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Title: 5 Easy Ways to ‘Scentually' Decorate Your Holiday Home
Article Summary: Put the finishing touches to your holiday home with scents that will make the memories even better.
Word Count: 565
First Published: 2004

Contact Info:
Paula Polman
paula@TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs.com
780-270-8146 MST
Edmonton AB Canada


Nothing brings back memories better than the smells of the holidays. Family favourite recipes in the kitchen, the roaring fireplace, pine trees, hot chocolate, the smell of crisp fresh snow. Well now you can put the finishing touches to your holiday home with scents that will make the memories even better. Here's five simple, fast and very inexpensive things you can do with your family to have a home that smells as sensational as it looks.

1. Pinecone Centrepiece:
Seal 30-50 pine cones in a self-sealing bag and add your favourite holiday scent or essential oil. Seal and leave for 5-10 days. Pour into a twig basket decorated with mini-lights and bows. A beautiful scented centrepiece.

2. Aromatherapy:
Aromatherapy diffusers with holiday scented essential oils. Be sure to use your candle lit diffuser safely by placing it in spot that will not get it knocked over. Don't forget to add a couple of teaspoons of water to the diffuser dish before adding the scent or you'll burn the oil rather than diffuse it.

3. Pomander:
Make an old fashioned pomander and hang it in the hallway. First push a 2" screw into the stem end, leaving 1/2" sticking out the top. Then take a thick-skinned navel orange and lightly cut or score the whole surface of the peel (not into the fruit) a grid of small squares. Then push dried cloves into each intersection (cross) cut until the whole surface of the orange is covered in cloves. Tie a ribbon to the bit of screw sticking out the top and hang. Or wrap the clove studded orange in some tulle and tie off with a ribbon, then hang. Delicious.

4. Aromatic Hot Plate:
Mix a batch of your favourite herbs together with some dried rice (about 1:1). Sew a flat cotton bag, approximately 6"x6", leaving one end open. Fill it with the herbs and rice mixture so that when the bag lays flat it is about 1/2" thick. Sew the bag closed. You now have an aromatic hot plate to put your steaming hot dishes on the table with. The heat will release the herbal scent and get everyone's mouths watering.

5. Fresh Herb Wreath:
While fresh herbs may be hard to find, this one is well worth the hunt. Create a wire circle about 12-20" in diameter. The bigger the circle the more herbs you'll need, so judge for yourself how big you'll make it. Tie three equal length pieces of twine, braided twine, rope or other strong natural fibre rope to the circle on one end, and to a large ring (like on a keychain) on the other end. This is how you'll hang it. Find a spot in the kitchen preferably where you can hang this from the ceiling. Get your herbs and tie them into small bunches with fishing line or heavy thread, then tie the bunches around the wire circle until the circle is full. If you like a small branch of pine or twists of ivy from a close by plant can be placed on top of the circle to hide the thread & herb twig ends. As the herbs dry, your kitchen will smell amazing. If you can't get fresh herbs then get some fragrant dried herbs and tie them into a small muslin bag or several layers of cheesecloth then string them up. Decorate to your desire.

Paula Polman, B.Sc. ran a natural cosmetics and toiletries company for 6 years and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. She is now involved in offering online instructional courses for small business at The Learning Center for Entrepreneurs, supporting the growth of small business thorugh extended learning. Email her at paula [at] TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs [dot] com or visit http://www.TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs.com

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