This is one of the simplest things you can do around the holiday season. Simple, but impactful. A simmer pot.

A little background: my sweet sister-in-law would do this for us when we would come home from a night out when she was babysitting our girls. And we would feel sooo taken care of when we would come home to our house smelling heavenly. It’s so easy but it feels so luxurious!

So I started making sure I do it throughout the entire holiday season because having our house smell like cloves and rosemary and cranberries and all the delicious holiday smells really puts you in the holiday spirit.

What is a simmer pot? It’s just a simmering pot of water on the stove filled with things that smell good. The smell fills the house.

What You Need:

1. A pot
2. Water
3. Things that smell like the holidays- rosemary, fresh cranberries, oranges, apples, pears, cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise. Find all my favs and what I use here.

To Make:

1. Fill pot with water, I usually fill about half way
2. Place aromatic items in pot
3. Heat water to just before boil
4. Turn down to lowest setting/simmer and leave on simmer

Notes:

Don’t forget to turn off when you are done/go to bed/leave the house. It can be easy to forget since the stove will be on the lowest setting. I usually get 2-3 uses/simmers out of one batch. It depends on how long you leave the pot simmering each time.

This past year I turned this simmer pot idea into easy, beautiful handmade gifts for neighbors and teachers. IMO, there is nothing better than homemade gifts for Christmas.

I simply bought mason jars at my local grocery store and filled them with a mix of all the aromatic items. I tied them with a ribbon and a little note that said, “Add to a simmering pot of water for holiday smells”. If I added fresh cranberries, I left them in the fridge until gifted so they wouldn’t go bad.

I made 12 at one time and it was amazing to have them on hand for gifts. Happy smells + easy gifts for the win!