orange pomanders

[Loretta]

I saw an article in a magazine about making various things and decided on making these.

I have bought some oranges and pushed cloves into then all over and they smell really nice. I have tied some string round and will hang them up.

Now I am not sure how long they will last long or should I be doing something else to them like drying them maybe or are they just for a few days?

[doris]

If left alone and in a reasonably dry place, they will dry on their own and last forever. I had one for years, it got smaller and smaller, but still smelled wonderful for a long time. Make sure you use quite a few cloves.

[Loretta]

If left alone and in a reasonably dry place, they will dry on their own and last forever. I had one for years, it got smaller and smaller, but still smelled wonderful for a long time. Make sure you use quite a few cloves.

Thanks for that, they look and smell lovely and I hoped that they would last

[iloga]

Spices -- in this case, cloves -- are preservatives.

[Sharon in KY]

the recipe I had said to shake it in that other cinnamon type spice. Can't remember the name of the spice.

[doris]

allspice?

[doris]

Get narrow masking tape, and put it around the orange from "pole to pole", and the again at right angles to the first tape. This will divide to orange into quarters. Then fill these quarters up with cloves, and roll in cinnamon or whatever. THEN take off the tape, and you will have these clean, clove and cinnamon-less areas of the orange, around which you can put a decorative ribbon and tie on top in a bow. Does this make sense? I've seen them done like this, you can also tie it in a way that part of the bow is a long loop for hanging.

[Vio]

Here's a recipe for them that says to use something like oris root as well to help preserve the scent? http://www.pallensmith.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=115

Tell me please, because I know nothing about this thing. So you take an orange with the fruit still inside it and do this? And it's ok and nothing seeps from it as it dries? No mold or anything?

[CareBear]

I don't like rolling them in the powder cause it falls off IME.

Vio, you just uses a whole orange but don't do a clementine or tangerine cause the skin is just too thin. Some juice might leak out but not much. And it ends up just a dessicated round thing that smells gorgeous.

ETA: the instructions you posted say to choose a thin-skinned orange! Hmm. Well I've sacrificed the tip of my thumb to more than one proect and IMO a thicker skin is better....

[Vio]

Thanks CareBear! Sounds like a cool decoration and home scenting option. I'm going to try it one day soon!

[Loretta]

Thanks CareBear! Sounds like a cool decoration and home scenting option. I'm going to try it one day soon!

Thanks for all the replies, this was fun and easy to do and they smell good, they are just beginning to dry so I hope they last, I did not do the orris root but I will next time.

I hope that they dry completley and last

[blazerina]

The cloves will act as straws to draw out the moisture and fragrance, and to in turn transfer air back in to help dry it even more. I think they suggest thin skin oranges because it will either help to dry faster OR because it may have something to do with any probable difficulties in poking in the cloves sufficiently to get to the fleshy fruit? Just a guess though.

[Blest2BAmerican]

What a great idea. I make spiced apple cider by poking cloves into an orange placing it in a crockpot with cider and cinnamon sticks. I'll have to remember this for next year.