You know it makes sense to make your own homemade scents!
Sometimes there are odors in your house and you know where they come from, pets is a good example, but sometimes there’s that certain not-so-nice smell and you just don’t know where its coming from.
I sometimes get a whiff of a smell when I’ve just walked in through the front door and I have no clue what it is – all I want to know is how I can get rid of it!
During the summer it’s easy enough to open all of the windows and let the fresh air in, but during the other months its too cold to do that and so we tend to reach for the scented candles.
But you know what?
Although I do like scented candles I’m not their biggest fan, and can’t they be so bloody expensive!
I mean, up to $30 for a large Yankee candle. It’s a candle for goodness sake, it’s going to disappear!
Luckily, there are alternatives.
Enter…
Cheap DIY Home Scents
Although I list 9 homemade scents here, you can actually go on-and-on making your own different and unique versions.
When you see how easy these scents are made from everyday foodstuff, you’ll automatically get more creative and start compiling DIY fragrances based on your own personal smell preferences.
I’ve grouped them into two separate categories:
- Spring/Summer Fragrances
- Autumn/Winter Fragrances
It’s just to do with certain smells that we associate with certain seasons.
But of course, you can make any of these scents up anytime of the year you like.
So let’s get started with the Spring & Summer fragrances.
Spring & Summer Fragrances
#1 Rosemary, Lemon & Vanilla
- Combine fresh sprigs of rosemary, sliced lemon and some vanilla scent.
- Put in a pan of water and heat up
- Keep on a low simmer on stove. Keep an eye on the water evaporating
Alternatively:
- Cut up ingredients into tiny pieces
- Boil up in a pan of water
- Transfer some of the water and ingredients into an electric or candle oil burner
Examples of Oil Candle Burners
Click here to see more candle burners
#2 Water & Essential Oil Spray
- Get a spray bottle – you can purchase them inexpensively from Amazon
- Fill it with water
- Put 4-5 drops of your favorite essential oil in with the water
- Give it a good shake
- Spray it anywhere you like, especially on fabric items such as your couch, cushions, curtains, rug etc.
#3 DIY Gel Air Fresheners
- 3-4 cups water or 1 cup liquid potpourri
- 2 individual envelopes of unflavored gelatin
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 20 drops of your favorite essential oils (only if using water)
- Heat-safe containers such as mason jars
For creative decoration:
Directions:
- Heat the water or liquid potpourri in a saucepan
- Add in the salt
- Keep stirring until the salt is completely dissolved
- Slowly stir in the gelatin
- Keep stirring until the gelatin is also dissolved
- Take the pan off the stove
- Stir again until everything is full blended and smooth
- Pour into your mason jars
- Put the drops of your favorite essential oils (for water only)
- Use different oils for each container if you so wish
- Leave to cool to room temperature
Optional:
- Add in some food coloring
- Place silk flowers on top
- Put a lid on the containers and pierce holes in them, or
- Secure a cloth over the jars with a rubber band
A shout-out to Jillee of One Good Thing for this brilliant hack.
#4 Baking Soda Jars
- Put 1/2 cup of baking soda into a mason jar or any container
- Put in 6 drops of essential oil
- Put a lid on with holes or a cloth with rubber band
#5 Coffee Vanilla Scent
- Put some fresh coffee beans in a bowl
- Embed vanilla tea lights among the coffee beans
- The heat of the candles will warm the coffee beans
- The smell will resemble french vanilla coffee!
Autumn & Winter Fragrances
#6 Oranges/Apples & Cinnamon
- Fill pan with water and put on stove
- Let it lightly simmer
- Pop in some fresh slices of orange or apples
- Put in some cinnamon, either powdered or sticks
- Turn off stove and the smell will linger through your home
#7 Oil Scents & Pine-Cones
- Gather some fallen pine cones from your back garden or a local park
- Put them in a basket or pretty container
- Sprinkle a few drops of your favorite essential oil onto the pine cones
- The oil soaks into the wood and gives off a lovely lingering smell
#8 Orange & Whole Cloves
These are also known as Pomander Balls.
In case you’re not sure what Pomander balls are…
Apparently Medieval herbalists used pomanders; which are a mixture of fragrant, dried herbs place inside cloth bags or perforated boxes. This was to bring strength and good fortune and to also ward off illness.
Today however, Pomander balls are being used as decorative scent balls, especially at Christmas time.
All you do is get some whole cloves and pierce them into an orange. You can have a lot of fun and creative with this as you can make different patterns for each orange.
And as you can see from the above pic, you can also carve out a circle and place a tealight candle in. This will give an extra strong scent through the warmth of the candle.
#9 Cranberry & Orange
This is similar to #1 above in that you can put sliced oranges and cranberries into a pot of simmering water to give off a lovely Christmas scent.
You could also add other ingredients such as cinnamon sticks, pine sprigs, nutmeg, ginger etc..
Other Ingredients You Can Use
You could also use and/or replace these with any of the above scented recipes:
- Fresh lavender
- Fresh mint
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh thyme or basil
- Chili, cumin or any other ‘oriental’ spices
- Any of the aromatherapy oil scents
- Cherry’s and pears
Resources
These DIY home scents are an excellent way to make your house smell like an inviting home that no-one wants to leave!
And you know what else?
These lovely aroma’s area good for our mental health too. If you’re stressed or feeling low, then mix up a concoction of one of the above lovely smells and you’ll soon feel more calm and at peace.
