How to make an Orange Pomander

These fragrant beautiful ornaments take minutes to make and will fill your home with delicious fragrance during these cold, dark winter days

Two orange pomanders made with cloves, bay leaves, rosemary, and decorations

We make orange pomanders every year as a free garden craft at our annual Holidays in the Garden event. But since we had to cancel this year due to the weather, Zoe and I decided to bring the pomander craft to our home to bring some cheer to the dark days of the winter solstice.

This craft only takes a few minutes and all the materials are easy to find around your yard this time of year. If you have an orange tree or you have a few leftover in the bag, this is a great way to make use of them before they go bad.

For this craft you will need:

- Fresh Oranges

- Cloves (1-2 ounces/4 TBSP)

- Wire or string to hang your ornament

- A small stick to tie off the bottom

Optional:

- Bay leaves

- Rosemary cuttings

- Ribbon

- Beads

- Clay tool for carving

Supplies for making an orange pomander

You will start by cutting a large length of wire or twine. Then fold it in half and thread it through the center of your orange. The orange is easy to pierce, but if you need to create a path, you can poke holes on either end of the orange with a chopstick or a kebab skewer to give the wire a place to exit. After a few attempts, usually it'll line up and you can twist or tie a stick around the loose ends to hold the pomander in place.

Twist the wire around a stick or beads so that the wire doesn't slide back out of your orange

This is honestly the only tricky part of this craft. Once you get the wire on, you can begin decorating your pomander!

For a simple design, you can start poking cloves in wherever you'd like! It's really that simple. If you find that your cloves are breaking, you can use a toothpick to poke the hole first and then poke the clove in afterwards.

If you're looking for a more elaborate design, we like to use clay carving tools to scratch away the surface of the orange and then poke the cloves into the carved out spaces. Get creative with the tools you have around to see what kinds of effects you can create on yours.

The cloves will act as a natural preservative for the orange so that it won't rot as it dries. You can also coat the surface with cinnamon if you'd like it to be anti-fungal too.

Your pomanders will gradually dry, but the scents will perfume your home for a few weeks. They work great as gifts, and I like to hang one in my car to make it smell amazing every time I leave home!

Once you finish poking in the cloves, you can add more decorations by tying ribbons or beads onto your string. We also wrapped the wire around a few sprigs of rosemary and added bay leaves for an extra holiday touch. Feel encouraged to make it your own!

We always have so much fun making these together that it's become a special tradition for Zoe and me to make them this time of year. It's the perfect craft for adults and kids alike because it's so simple and rewarding to make! I hope you will give it a try this winter!