The Cold, the Snow, and Natural Air Fresheners.

   In the last thirty-six hours it has gone from -14 to a balmy 24 degrees...a veritable heat wave! Since my son-in-law graciously brought wood in for me this morning, I don't have to go out (unless I choose too) and can enjoy the beautiful view from the warmth of my house. It's currently snowing (again) and they are predicting another 12-18 inches on top of what we already have. It's very beautiful and looks like Christmas!
   Since I've decided to stay inside, I thought I would be productive and clean the house. I don't care for artificial cleaning products or air fresheners for a number of reasons. First, they contain way to many mysterious chemicals which cause me concern, they are expensive, and lastly, they don't really smell that good in my opinion. My number one favorite air freshener is made from three simple, inexpensive ingredients: orange peels, cinnamon sticks and whole cloves.

   We eat a lot of oranges around here so there is no shortage of peels. I just throw them into a bowl and cover them until I need them. Whole cloves can be bought for a dollar or under at most stores, and since we aren't ingesting this I am not concerned with buying expensive cinnamon sticks. I have found that  the local dollar stores sell a good sized bag of them in their craft section. Take the spices and peels and throw them in a pot , fill it with water, and put it on your wood stove or kitchen range. Once it heats up the heavenly aroma will permeate your house without giving you a headache or putting a dent in your pocket book like commercial sprays.

   You can also fill large bowls with natural fixings and place them in different rooms for a constant, gentle waft of aromatherapy. 

  The bowl I used is a large pottery saucer that you set a flower pot on; it's heavy and I'm not concerned about it absorbing any odor from the scented mixture that I've used. The filler that looks like tiny pumpkins (aren't they cute?) are called putka pods and can be found at Michael's craft stores. I simply scented them with plain cinnamon. I dried some orange slices in my food dehydrator and tied them onto bundles of cinnamon sicks with some raffia. I made the miniature bundt cakes out of beeswax and rubbed them with cinnamon and cloves. Besides the great smell and aesthetic appeal (I love primitives) I had  great fun making all of it! You certainly can't say that about store bought products! I shall now leave you with our daily song :)