Orange and Clove Pomander
It's December. Snow has turned downtown Seattle into a deserted winter wonderland, and those of us transplanted from cooler climbs are settling in for a day of reminiscing and storytelling.
There's something about the first snow fly that signals the official start of the holiday season and brings out the giddy five year old in me; and, there's something about feeling five that gives me permission to break out the paste and craft scissors.
This simple craft project requires nearly no supplies and is just as fun to make as a kid as an adult. Today, kids (young and old, alike), we'll be making pomanders. A 'pomander' is, essentially, something that you hang to make things smell nice. You can customize them simply and easily by changing up the ribbon or string you use to hang them, or using different fruits. An additional benefit: They make awesome gifts! You don't even have to wrap it, just slip it in a nice satchel and voila—instant wrapping.
Orange and Clove Pomander
Ingredients:
1 orange
Dried whole cloves
Decorative ribbon or string
Instructions:
1. When selecting an orange (or other fruit) try to find one that doesn't have a thick skin. Fruit where the skin and fruit are easily separated (e.g. clementines) are less desirable mostly for aesthetic reasons.
2. Wash off fruit.
3. Center your length of string at the top of the fruit, wrap around to the bottom, and then, crossing the strings to lock them, give the fruit a half turn and wrap the ribbon back up to the top of the fruit. Tie off.
4. Take a dried clove an press it, stem first, into the fruit—avoiding the ribbon, and puncturing the skin—until the bud is resting on the rind. Place the next clove close to the first and repeat.
5. Continue this process until the fruit is covered with cloves.
6. Spiff up your pomander with different ribbons, bows, and other accessories.
7. Hang and enjoy the scent of fresh citrus and clove.
Tips:
1. Place fresh fruit some place warm until it dries, then the pomander can continue to be used indefinitely. You can even toss one in your sock drawer to make it smell nice and keep moths away.
2. Experiment with different fruits for varying scents.
--Amanda Luthy
Marilyn Terrell on December 19, 2008 at 09:44 PM
This part: "Take a dried clove and press it, stem first, into the fruit—avoiding the ribbon, and puncturing the skin—"
It's not as easy as it sounds.
Jules on December 19, 2008 at 11:05 PM
Lovely! I'd love to give these a try.
michelle on December 20, 2008 at 02:15 PM
I was making these during the Thursday snow as well! The trick to cheating is to use a fork. When I want to keep my lines strait I reuse one of the four holes as a guide. Additional tip: although mandrin/clementines are smaller & require fewer cloves, they are much lower on citrus acid & are not as fragrant :(