Perhaps its the falling leaves, predictions of a long winter, or the financial news, but making sure we’re ready for the winter ahead is in the forefront of my mind these days. We’ve got wood split and stacked, we have blankets, and warm clothing, we’re stocking a pantry, we’re taking care of the many practical items of winter preparation. But what about the pleasant but unnecessary preparations?
Many of us make beautiful but functional blankets to warm the heart while warming the body, is it necessary to look good? Not in a practical sense, but we all need a little beauty to lift the spirits now and then. Its this philosophy of lifting the spirits, that I started making scented pine cones for our wood stove. Is it necessary? No. Is it pleasant? Yes. Could it lift spirits with aromatherapy? Perhaps.
Living where we do, there’s never a shortage of pine cones and its always fun to go looking for them. Mix 1 part water with 1 part glue. Brush the glue mixture over your pine cone. Roll your pine cone in your favorite ground spice. Think cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or a mixture of your favorite. Toss into your fire and voila – natural aromatherapy. A few in different scents placed in a basket around a jar of homemade jelly, makes for a great gift, too.
You can make pinecones that will emit color in your fireplaces and woodstoves as well. Again not necessary but it might be nice on those dreary winter nights. Be careful, of wax buildup on the inside of your stoves should you do that. I haven’t done that because I don’t want to clean up the wax on the inside of my stove, bu there are plenty of ideas at Spazztic Crafts.
I hope that as you prepare for the upcoming winter, you consider making some unnecessary but important preparations for your household.
Not Dabbling In Normal 
Kathie – thanks, we all need our spirits lifted once in awhile.
That’s a great idea, Kathie…we don’t have a fireplace (wahhh) 🙂 but having those scents around would really be homey…my daughter has a way of identifying places by their smells, and she’s pretty sensitive if she walks in and our place doesnt smell fresh and comfy. It’s helped me realize that fragrance is often one of those components in our foods, flowers, laundry, etc that spells “home”…what would cinnamon rolls be without the scent of the cinnamon? 🙂 Great tip you shared!
Robbyn