Clementines are delicious year-round but they have a special place during the holidays. It is a favorite holiday scent at Art of the Home and brings back sweet memories of discovering the clementines the Père Noël (Santa Claus) left inside our slippers on Christmas morning. We like to use them to decorate several spots in the house from the kitchen, to the dining room table and even on the Christmas tree. So check below for 3 simple homemade fragrant country Christmas decoration ideas that smell good and look so good too!
3 Simple Fragrant Country Christmas Decoration Ideas
All you will need are some oranges and/or clementines, as well as a good handful of cloves. We also like to add pine cones, a few cutout branches from the Christmas tree, some cinnamon sticks and star anise to our display but that’s optional – the stars are the clementines and the cloves (clous de girofle)! If you don’t use cloves, cinnamon sticks, and star anise regularly, you may want to check if your grocery store sell these items in bulk and so you can get only what you need.
3 Simple Homemade Fragrant Country Christmas Decoration Ideas
- Fragrant Country Christmas Centerpiece: if you are near a park or the woods, go on a morning walk for fresh air and grab some pine cones (you can also get some at the store). Spike an orange or a few clementines with cloves using various patterns (like the pictures above for example but there are no rules really – you get to choose your pattern!). In a medium size plate, place your spiked orange and/or clementines in the middle and randomly surround them with cinammon sticks, star anise, and small pine cones. You can also frame the plate with a few branches of your Christmas tree. When using both oranges and clementines in the centerpiece, we like to use 1 orange for 3 clementines – but here again, you get to choose the ratio that you find most pleasing to the eye. Place at the center of your dining room table — and voilà!
- Fragrant Display for Your Christmas Cookies: spike the top of a big orange with cloves and lean your Christmas cookies on the decorated orange. Great way to display and serve your holiday cookies during tea time, coffee time, hot coco time, or spiced cider time.
- Fragrant Christmas Ornament: spike a clementine with cloves (children love to do that!). Use an ornament attachment or open up a paper clip and make a U shape with it. Insert the U shape attachment inside the clementine (deep enough to it holds). Using twine (we like to use thicker garden twine for a rustic feel but you can use whatever you have), tie a loop around the attachment and your country fragrant ornament is ready to decorate your Christmas tree and give it a nice scent too.