With the weather warming up a bit, I find myself doing a bit of spring cleaning, purging, and organizing. And usually when on a cleaning mission, I love opening up our windows and doors to let the fresh air in.

Unfortunately, it’s still a bit too chilly to open up the windows, so I came up with a creative way to add some fresh smells to our home…stovetop potpourri.

Have you ever tried it? Essentially it’s just throwing a bunch of fragrant ingredients in a pot and letting it simmer on the stove all day long. It’s love how incredible aromatic it is and it makes the entire house smell divine.

I’ve done this during the Christmas season with cinnamon sticks, cranberries, nutmeg and other seasonal flavors. But I decided to try a fresh one with some spring-like fragrances.

Ingredients for Stovetop Potpourri

Here’s my recipe for a lemony fresh scent for your home this spring.

• 2 T. vanilla extract
• Pot with water (fill up about ¾ of the way)
• 2 lemons sliced
• Bunch of mint
• Bunch of rosemary

That’s it! We often have some of these ingredients stocked in our fridge and pantry already, so it’s not too difficult to throw together.

How to Create Stovetop Potpourri

Just fill a pot up with ¾ water and then add all of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil and then let it simmer on low for as long as you want.

It may get a little mushy after a bit, but it should stay pretty fragrant all weekend long. I’ll sometimes make this on a Saturday morning and then turn it on whenever we’re doing things around the house on both Saturday and Sunday. Then Sunday night I’ll dump the mixture.

The Smell of Spring!

While I love lighting candles, this is a fresh alternative and it really permeates the entire home. I hope you’ll give it a try.

If you have any other stovetop recipes I’d love to hear them! It’s fun to try different concoctions to see what smells might come along with it. Plus this is a way to get me in the kitchen without having to actually produce anything edible for me & Finn. Baby steps, right?!

Casey