Holiday Scents for Your Home

Welcome back to Day 3 of my 12 Days of Christmas blog series! How are you enjoying it so far?

One of the BEST things about the holidays – in my opinion – are the smells. Think pine, cinnamon, freshly baked cookies. How much better can it really get? Not much. If blogs had scratch n sniff around the holidays, you better believe I’d wear out my scratching finger.

There’s nothing more welcoming and cozy than walking into a house and being greeted by the sweet smell of cookies or the bright and earthy smell of a freshly chopped tree. Living in a state that doesn’t often get as cold as most would associate with the holiday season, these classic smells are a surefire way to get you into the spirit of the season in no time. To me, this is what Christmas smells like and I ain’t mad at it.

I’ve incorporated a few of these beloved holiday scents into my home this year and today I’m sharing how you can too.  So grab a cup of cocoa and we’ll scratch n sniff together!

For the last many years we’ve rocked the fake tree and while it isn’t messy, it’s cost effective, what it does lack is the smell. Why can’t they make a pine scented Christmas tree?! Or do they?! (Googling now)

Every year I usually try out a few pine-scented candles but they always ended up smelling like old men’s cologne. #thanksbutnothanks. This year though, I totally found a winner. I snuck in to Target on Black Friday at like 3pm – way after all the crazies left – and perused the aisles looking at all the Black Friday merchandise that was left over. I was casually strolling down the home décor aisles when I spotted a sign as I passed by notating that all candles were 50% off. Picture me, beep, beeping my way back down the aisle in reverse to check out the options. This is when I found the Nordic Pine candle for 50% off and decided to give it a try. Let me just say that I won’t ever use another pine scented candle again. Again! We’re only half way through December and I’m already half way through my second candle – it’s that good and I burn it that much. 

I use this candle on my coffee table in our glass hurricane and when someone walks in the door and smells the fresh pine scent, it totally makes up for having a fake tree.

Besides candles, one of the other ways to make your home smell Christmas-y is with a stove top simmers. This is a set it – and forget it type of project. I just fill a pot with water, throw in a few ingredients, and put it on the stove to simmer. A stove top simmer is great to put on if you’re hosting a gathering but I do it on the weekends too. Every once in a while you’ll want to check the water level and add to it as necessary but I’ll even use the same mixture a few days in a row. It’ll look all gross and nasty at the end but it’ll fill your whole house with a continual fragrance that just gets better and better.

Here are a few of my all time favorite Christmas-time concoctions:

Orange and Cranberry

Throw in some sliced oranges, a handful of cranberries, 2-3 cinnamon sticks, and a little drizzle of vanilla extract for the perfectly spicy-sweet holiday scent.

Lemon and Rosemary

The combination of sliced lemons, rosemary, vanilla extract, and cloves is the perfect concoction for a super fresh and clean scent, The addition of cloves gives it that holiday kick!

Apples and Cinnamon

This scent is my go-to holiday scent. Sliced apples, 2-3 cinnamon sticks, and some evergreen branches all mix together for traditional blend of holiday yumminess. You can't go wrong with this mix!

Any 4 of these options will fill your home with the most glorious holiday scent and put you right in the holiday spirit. I hope you try one of these suggestions and if you do, be sure to let me know how much you love it!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another holiday topic- it's a good one - gift wrapping ideas!