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How to Make Your own Liquid Potpourri and other good stuff!

By Arlene Wright-Correll

There are often many items that you see in the stores that are expensive, but charming and a pleasant addition to ones home such as candles, fragrant potpourri, sachets, and gel fresheners. They are not hard to make. Plus they are pretty reasonable to make.

I cannot imagine the world without out scents and fragrances. The Egyptians washed down their barges with scented water. We all remember seeing a movie at one time or another with Romans strewing flowers before a procession. Even today, some little girl at a wedding might be doing the same.

When one hears the word potpourri, one thinks of a mixture of flowers, spices and other fragrant items. Literally translating the word from the French it means rotten pot! The French originally made pot-pourri by curing or fermenting layers of salt with fresh or semi-dried petals and whole flowers in a crock, thus creating an exceptionally strong and ever-lasting scent.

Potpourris can be made moist or dry and their main ingredient is traditionally roses. In Colonial times, the most popular form of potpourri was a moist mixture, consisting of wilted flowers, mainly roses, layered with salt, bay leaves, brown sugar, and brandy.

After the crock was filled, a weight was placed on top of the mixture and it was stirred periodically. The finished potpourri was kept in a rose jar, and when a room was cleaned, the jar was opened to perfume the air because ventilation was considered unsafe.

One can make ones own gel fresheners by using the concentrated liquid potpourri (1 cup) instead of water and essential oils. You can buy your concentrated liquid potpourri at the local "dollar" store so the investment is small and one usually does not have any problems with mold growing. The directions are as follows:
1 c. concentrated liquid potpourri
2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin
Empty jar
Put liquid potpourri in an old pot and bring almost to a boil.
Remove from heat and add 2 envelopes of gelatin.
Stir to dissolve gelatin and pour into clean decorative jar.
Place piece of plastic wrap over jar and secure with rubber band. Either place in refrigerator for quick set or leave out overnight on counter.
Cover with piece of starched "lace" and wrap with ribbon to decorate.
Before using, remove plastic wrap and recover jar with lace cover. You may want to tie a small ribbon with a card giving the instructions about removing plastic wrap.
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