Bring the Scent of Christmas Into Your Home With Nature

Do you love the
different scents of Christmas, such as the spices, berries, pine,
etc? If so then you might like the idea of making your own incense,
which is scented specifically for this time of year. Take a look at
these incense recipes for your home for Christmas:

Angel’s Smoke Incense:

50 g benzoin resin

60 g storax resin

30 g white sandalwood

8
g cloves

2 or 3 pieces of orris root

2 nutmegs

A small
amount of fresh lemon rind

A splash of rose water

Grind the nutmegs, cloves, orris root, and sandalwood. Crush the
benzoin and storax resins with a mortar and pestle. Thoroughly mix
these ingredients together. Grate fresh lemon rind over the mixture,
splash with rose water, and knead to blend. Place the incense on the
smoking coal in small portions.

Yule Smoke:

Equal parts of:

Pine resin

Juniper

Cedar

This incense can be used for any winter rite. You can also smudge
the house with it, but traditionally only during the period from
November 1 to March 21st.

Holy Nights Incense:

Equal parts of:

Ground fir resin

Whole juniper
berries

Chopped mugwort herb or stripped flowers

Chopped
sweetgrass

Mix all ingredients together. Place incense by teaspoonfuls on the
glowing coal.

Christmas Incense:

3 parts frankincense

2 parts myrrh

1 part cassia

1 part
mace

1/2 part clove buds

Thoroughly grind all the ingredients together in a mortar into
very small parts. Place by teaspoonfuls on the smoking coals. A
Christmas scent will follow very quickly!

Note: These incense recipes are by Annie B. Bond.

How to Make Christmas Incense

Ingredients:

Pine

Cinnamon

Cloves

Peppermint

Nutmeg

Makko powder

Sandalwood

Mortar and pestle

Water

Essential oils (optional)

Red or green food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Grind the dry
ingredients of your choice with a mortar and pestle. Some suggestions
of perfect Christmas scents are listed above. They include cinnamon,
cloves, and nutmeg—these are spices used often in holiday baking.
Peppermint is distinctive of candy canes. Pine is also great to
resemble the smell of a Christmas tree.

2. Combine ½ cup of the dry
ingredients you have selected with 1 cup of sandalwood powder in a
medium bowl.

3. Add 1 cup of Makko powder. This
powder is available in most craft stores.

Slowly add small amounts of water until
your powder becomes workable dough. Avoid adding too much water, but
if you do, add more powder to compensate.

5.Add any essential oils in Christmas
scents to increase the strength of your incense.

6. Add the food coloring if desired to
give your incense a more festive flair. Mix well.

7. Continue to work with the dough
until it can be formed in your desired stick or cone shape.

8. Let it dry completely before
burning.

Note: This recipe is by Elizabeth Holli Wood.

jennl | My Bio & Articles

Jennifer is a freelance writer, and has written for various health and environmental blogs, which includes running her own green living blog. Currently she is studying to become a C++ Programmer.