Christmas Traditions # 4 - Orange and Clove Pomander

This week we have a very fragrant blog post because we are looking the orange and clove pomander decoration. Pomanders are basically balls made of perfumes. Often they were carried around but they were also hung up as decorations. The Victorian Era is when pomander balls became most popular. They used them to mask unpleasant smells that were around by hanging them up or wearing them. Eventually they were used more as decorations that gave off pleasant scents.

Oranges and cloves were a popular combination because the smells compliment each other so well. In the past, since oranges were imported from so far away, they would often spoil and instead of wasting those oranges, they would make them into pomanders during the holiday season and they paired them with cloves for a very festive scent. 

Orange and clove pomander have continued to be quite popular. Martha Stewart even has an article about how to make them!

I tried my best to create one for you this week. There’s no real right and wrong when making these, you just have to come up with your own designs and go with it. 

You will need an orange or oranges if you are going to make more than one. You will also need a whole bunch of cloves, toothpicks, a poky vegetable peeler or a needle or skewer, a marker, and twine and ribbon if you’re going to hang them and decorate extra.

I just went for it at first and started to dig out a design with the sharp end of a vegetable peeler, but then I stopped and took a felt to trace out my design which made it so much easier. I think using something that isn’t as thick as the vegetable peeler tip would be best.

After I dug out my design I poked holes with the toothpicks and then placed the cloves in.

I’m told is smells super fragrant, I have a cold so I don’t smell anything, but it looks really cool. It’s my first go at it so next time I would spend a little more time tracing out a cooler design and digging it out with a finer tip tool so that it looks more polished. 

You can make a bunch of them and display in a nice basket, bowl, or on a platter or you can wrap ribbon around them and hang them up as decorations that way as well.