Those of you who know me, know I’m obsessed with Pinterest. From DIY crafts to decorating ideas, to humorous quotes, you can usually count on finding me perusing the numerous links on Pinterest on my iPhone. (Don’t you just love technology nowadays?)
Anyway, one of the “pins” that struck me the most was a link from Morgan’s blog. In my old home, I had tons of those plug-in air fresheners with the oil attachments to make my house smell good. In the back of my mind, I always wondered what exactly I was inhaling (and suffering my dear husband and poor puppy to inhale as well). Imagine my delight when I came across Morgan’s blog! Morgan once worked at William Sonoma and took this AMAZING recipe with her. I (mostly) followed her recipe.
It made my house smell D-I-V-I-N-E! I thought I’d pass along my findings onto you as well. Here goes:
First you’ll need one lemon and a few sprigs of rosemary. Slice the lemon as shown. I actually used one and a half sprigs of rosemary. I love the smell of rosemary, but too much can be a little too much. I’m more of a citrus person :)
Now this is the part that was tricky to photograph. I placed the lemon slices (rind included!) and the rosemary sprigs into boiling water. Morgan instructed to put the ingredients into the water before it boiled. I chose to apply heat (and bring the water to a boiling point) so that the yumminess would start sooner! The steam kept fogging up my camera :( Although the lemon slices look blanched, trust me they were still bright yellow.)
At this point I had to turn off the burner (for the sake of an unfogged photo). I actually went ahead and added 2 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract (we weren’t drinking it, so why the heck not?). This really pulled together the delightful aroma of the concoction. Even my husband commented on how good it smelled!
This definitely turned out to smell very sophisticated and not at all overwhelming. Next time I do this I am going to use oranges, as I LOVE orange scents in the cleaning products I use! I once was stopped dead in my tracks walking through the mall by the mesmerizing orange essence fragrance teasing through The Body Shop’s door!
What are your thoughts? Would you use lime? How about mint instead of rosemary? It won’t be “William Sonoma,” but that won’t matter. What will matter is that you’ll have a natural, non-toxic home fragrance in your home instead of a chemical VOC-laden toxic that may aggravate allergies within your family.
Leah Casto says
I really enjoyed reading this blog post! Great tips, easy to follow instructions, and great photos to compliment the post.
Kimberly Hildebrand says
Dear Miss Northern Belle,
I LOVE your blog and the way your share thoughts and ideas! I can’t wait to share your blog with others and try your great suggestions! Congratulations to you on this amazing endeavor.
Susan says
How do you use the brew once you put it all together – just stove top – like boiling cinnamon sticks etc. ? I need scent in my entire house! (pets and smoking) Can I spray it safely on carpet or bedding to freshen the bedrooms and/or into the toilet or bathtub, etc. to freshen the bathroom?
Lisette says
Hi Susan,
I’ve never sprayed it anywhere. I’ve only just boiled the mixture on the stovetop. It was good the second day as well!
Susan says
I want to turn you onto an air freshener (spray – all natural , non-aerosol) Pure Citrus !! O M G !! It’s not cheap, around $5.+/- per can – but it SMELLS like you just cut up an orange!!! Can says Eliminates Odors Naturally.
I got mine at Kroger AND at Walmart. TRY IT ! I love orange too.
Lisette says
I love orange! I’ll look for it!
Wendy M says
I tried making this this afternoon. I’m all out of rosemary,so I went outside and clipped a couple of little twigs from our pine tree. No lemons, so I sliced an orange instead. I also added some vanilla extract, allspice berries and a stick of cinnamon. My goodness this smells divine! There will be a pot of this brewing on my stove this Christmas for sure!
Kori Hand says
Dumb question, but how long did you let it burn? The scent remained how long after turning heat off? Did you leave in pot and just keep re-heating? Was curious how many uses/days you got out of this? Also if it would work in a crock pot type setting–I have one of those mini ones that came free with my big crock. Thinking of making this up and turning on the mini crock for the day when I have company over. Full of questions, but I guess I’m just gonna experiment at my house on Saturday at my mom’s birthday gathering–although steamed crabs/old bay smell may overwhelm no matter what! And that’s an okay smell for a little while, too! (we’re in Maryland, as well!)
PS–I just love that I found your blog! Husband has set-in oil stains on ALL of his shirts–no exaggeration. Big belly catches everything! Fresh towels–BAM! And dryer screen–never knew! What a difference! Husband replaced our burn unit already in a brand new dryer. I use 4 or 5 sheets per load to get the smell I love.. oops! THANK YOU is all I can say!
Lisette says
I only let it simmer for a few hours at a time. I used the rest only for the next day. After that, the citrus rinds don’t smell as good. I hope that helps :)
Happy laundering :)
Sandra McPherson says
Hi, great ideas you have shared. I have 2 questions. Firstly will it keep it in a spay bottle, if so for how long will it keep its scent. Lastly if I use orange instead of lrmons can you suggest something else other t han Rosemary, I was think of 1 or 2 cloves but i really have no idea. Your help would be awesome.
Blessings
Sandra
Roni says
This is a lovely idea, but I’m confused that you are dedicated to this lovely natural solution
when you also use detergent with fragrance. One of the most toxic elements in our
country are the cheap scents that permeate detergent, fabric softeners, air “fresheners”,
and countless other products. These synthetic scents contribute to a number of health
problems including the advance of asthma.