Make Your Home Smell Incredible with These 5 Simmer Pot Recipes

For an all-natural alternative to your favorite scented candles, try simmer scents: Combinations of your favorite herbs, spices, and peels from your favorite fruits, covered with water, and simmered gently on the stove. They'll fill your home with a fresh, subtle scent -- no artificial fragrances required. And, as a bonus, they make amazing hostess gifts!

1. Orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves

Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant shared her family's recipe for a holiday pot simmer -- which she describes as "basically a bunch of yummy smells thrown into a pot, filled with water, and left to simmer on a back burner on the stove while you wrap presents or hang out in your house." Hers uses orange peels, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for a rich, wintry fragrance.

2. Pine, bay leaves, and nutmeg

The Yummy Life offers several different tips and recipes for simmering home scents, but we especially liked the natural, woodsy combination of pine or cedar twigs, bay leaves, and nutmeg. Store all the ingredients in a jar filled with water -- or fill jars and wrap with a simple ribbon to give as an easy holiday hostess gift.

3. Apple, cinnamon, orange, and cloves

Apartment Therapy gives suggestions for making the most of your fruit peels -- including the simple, traditional mixture of apples and cinnamon (which get a citrusy and spicy boost from oranges and cloves). This mix of fall and holiday scents makes this recipe a go-to for any occasion from October until February.

4. Lemon, rosemary, and vanilla

One of the most popular home scent combinations is lemon, rosemary, and vanilla -- devotees of this scent swear that it's the same recipe Williams-Sonoma uses in their stores. The bright scent of lemon peels and piney fragrance of rosemary mixed with warm, sweet, vanilla are a refreshing change from the heavier, spiced holiday scents, and this recipe from One More Moore will keep your home smelling fresh all year long.

5. Cranberries, oranges, and spices

For a more festive, holiday-inspired scent, add cranberries to a mixture of orange, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmeg (following this recipe from I Heart Naptime). The colorful fresh berries will add a little extra cheer to your mixture, while the aromatic spices and orange peels make your home smell like Christmas even after you've packed up the decorations.