The fall season is finally here and we all want to feel cozy and warm inside our homes. So, here is a fantastic and super Easy DIY Trick To Make Your Home Smell Like Fall the natural way, without artificial scents or fragrances. Fill your home with the aroma of the best-smelling season. Plus, keep reading after the recipe for some more amazing simmer pot recipes!
A DIY Trick That Will Make Your Home Smell Just Like Fall
This whole recipe came about because I was wondering, “What can I do with orange peels?” AND “What can I do to make my home smell more like fall?” It suddenly occurred to me that both questions had the same answer: make a simmer pot!
Do you know how certain smells bring back memories? This easy DIY recipe totally brings me back to my childhood when it was time for apple pie and my all-time favorite orange pound cake. Cinnamon and oranges are perfect fall scents that remind me of falling leaves, cool breezes, and family gatherings.
I live in Miami now, so I really do not get to experience the fall weather. But this DIY idea makes my home feel like fall and transports me to those precious memories.Indeed, research shows that odors are especially effective as reminders of past experience, much more so than cues from other senses, such as sights or sounds.
A particular smell can trigger a long-forgotten event or experience. Smells are also highly emotive, according to numerous studies.The point here is that there is just something magical in smells. Think about all the different smells that can evoke all sorts of feelings. Just like when we are cooking our favorite dishes.
Check out my Comfort Food Recipes if you also want to taste your memories and feed your soul. If you need a good laugh, you may also love these funny Halloween and Fall memes!
Artificial Scents Are Not The Best Choice
You are probably seeing lots of fall-scented candles in stores lately, but the truth is most of them are made of petroleum-based paraffin with artificial scents. Air fresheners are no better. I am very sensitive to fragrances and do not tolerate them. Strong perfumes or any other artificial scents make me sneeze right away.
There are lots of very popular scented products out there, but be careful because they contain an array of hazardous substances which may compromise your health. This is why making your own all-natural scents is really the best option.
There is nothing better than a natural scent for your home, one that is free of chemicals. Chemical sprays, plug-ins, and scented candles contain ingredients that have been linked with a raised risk of asthma in adults and children. If you want to learn more about the dangers of artificial scents, please click HERE.
A better and safer alternative for you and your family is definitely making your own fragrances. You won’t believe how easy it is to make your home smell like fall the old-fashioned way. The aroma is so cozy and calming. The best part is you only need two inexpensive ingredients.
Yes, it is that simple. A simmer pot recipe with orange peels and cinnamon is really all you need. That’s it! Your home will smell like Fall in minutes.
What You Need To Make Your Home Smell Like Fall
You can make your whole house smell incredible with this simple simmer pot recipe. It’s one of the best uses for orange peels ever! These comforting ingredients truly say “fall has arrived.” Get ready to experience an intense fall flavor that will transform your home and feed your soul with warm memories.
Ingredients
- Water
- A few orange peels
- A couple of cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- In a small saucepan with water and add the orange peels and cinnamon sticks. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat down to simmer. Medium heat is perfect.
- Within minutes your home will start to smell heavenly! Simmer for about 20 minutes then add more water if needed. I recommend simmering for about 40 minutes to an hour so the smell can last, but you can simmer for as long as you want.
- Bonus: When you’re done making your home smell like fall, drink the mixture as a tea. Orange peel tea is really good for you! In fact, a 2004 study found that it helps lower cholesterol better than some prescription drugs (and with far fewer side effects).
I just boiled this Easy DIY Trick To Make Your Home Smell Like Fall recipe. Let me tell you it is definitely worth it. My home feels and smells like Fall. And I absolutely LOVE it!
If I could only share the smell……………..
Your sense of smell is more powerful than you think, so give this easy DIY a chance and really feel this wonderful season. For other natural ways to make your home smell like fall, please see 7 DIY Natural Scents That Will Make Your Home Smell Like Fall. You will find more natural ways to put you in the mood for fall.
More Simmer Pot Recipes to Try If You Love the Smell of Autumn
You can even add more fall ingredients to this recipe. Play around with different ingredients and see which simmering pot recipe combinations make your favorite natural fall scent. Mine is plain simple, just orange and cinnamon is my favorite pair. Here are a few more ideas for your autumn simmer pots!
I didn’t include the exact proportions of each ingredient because don’t matter quite as much when you’re making potpourri. You just have to kind of feel it out (or smell it out). I did list them in order, though. So basically use a heavier hand with the first ingredient, then less of each ingredient down the line.
FYI, the rest of this post includes affiliate links where I added some recommended ingredients and supplies. If you buy anything through those links, I’ll earn a small fee at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
1. Mulled Cider Simmer Pot Recipe
This one has a pretty long ingredient list. If you have spice jars that only have a teeny bit left (not enough to use in a recipe), it’s a good way to use them up.
- Water
- Cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon
- Apple peels
- Vanilla (I prefer to use vanilla beans, but you can use extract if you want)
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Star Anise
- Cardamom spice
Oh! Another tip for this one: you can use apple cider in place of the water! I mention this because I once bought fresh apple cider from a farm stand that just didn’t really taste all that good. No one in my family liked it. But rather than just dump it out, I thought I could try it in a simmer pot recipe. Depending on how strong it is, you may not need some of the other ingredients. So start with the cider, “sniff out” what’s missing, and add them in one by one.
2. Pumpkin Spice Potpourri
I adapted this from Taste of Home’s homemade pumpkin pie spice recipe. Each ingredient uses half as much as the one before it. So if you use 4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, use 2 of ginger, one clove, and 1/2 of nutmeg.
- Water
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
3. Autumn Woods Simmer Pot Recipe
This one reminds me of the crisp-yet-earthy aroma of walking through the woods on a cool fall day. It’s not an exact match (turns out that the “autumn woods” scent comes from decaying leaves and cold air more than anything), but it’s as close as you can get without burning dead leaves on your stove (which I DO NOT recommend).
- Water
- Thyme
- Sage
- Coriander
- Rosemary
- Fenugreek (gives off a maple scent)
- Peppercorns (go light on these, you just want enough to give your potpourri a bit of a “fire burning in the distance” scent)
4. Gingerbread Potpourri
I usually think of gingerbread as more of a Christmas scent, but it’s also a major star in recipes that make your home smell like fall, too!
- Water
- Ginger (freshly grated is best, but ground works, too)
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Fenugreek (for the maple/molasses aroma)
5. Spiced Cranberry Fall Potpourri
This one reminds me of Thanksgiving!
- Water
- Cranberries
- Ground cinnamon
- Allspice
- Ginger
- Cloves
6. Cranberry-Walnut Bliss
Here’s another variation on the Thanksgiving simmer pot recipe above. It’s perfect if you love the scent of cranberries but don’t really like all of the other spices.
- Cranberry juice
- Fresh cranberries
- Chopped walnuts
- Vanilla extract
- Orange zest
7. Cozy Chai Simmer
So, you bought a box of chai tea bags because you love the scent, but then realized that you don’t really love the taste. No worries, you can use them all up in this delicious-smelling recipe!
- Almond milk (you can also use regular milk or even water)
- Chai tea bags (about 3)
- Honey
- Cinnamon sticks
- Vanilla extract
8. Maple-Bourbon Simmer Pot
Speaking of liking the smell of something more than the taste, I know A LOT of people who feel that way about Bourbon. If you’re one of them and you have a little airplane bottle of the famous Kentucky booze, try this recipe:
- Apple cider
- Maple syrup
- Bourbon
- Cinnamon sticks
- Whole allspice berries
9. Mulled Wine Magic
Another “boozy” aroma, this one is great if you were gifted a bottle of red wine that you’ll never drink.
- Red wine
- Honey
- Orange slices
- Whole cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
10. Pumpkin Cookies Potpourri
If you’re looking for how to make your house smell like cookies without actuallymaking the cookies, try this one! The scents of pumpkin, spices, and vanilla will combine to give your home a warm and cozy atmosphere reminiscent of freshly baked treats!
- Water
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Ground nutmeg
- Vanilla extract
- Chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
11.Pine Wonderland Holiday Simmer Pot Recipe
Since the bulk of the holiday season technically falls in, well, Fall, I thought it would be nice to add a few Christmas simmer pot recipes, too! This one will make your whole house smell like an old-fashioned Christmas tree (think Little House on the Prairie style)!
- Pine needles (fresh or dried)
- Juniper berries
- Rosemary sprigs
- Cinnamon sticks
12. Festive Forest Breeze Potpourri
This one smells just like a stroll through a Winter Wonderland!
- Cedar branches (fresh or dried)
- Juniper berries
- Cinnamon sticks
- Lemon slices
13. Peppermint Chocolate Delight
I love how this one reminds me of curling up with a cup of hot chocolate swirled with a candy cane!
- Peppermint extract
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla bean (split)
- Cinnamon sticks
14. Snickerdoodle Serenity Simmer
Another delicious Christmas cookie simmer pot, this one is very similar to the fall potpourri that started this whole post, but with just enough of a twist to make it more of a holiday scent.
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon sticks
- Nutmeg (grated)
- Orange peel
You can also add pretty much anything you want to the original boiled orange peels and cinnamon recipe!Think apple peels, whole cloves, lemon peels, rosemary, anise, and vanilla. Anything earthy or sweet goes.
Oh, by the way, if you don’t want to burn through your entire stash of spices, you can also use different teas! I have SO many naturally flavored tea bags in my cabinet that I bought on clearance or received as gifts and never got around to using. So I use those in place of some of the pricier ingredients.
Like, apples are crazy expensive these days, but I have almost an entire box of cinnamon apple tea that I can use instead. If you go this route, just know that you’ll need to use more than you would for a single cup of tea. You could just toss the bags into the water.Here are a few tea samplers that will give you plenty to work with for a fairly low price:
What to Use for Your Simmer Pots
Since my simmer pot recipes don’t use any artificial ingredients (or any inedible ingredients, for that matter), you can use any pot that you have on hand. A small saucepan works best, in my opinion. The downside, of course, is that you have to stick fairly close by since you should never leave a burning stove unattended.
Small Crock-Pots or other slow cookers work REALLY well as simmer pots that don’t need constant supervision. I like this one because it’s super affordable. You’ll need a bit more patience if you go this route, though. You have to let them heat up with the lid on. Once you start to see steam, though, you can remove the lid and let it continue simmering on low all day.
Remember you can make your home smell like fall without having to use artificial scents, and you will also be avoiding dangerous chemicals. In my case, making my own fragrances is the best way to avoid nasty allergy symptoms. No more sneezing!
So now you know that with just a few simple ingredients you can make your own wonderful Fall smell, and most importantly, you will feel amazing. Whip this amazing simmer pot recipe up the next time you find yourself wondering what to do with orange peels, apple peels, or teeny bits of leftover spices in the bottom of your jar!
Make Your Home Smell Like Fall Video Tutorial
Last update on 2022-11-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
