Stove top scents!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season and have hopefully managed to get most of their shopping done. I still have a ton do buy and do but it will all get done sooner then later I hope :). I'm not sure what the appropriate name for this would be, so I'm just calling it Stove top scents. This scent will fill your entire home with the most beautiful scent just perfect for the Holidays. The best part is its extremely cheap to make and almost all the ingredients were already in my pantry! Who doesn't love stuff when its almost FREE?! Here are the ingredients I used for this stove top scent but you can honestly change it to how ever you want your home to smell.

•Apple Juice (optional, I used about 2 cups worth)
•Water, just enough to fill the pot about 3/4 of the way after adding the apple juice
•Orange Zest (as much as you can get off that sucker!)
•Orange slices (I only used half the orange)
•Apple slices (I only used am half again)
**Fresh Cranberries would be wonderful in this as well!**
•About 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice.
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract
•1 tablespoon whole cloves

Place all your spices into a big pot on the stove and set the heat to high. Cook on high just until it starts to boil. Once it starts boiling, turn down to a low simmer and cook how ever long you want :) You want to make sure you keep your eye on the pot, if the water starts to get low you need to continue to add water, do not let all the water evaporate out. This pot of scents will last you about a week. YES! A whole WEEK! I haven't had it going a week, only one day but Ive done some research and every thing I have read said you can keep the mixture for a week and it will continue to smell amazing the whole week.

Remember, there are tons of options to this! Any spices you have that you think would create the scents you want your home filled with, add them! You could even probably add any scent oils if you have any of those. The options are endless! And you can use as much or as little as you want. Use less if you want a more subtle smell and use more if you want to make sure everyone smells it right when they first walk into your home. Either way you will be so happy you tried this! Happy Holidays Everyone!

Lauren Holmes