Sunday, December 5, 2010

scents of the season..

Our house is beginning to smell a lot like...Christmas!
Huzzah!
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Clove Clementines...a favorite childhood craft
(push whole cloves into a clementine or orange and enjoy the spiced aroma!)
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A Christmas Tree, of course!
I like to view the tree from W's perspective...it looks so grand and magical!
The rather odd looking white tube is our Christmas Tree "straw"...Jay fashioned it out of PVC pipe so we wouldn't knock so many needles off the tree every time we bent down to water it...works well..makes sense...looks weird...
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Fresh greens...
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Beeswax...mmmm..
I strategically placed these chunks of beeswax on my dining room bookcase; next to a basket of Stockmar crayons...every time I walk by, the mingled scents charm me...in fact, I sniff those crayons more than often...anyone who has them knows exactly what I mean!
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dyeing silks with clove, cinnamon, and black tea bags...easy, natural, yields great results that smell inviting...
The senses of smell, taste, visual sight and warmth are so crucial to a child's development and spirit...and mine, too. Smells can be overwhelmingly pleasant...or unpleasant. They can take you back to a place once visited..wanting to be remembered (the musty smell of my grandparent's basement) or quickly forgotten (the girl's locker room in middle school...ohhhh...or the cafeteria..). Too often we overlook the power and importance of smell; what it can do to our mood....even our well being!
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Breathe deep....what brings you back? How do you keep pleasant smells in your home naturally?
What olfactory memories do we hope our children will have?

16 comments:

  1. beautiful! We love smelling our crayons and freshly pollished toys, one girl says 'mmm honey!' each time. My parents have my pops old car and although he died years ago it still smells like him and reminds me of him eating cornflakes in his pyjamas (sounds like a strange memory but its nice each time!)

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  2. those smells you mentioned, i swear i was able to evoke them myself so strong their impressions were... i want my son to remember the smells of our cooking and baking together. i think i may homeschool him just so he doesn't have to have those unpleasant smells you mentioned. lol...

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  3. mmmmm the smells of Christmas... the best!

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  4. For us here in New Zealand christmas is the smell of our christmas trees (pine) and christmas lilies which flower over christmas and have the most divine smell. Love the orange and cloves idea though, think I might do that with my 2 year old this week.

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  5. beautiful dye. And the sense of smell, although it means a lot to my memories, may have been overlooked until recently in my home. I just started introducing scent ( other than food, my house probably smells like yeasted bread all the time). I have spent my whole life, even before grandma died trying to pinpoint her scent. Cedar, rubber, wool and baby powder may be as close as I get. But I have her dresses in zipper bags in my closet when I need a sniff.

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  6. mmmmm. I've never had a real tree before but Mum always put fresh boughs up above the cabinets to keep them away from my allergic skin but so we could still smell them. Just hearing you describe these things and looking at these photos brings floods of memories back. Take care.

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  7. These are all so delightful, the wonders of this special season. Full of warmth, joy and Love.

    Have a lovely December Day my friend. xxx

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  8. lovely smells of the season... so special... much light and peace to you ....

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  9. I too love the smells of this season so much, and I am particularly drawn to smells that bring me back to my childhood. I love baking cranberry bread once a week through the holidays, the smell of our Christmas tree, mulled cider on the stove. They all bring me back to a time of peace in life, and that alone is the best part of the season.

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  10. Mmm, I sniff crayons too! I love the beeswax. You reminded me of the cloves. We have some yucky tasting clementines so those will be perfect. I want my kids to smell the sweet potato pie, the tree, sugar cookies, ginger ale, gingerbread . . . there's so much.
    I love you tree solution! xo Angela

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  11. I love the smell of beeswax too! I have these crayons in my classroom and I enjoy working with them. And so do the children! I like your oranges with cloves, maybe I'll make them tomorrow in my class ... Cheers, Barbara

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  12. Thanks for this post!!! Right now I'm enjoying the sweet smell of my newborn babe ;)

    ~Samantha

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  13. My girls may be able to spare one clementine for crafting...they are a special and favorite treat here. I want them to rememmber fresh bread, tacky glue (crafting!) and line dried clothes, just to name a few.

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  14. My favorite is the pot of orange peels and apple peels with cinnamon and ginger boiling on the back of the stove that my mom always had...my husband asked for me to "get the recipe" when we were visiting for Thanksgiving...ha I told him it's spiced seasonal garbage boiling.

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  15. Mmmmm...good smells are abundant just now! We have a pot of water simmering on our cookstove and I drop essential oils in it a few times a day. Right now I'm on a peppermint kick to ward off a persistent tension headache from using a side shoulder sling for my enormous baby! Ahh well, he's happy and close to my heart. And the lovely smells of peppermint are filling our home with festive cheer!
    xo Jules

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  16. I love Pomanders! I haven't made one since I was a child, but I still have the scent-memory. It all came rushing back when I saw your photo.
    Lovely.

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