DYI - How Make Your Own Natural Potpourri

You might know that I teach creative workshops, I focus on pattern design classes now but a little while back when I was running crafty Hen Parties I used to teach natural perfume classes. I loved blending the essential oils to help people create their own handmade signature scent. Since then I've had a bit of a love affair with essential oils. I use them on a daily bases in baths, as a muscle rub and as a pillow spray to help me relax before bed.

You may think that potpourri is reserved for old folks but it is actually a wonderfully natural way to scent your home. You can create a custom blend to suit your own taste and avoid all those nasty chemicals found in air fresheners. Whether you prefer citrus, woody or floral scents potpourri is a perfect way to add in a natural freshness to your bathroom.

What you’ll need:

Dried flowers like rose petals, lavender, chamomile or geranium

Dried herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme or lemon balm

Dried fruit like lemon, orange, apple or bergamot

Your favourite essential oils

A fixative like Orris root helps to preserve the fragrance of the herbs and flowers

A mason jar

A pretty bowl to store the mix in

You can either dry out your own fruit, herbs and flowers in a warm dark place for two weeks or in a low temperature oven for an hour. If you would prefer to buy the ingredients already dried you can find them online or at your local florist. If you're a real nature lover you can also forage for your own ingredients, I wish I could do that in London but I don't really know where to start! If you're collecting your own herbs and flowers always pick the freshest ones you can find make sure they're not bruised. 

Place all your dried ingredients in a mason jar. Add 6 drops of your favourite essential oils to every cup of dried potpourri mix. Keep the mix in the closed jar for a few weeks to allow the scent to penetrate the dried plants.

Once the blend has soaked up the essential oils you can pour the mix into your favourite bowl to display in your bathroom. Store any unused potpourri in an airtight container in a cool dark place until needed.

Why not make up a few different blends so you can switch the scents up every few weeks? Homemade potpourri also makes the perfect gift. 

My favorite mix is dried lavender with chamomile flowers, starflower, geranium oil, patchouli oil and dried mandarin. This mix makes for a very woody but freshly floral blend. It smells a lot like the Tom Ford perfumes, heaven!

Let me know if you give this DIY potpourri a go.