Make Your Home Smell like the Holidays

What do the holidays smell like to you? Cookie-scented candles? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Hot apple cider? A family recipe roasting in the oven? How about cinnamon pine cones?

For me, one of my earliest childhood memories is the smell of the heat coming through the vents. Odd, I know, but it pales in comparison to the smell of fragrant citrus and herb in the air. One of my favorite holiday traditions is using fresh herbs and citrus fruits to make natural home fragrances.

There’s a reason real estate agents try to incorporate either the smell of freshly baked cookies or freshly baked apple pie at their open houses—we associate experiences with smell. What better way to welcome your out-of-town guests to a home full of holiday fragrances? We’re hosting Thanksgiving this year, despite half of our belongings still in boxes, but I hope our guests will forgive us when they catch a whiff of my all-natural, homemade home fragrances.

All you’ll need are fruit, spices, essential oils (optional), a gallon (or two) of water, and a large pot.

Simply bring the fruit, spices and essential oil (or vanilla extract) to boil. Then, reduce heat and keep at a low simmer as long as desired.

While these fragrances will spread easily near the kitchen and living areas, the treat is for your guests’ arrival at the front door. Talk about a warm welcome! I’ve prepared a few concoction ideas that evoke nostalgia:

I also like to ensure that this welcoming aroma greets my guests in the bathrooms and bedrooms. This is where Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® products come to the rescue!

If you’ve never had the fortune of experiencing Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® products before, I strongly encourage you to go to the store and indulge in their natural fragrances. Sure, you can look at all of the Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® products on their online store, but you really have to experience the #HomeGrownInspiration in-store. I promise you won’t walk out without at least two of their fragrances!

The products were inspired by Mrs. Thelma A. Meyer, an Iowa homemaker and mother of nine. It all started when one of her daughters was walking down a cleaning aisle, eyeing all the products with their harsh, stinky chemicals. Right then and there, she had an idea: “Let’s make cleaners that smell nice, like my mom’s garden, but still work like the dickens on daily dirt and grime.”

Last Christmas season, after falling in love with the Lemon Verbena scent in the Target cleaning aisle, I picked up the Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® Orange Clove Hand Soap and loved it as well! (I love citrus scents). When Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® sent me two products to try I was on cloud nine: Lemon Verbena Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner and the Lavender Hand Soap. I already knew I was going to love the Lemon Verbena cleaner, but I was curious about the Lavender. I’ve only ever smelled lavender and vanilla together, and I’m really turned off by the combination (maybe it’s the vanilla?).

Can I just say? Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® Lavender Hand Soap is like heaven on earth. I think I washed my hands 30 times yesterday just so that I could continue smelling the fragrant lavender!

What I love the most about Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® are the scents. Some of my concoctions were inspired by the scents of her products. Lemon Verbena will smell a bit like the Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® Lemon Verbena Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner. Likewise, my Christmas Tree natural home scent resembles a bit of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® Iowa Pine Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner.

My absolute all time favorite Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® scent is the holiday Cranberry scent. It’s only out around the Christmas season, so be sure to snatch it up while you can! I cleaned all of my countertops in our master bathroom and the fragrant smell lingered for several hours afterwards. In addition to my homemade home fragrances using natural ingredients, I will make sure all our three and a half baths will smell of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® Cranberry during the holiday season.

I just learned that Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day® also makes surface wipes, toilet bowl cleaner, tub and tile cleaner, surface scrub, and glass cleaner in addition to the laundry detergents and hand soaps I’ve known them for! I’m going to order several of their products online, as not all of their products are found in stores.

What are your favorite holiday scents?