What is Pot Pourri?

What to do with flowers when they start to lose their luster and eventually die? Well you could throw them out obviously. But what if they were sentimental flowers that you don't want to let go of? Well sometimes I take the petals and stick them in between the pages of thick books with the thought that someday I will use the dried, pressed flowers to make some type of artwork with (this is something my Mom did, and there weren't many books in our house that you could open without some old fern leaf or rose petal falling out of). 

This time I decided to dry my whole bouquet. I found a cute vase, tied a sash around the stems, and let the flowers dry in our kitchen for a few months (the eucalyptus in particular smells great dried). Next I decided to make some potpourri.

First, I grabbed a couple cute empty containers that I had laying around (I go thrifting a lot so I grab a lot of items like this for a $1 or $2 here and there). Here I have a cute little teapot and this pin cushion feeling round box, and a wooden hand painted cup.

Next, I crumpled up the flowers into a bowl. This is a little big messy and there were leaves and debris everywhere. I did this part outside on the deck.

There are a several ways to add more scent to the flowers. I chose to use ground cloves for half my potpourri (literally just sprinkled some throughout and mixed it all together with my fingers). This and ground cinnamon are perfect for a Fall/holiday scent. Another thing you can use is essential/fragrance oils. I have a bunch of these handy because I make candles, so I just grabbed another Autumn scent and sprinkled one or two drops into the dried flowers and then swirled it all around with my fingers (you do not need a lot of scent for it to quickly become overwhelming, so use sparingly).

Then I just filled my containers with the mixture and set out in different rooms around the house. With the leftover, I put in a plastic baggy to save or put in a drawer until I need some fresh potpourri!

*Potpourri comes from the French word for "rotten pot"

Here is a painting by Herbert James Draper of a woman making potpourri in 1800's