Looking for unique and beautiful DIY Christmas gifts? Grab the free printable below and get all the details to make a few of these Christmas Potpourri in a Jar Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors!
This was originally posted in 2014 and updated for 2017.
I’m really excited about this one, because 1) it’s a great non-food gift that I can give to my kids’ teachers (I mean, they get tons of candy and cookies already!), and 2) I LOVE how the free printable tag turned out!
MY LATEST VIDEOSI love to fill my home with amazing scents during the holidays, and there’s no better combination than citrus and cranberry mixed with cinnamon and spices. This is a simple recipe that you can simmer on your stovetop or in a crockpot to help fill your home with these delicious scents. All of these ingredients are combined in a small pot on the stove.
This Christmas Potpourri in a Jar comes with a free printable and is crazy easy to put together. It looks stunning, and it’s not just another food gift.
How to Make DIY Christmas Potpourri Gifts for Friends:
Like I mentioned, this project is super simple. Here is what you will need:
- Wide-Mouth, Quart Jars (aff) (or cellophane gift bags)
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- 1 small orange (clementines work great)
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves or allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
A few notes about this DIY Christmas gift:
- You want to make sure that the vessel you choose is large enough for the oranges. If you plan to use small naval oranges, or maybe fresh oranges from your backyard tree, I suggest using cellophane gift bags (aff) that would be able to accommodate the larger pieces of fruit. There’s nothing worse than having to jam that orange through the mouth of a jar and the recipient not being able to get it out!
- If you opt for mason jars, be sure to use the wide mouth ones, for the same reason as above.
- You’ll note that on the recipe card it says “cloves” but in the image I used allspice. While these two spices do have different scents, they each blend nicely and one can be swapped out the the other based on what you have available.
- Be sure to make one for yourself – trust me, these smell amazing and you’ll be glad y
ou did. This recipe works beautifully in the slow cooker, too!
Ready to get to make DIY Christmas Potpourri Jars?
Take your jar or cellophane and place the orange, cranberries and cinnamon sticks inside. For the spices, it’s easiest if you place them in a small bag so they don’t just fall to the bottom. I simply cut the corner of a ziploc bag, poured the spices into that corner piece, then tied it with a small piece of twine. (See the video below for the visual).
Top the lid of the jar with brown kraft paper, wrapping paper or any other paper you like, secure with the jar lid band, the tie on the free printable gift tag with a ribbon or twine. The gift tag doubles as the instructions!
For more ideas for DIY Christmas gifts for friends, check these out:
DIY Christmas Gift Idea: Cookie Cutter Set & Free Printable
Here are some more holiday tips and Christmas Gift Ideas:
- How to Host the Holidays Like a Pro
- Holiday Hot Chocolate Bar with free printables
- Planning a Christmas Movie Night with Free Printables
Hi! I’m Kristin, the creative mind behind Yellow Bliss Road where you will be inspired by tons of easy to follow recipes, lots of free printables, and a little sprinkling of life thrown in for good measure.
Kristin,
What size jar did you use?
Thanks
Robyn
It’s a quart size wide mouth jar.
I can’t get the Christmas Potpourri tag to load. When I click on the download it takes me to a tax sight.
With the Christmas Potpourri, can dried cranberries be used in place of fresh ones?
The dried cranberries have a lot of sugar added, so I probably wouldn’t. But, I haven’t personally tried it, so if you do let us know how it turns out.
Hi, should this be kept in the fridge until use? Thank you.
Yes, but even then I would suggest it be used within a week.
Can’t get the Christmas Pot Pourri in a jar tag to load. Any suggestions?
Are the cloves and nutmeg both whole?
If you click over here (https://www.yellowblissroad.com/christmas-potpourri-gift-idea-free-printable-2/) you can see the entire recipe with instructions.
Cloves yes, the nutmeg is ground and I just tied in a little bag.
Hi Kristin, I have tried for two in a half hours to down load the recipe instructions for Christmas in a jar… I am so tech challenged that I am about to cry! I want to do this for my friends and neighbors for Christmas this year. But I can’t get the down load to work for me…. Normally one of my daughters would do it but they are grown and live 4-5 hours away from me. Is there anyway you can help me please? I’m disabled so I don’t get out to much… This is something I can afford and I think the tag is perfect!! Please let me know if there is anything you can help me with on your end… Honestly any help would be AWESOME…
Vikki
Hi Vicki, So sorry you’re having trouble. Here is a direct link to the page with the download: http://cf.yellowblissroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Christmas-Potpourri-Gift-Tag.pdf
When you hover your mouse over the image, you’ll see a drop down at the top right with an arrow pointing down, and a print button. The arrow will download the print to your computer (you just need to save it to the correct place) and the print button will print directly to your printer (so you’d want to have the paper set up). Hope that helps!
The link you have listed here does not work (notice the cf. at the beginning – it takes you to a mis-configured firewall?!?), this is the correct link:
https://www.yellowblissroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Christmas-Potpourri-Gift-Tag.pdf
Oh and THANK YOU! I love this idea and your printable tag is perfect. I am using them this year for friends and neighbors!
You may have accidentally clicked on one of the ads in the post. Sorry about that!
How many days before giving them out can i prepare them in advance?
I wouldn’t do more than a day. You want them to be nice and fresh! 🙂
I cant get the oranges in and when i got one in it wont come out
Sounds like you’re oranges were to big. You’d want to choose smaller ones.
can you use the little clementines?
Yes the clementines are great!
I passed these out to neighbors in 2016. They were such a hit I plan to make them for my office team this year (2017). I used cellophane bags tied with a cute holiday ribbon. Your tip about using the corners of sandwich bags for the spices worked great. I must admit I was glad my husband helped hold the bags while I tied them up. Thanks for sharing, Kristin!
What a great gift for all the ladies in my family! I never know what to get anyone and these were perfect and inexpensive! I also made the snowflake playdough and my daughter gave each girl in her girl scout troop one. Thank you!!!
I try this and I love it! I didnt have the jars so I bagged the ingredients and gave it my friends as a gift bag
I have loved giving cinnamon sticks and whole cloves as neighbor gifts at Christmas, but the cranberries and oranges add such wonderful color and aroma. Thank you for sharing your idea and the free printable. Such a time saver and super cute!
I received this as a Christmas gift. I chose to cut up my orange and mix everything right in the mason jar. Filled it with water and sat it down in my candle warmer. It fit perfect and my house smells amazing! Thank you for this great idea. I plan to pay this one forward next year!