It is amazing how when we notice the scent of an object we can take such pleasure from it. Often, smells remind us of pleasurable events of the past or poignant moments in our lives. For example, a briny smell may bring back memories of a surf laden seaside holiday, roses of our granny’s garden, coffee of lazy mornings reading the paper.

Aromas have long since been used to fragrance rooms and areas of houses and gardens to evoke different feelings for example of calm or freshness and alertness.

Spices and fruit and other fragrances can be combined to create more complex aromas.

One of the activities we are trying at Lindengate is aromatic orange pomanders as decorations/ room fresheners.

All that is needed are oranges and cloves. Ribbons are optional and can be used to both decorate the orange and create a loop from which to hang the orange from.The number of cloves that you use depends how strong the balance between the two smells you prefer and how many cloves you have at hand.

If you wish to decorate the orange with ribbon double sided sticking tape is effective in securing the ribbon in a cross shape around the orange first. It is a little fiddly so an extra pair of hands comes in useful – perhaps a family member can help out

The cloves can be pushed into the orange’s peel in a pattern in between the ribbons. If you are not using ribbons you can use the whole surface of the orange for the cloves.

If you use larger oranges the cloves may not penetrate the skin totally so there will be less orange and more clove scents released. On a smaller orange more orange aroma will be noticed.

The finished oranges can be hung up or placed on a surface – always make sure that if oranges are placed directly on surfaces that you put them on a coaster or the equivalent so that any juices that are released do not affect whatever they are standing on.

Don’t like oranges?? Why not try other citrus fruit such as limes or lemons? They may not be as easy to hang up but can be used on table tops etc for decoration.

Enjoy experimenting with these lovely aromas.