One of the easiest ways to make your home feel cozier when the temperatures start to drop is by filling your space with a seasonal scent. When I was little, my mom and I used to take oranges and stuff them with whole cloves. The mixture of the orange and clove scents was so lovely, and it still always reminds me of fall and winter. Today I’m sharing a simple fall stovetop potpourri that you can make without a lot of effort, and it makes a great hostess gift, too!

Supplies you’ll need for potpourri:

OrangeRed appleWhole clovesRosemaryCinnamon sticksKnife and cutting boardDehydratorAir-tight container if you’d like to give it as a gift, or a pot and some water if you’d like to use it yourself!

Instructions step by step to make the stovetop potpourri:

Step 1: Prep.

Cut your orange and apple into thin slices. The thinner the slices are, the faster they will dehydrate.

How to dehydrate fruit

Step 2: Dehydrate.

Organize your slices in a single later in your dehydrator, and then dehydrate them according to your machine’s instructions. You don’t have to only use the “pretty” pieces, either. You’ll notice that I used the stem ends of the apple and orange as well. While they may not be super tasty, they will still give off a lovely scent! I also dehydrated a few sprigs of fresh rosemary I had on hand, but you can easily use pre-dried rosemary for the same effect.

If you don’t have a dehydrator, search online for how to dry orange and apple slices, as well as fresh rosemary, in a regular oven. It can be done easily, I just happened to have a dehydrator that I use for herbs.

Step 3: Compile your ingredients.

Once everything is sufficiently dehydrated, it’s time to put together your potpourri. First, dump your orange and apple slices in a bowl.

Then sprinkle in your whole cloves…

…and add your cinnamon sticks and dried rosemary sprigs!

There isn’t a science to how much of each ingredient you should add. I absolutely love the scent of orange and cloves, so I used a lot those. Whatever amount of each ingredient you choose, it will smell amazing! It’s a forgiving process.

Step 4: Store in an air-tight container.

Once you’ve mixed your ingredients in a bowl and let them completely cool, you can store them in an air-tight container such as a mason jar. These would make a wonderful DIY holiday gift!

To use the stovetop potpourri, simply dump the mixture into a pan, fill the pan with water, and let everything simmer together on your stovetop or a hotplate. Make sure you keep the heat on low; you don’t want the water to begin to bubble. The goal is to heat it up enough that it begins to “cook” and release the scent from the ingredients.

As a bonus, if you’re making this for yourself, you can skip the dehydrating step and just throw everything directly into a pot to simmer. Dehydrating is only a necessary step if you’ll be storing the potpourri for future use. Enjoy!