Full of sweet and spicy aromas, these holiday stovetop simmer gift bags create a warm and cozy atmosphere for the holidays. Not only can you make these for yourself and simmer a saucepan full of aromatic goodness on the stove all day to make your house smell amazing, but you can give them out as host/hostess gifts for Thanksgiving, Christmas and holiday parties, or pass them out to your friends, family and co-workers to enjoy at home too.
To fill each gift bag, start by choosing a few elements that will make up the main scent. You can pick from any herb, spice or evergreen you want, but you want to make sure the components complement each other. Next, choose a citrus accent that pairs well with your other elements. Place the citrus fruit in the bag whole so it can stay fresh for as long as possible, but let your recipient know to slice the citrus just before adding it to the pot. Finally, add a handful of fresh cranberries to give your package a pop of color and texture.
Once you’ve filled your bags, add your personalized labels and tags. We chose to add a text label with detailed instructions, and a gift tag accented with a sprig of pine. Once your bags are packaged, store them in the refrigerator to keep all the ingredients fresh until you’re ready to gift them. Keep reading to find out which ingredients we used in our gift bags:
- 3-4 sprigs of fresh pine and/or fir
- 2-3 sticks of cinnamon
- 1 mandarin, whole
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- Small window tin-tie bags
- Small rectangle text labels
- Large oval hang tags
- Sprigs of fir for garnishing your gift bags
- Ensure your stovetop simmer is as aromatic as possible by choosing fresh (or freshly picked) ingredients. Place the pine and/or fir, cinnamon sticks, citrus fruit and cranberries in each bag, and roll down the top to close the bags.
- Place one text label on each bag. We placed ours on the bottom-front so the instructions for use would be prominent, but you could also place them on the back of the bags.
- Attach your hang tags with a clothes pin, and add an embellishment, such as a sprig of fir or rosemary.
Used In This Project:
- Large Oval Hang Tags • I chose the “Vintage Burlap” style in burlap stone.
- Small Rectangular Labels • I chose the “Vintage Burlap” style in burlap stone.
- Small Window Tin-Tie Bags
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Josephine Guicciardi is the nom de plume of our creative Evermine blogger. With romantic connections to Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved” love letters, it is in keeping with the blog’s themes of love and joy. The great composer writes the famous words “ever thine, ever mine, ever ours” to a woman who remains a mystery to this day. Two of the most likely objects of his adoration are Josephine Brunsvik and Guilietta Guicciardi, and it’s from these two women that Josephine Guicciardi draws her persona.
What a lovely idea! I always love the cozy smell of a home smelling like Christmas, and I know others do too!
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Love this idea! What do we tell the recipient to put in the pot for liquid? Water? If so, how many cups is ideal for the scent?
Hi Nicole! You’ll need to put just enough water in to mostly cover the ingredients in the pot— about 5-6 cups should be a good amount!
Oh My Gosh! This is a healthy drinkable tea and cranberries are edible! Avoid using Yew tree needles as they are toxic, but pines are nutritious, have loads of Vitamin C!