hanging your flowers is a classic way to dry them. However, this process takes quite a bit longer. To do this, leave your blooms on the stems, and hang them upside down in a warm place. Once the flowers are dry, you can remove them from the stems.

Ingredients for Homemade Potpourri
While dried flowers are absolutely essential to your potpourri, they’re not the only option when it comes to making your creation beautiful. Try adding some savory herbs, if you don’t want your potpourri to smell to sweet or floral, and spices. If you decide to dry your flowers by baking the blooms in the oven, you can even dry some slices of citrus or cinnamon sticks along with it.

You’ll want to decide what kind of scent you’d like your potpourri to take on. This is how you determine which essential oils you use.  If you’d like something sweet, for an autumnal potpourri, try a warm vanilla essential oil and cinnamon or clove. If you want something for the holidays, a good option is mint. For all-year use, lavender is always a good choice. Rather than saturating your potpourri with oil, add the oil to a spray bottle filled with water, and mist the potpourri. Don’t add too much at first – it’s easier to add more scent later than to take the smell away.

Packaging for Potpourri
Packaging your potpourri is another opportunity to get creative! Many people enjoy having multiple sachets of potpourri that they can use at their leisure, in suitcases, drawers or other places that could benefit from a little bit of scent. You can purchase pretty sachet bags at your local craft store, or you can keep a bowl of potpourri out in the open. If you choose to make sachets, be sure to store ones that aren’t currently in use in an airtight container so they don’t lose their smell.

While we know that your flowers won’t last forever, we love sharing ways that you can get the most out of your bouquets. We think you should be able to enjoy them for as long as possible.