Three Easy Ways to Make your Home Smell Like Christmas

You did it! You knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but you found your best pair of stretchy pants and ate your way through Thanksgiving.  Just like how you should carbohydrate load before a marathon, I kind of see the Thanksgiving Dinner as a way to carb load before the Christmas season. All kidding aside, we know how special this time of year is, and how it's the sweet traditions that we all look forward to. Like the Christmas cards from friends and family you haven’t seen in awhile, the taste of that cookie your mom makes every year, driving around to see the Christmas Lights with hot cocoa in hand. Let’s not forget the smells of the season that bring back sweet memories and nostalgia of the past: fresh pine, sweet peppermint, warm chocolate, tart oranges, cinnamon and so many more. 

We here at the Frank house are a bit obsessed with smells, especially finding ways to make our home smell good all year around. Come the holiday season, we get to kick it up a notch. We have three easy ways to make your home smell like Christmas that we love, and we think you will love too! 

1. Festive Simmer Pots

One of the easiest and most effective ways to quickly infuse your home with the scents of Christmas is by creating festive simmer pots. Simmer pots involve combining a variety of aromatic ingredients in a pot on the stove and letting them simmer throughout the day. I’ve also had friends that love to add the simmer pot ingredients to their crock pot. That never seems to work for us as we are using our crockpot to cook easy meals through the week.

I love simmer pots because the ingredients are all natural, unlike so many air fresheners, candles and sprays for sale today. Also, they can be whipped up with what you have on hand in just a few minutes, and that can even include cuttings from your yard. 

One of my favorite aroma pot recipes is the one Williams-Sonoma uses. A sprig of fresh rosemary, a tablespoon of vanilla extract, and one lemon sliced. 

Another amazing recipe from Half-Baked Harvest that can be found here. It includes more of a traditional Christmas smell by including cranberry, vanilla, cloves, ginger, oranges, pine and cinnamon.

Here are the simple Simmer Pot Instructions if you have never done it before:

Place all the ingredients in a pot, cover them with water, and simmer on low heat. Keep an eye on the water level and add more as needed. Adjust the ingredient quantities based on your preference. The delightful blend of spices and fruits will make your home smell like a winter wonderland.

2. Candles for Effortless Ambiance

There is nothing that can warm a room like a candle. There are so many options of candles to buy and we probably have tried them all. I prefer candles that are in glass jars so I don’t get nervous when I leave the room of wax melting everywhere or burning down the house. Also, if you use the lid to snuff it out, you can keep the smoke from filling the house.

Any of the candles at Bath and Body Works made by White Barn burn well and smell great. They have hundreds of scents and are always changing up the combinations. You are bound to find one that brings fond Christmas memories to mind. My only complaint about these candles is once you light them they don’t always smell like the candle before it was lit, and I find that sometimes these smells can give me headaches. 

The best smelling candle we use for the holiday is made by Swan Creek Candle Company. All of their scents are amazing, and I am happy to report this is one brand of candle I can burn all day and never get sick of (or get a headache from). Our very favorite scent, Vanilla Pound Cake, brings the scents of fresh made cookies or other sweets baking in the oven. Perfect for the holidays. 

3. Holiday Hand Soap

I know this isn’t exactly a house scent, but I think it should count as one. Hear me out. When you use a great smelling hand soap, you notice it all day right? So when you spend a couple dollars extra to buy a holiday themed hand soaps to put in your bathrooms and kitchen, those scents stay with whoever uses them all the time. It’s a treat for your house guests when they visit. 

Our favorite hand soap is the Foaming Hand Soap from Bath and Body Works. It never leaves a mess in the sink, it has enough scent that it makes the bathroom smell great when it's used, and the smell stays longer than most soaps I’ve used.  But if you’re wanting something with more natural ingredients Mrs. Meyers seasonal hand soaps are a great choice as well. 

So this holiday season, when you are decking your halls and preparing to enjoy time with your loved ones, we hope you have time to not just take in the sights of Christmas to make your days special, but the take in the scents too. For us, taking a moment to tend to the details to make our home smell like Christmas all month long makes all the difference in our holiday.