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Potpourri Recipes
Aromatherapy Potpourri Recipes
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| Handmade
potpourri created using dried roses from my garden (shown in
McCoy Capri pottery from the 1950s). |
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Introduction: Unscented plant materials such as whole flowers,
petals, leaves, pine cones, and wood chips can usually be purchased
from stores and online vendors that sell an array of herbal or craft
items. It's even more fun to dry your own garden-picked flowers,
petals, leaves and pine cones to make your own special potpourri.
Drying Your Own Flowers and Other Materials: The best way that
I have found to dry your own flowers and plant material is to use
a dehydrator. This not only speeds up the drying process, but the
natural fragrance of the flowers and plant material is often retained.
It also helps preserve the shape of the flowers and drastically
reduces the likelihood of mold/rot occurring with your items as
you dry them. The best type of dehydrator for making potpourri is
one that has a fan and a temperature control. But any cheap dehydrator
should work (I've seen cheap introductory ones for $20 US in some
stores).
An easy way to find fresh flowers and other items suitable for drying
is to check your own flower garden or back yard. Ask your local
florist if they'll save and inexpensively sell you flowers with
broken stems. Roses with missing petals are great for potpourri
because you can pluck all the remaining petals, dry them and turn
them into potpourri. To dry potpourri in a dehydrator, trim and
clean (as appropriate for the items you are drying) your flowers,
petals, etc. and place them in the dehydrator. Don't let the items
touch each other. The type of material that you are drying, the
air humidity and your brand of dehydrator will all contribute to
the length of time it will take to dry your potpourri materials.
Dry the material until it is thoroughly dry, otherwise mold can
occur. Flowers and petals should feel crisp. It is best to allow
your items to cool before determining whether they are done. Be
sure to follow all safety and usage instructions for the model of
dehydrator that you use.
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Making the Potpourri Essential Oil Blend: Choose one of
the blends shown here and add your oils to a dark colored
glass bottle and mix well by rolling the bottle in between
your hands. By making a small quantity of your chosen blend,
you can later "refresh" your potpourri later by
adding more drops of your blend. You of course can also experiment
with your own blends of oils or browse through AromaWeb's
Aromatherapy Recipes to explore
other blends. It is suggested that your blends include essential
oils or absolutes that are considered "fixatives."
Fixatives are oils or materials that increase the "staying
power" of the aroma. Oils that have fixative properties
include Benzoin,
Cedarwood,
Frankincense,
Myrrh, Oakmoss
Absolute, Patchouli,
Peru Balsam,
Sandalwood
and Vetiver.
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Blend #1
An exotic, citrus blend:
Blend #2
A citrus blend with a lovely floral hint:
Blend #3
A wonderful Christmastime blend:
Blend #4
A warming spicy blend:
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Scenting Your Potpourri: Mix your desired
assortment of flowers, petals, leaves, wood chips, etc. Choose a
bowl that you would like to display your potpourri in and place
your potpourri into this bowl. Choosing glass or glazed ceramic
bowls work best as the essential oils can absorb into porous surfaces.
Using a pipette, dropper or the orifice reducer that may be built
into your blending bottle, sprinkle 5-8 drops of your blend onto
your potpourri. Based on the strength of the chosen blend and the
amount of your potpourri materials, you may need to adjust the number
of drops that you use. When the aroma weakens, add more drops of
the blend to refreshen the aroma.
 
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