DIY Christmas Simmer Pot with Printable Instructions

As the holiday season quickly approaches, we are nearing our bakery’s annual Christmas Gift basket bar. For this event, we bake hundreds of baked goods and host several local vendors. In addition to delicious baked goods, we are also always looking for other useful high-quality gifts that we can create to sell to our customers. This year we have noticed a trend towards “cozy” and with that a resurgence in the Christmas stovetop potpourri. It’s the perfect way to fill your house with the scents of the season! Below we have included our two favorite simmer pot recipes as well as a free printable gift tag that includes instructions for your homemade potpourri. 

What is a Simmer Pot?

Also known as Stovetop Potpourri, a simmer pot is a pot of simmering spices, fruits, and herbs that are created to fill the room with delicious smells in an all-natural way. There are two parts to a simmer pot. You have your pot of water, and then you have your fragrant natural ingredients. You can quickly throw a simmer pot together by using fresh fruit and spices on hand, or you can prep a jar of your favorite dried ingredients to always have on hand. For gifting purposes this Christmas season, it is best to use dried, long-lasting ingredients. Simmer pots are the best way to get a festive home smell with no artificial ingredients or chemicals. 

Why Is A Simmer Pot Such a Great Gift?

To me, the most stressful part about gift giving is the mental toll it takes to brainstorm unique and useful gift ideas. You want something that shows you put effort and thought into the gift, but that is still simple and straight-forward to assemble. A great gift option is to give a bag of the simmer pot ingredients that your recipient simply has to add to a pot of water. This is a beautiful DIY Christmas gift that will fill their entire house with the scents of the holidays.

This is especially nice when you have a group of people that you want to give a gift to, but you need a budget friendly idea. For instance, people like your coworkers, teachers, or members of a book club. You simply buy each ingredient in bulk, and you can create several gorgeous simmer pot gift bags. Many people have an aversion to different smells and even certain chemicals used in candles. A handmade simmer pot does not include any chemicals or offensive odors. It is both special, clean, and a unique way to give to gift of lovely aromas!

How to make Stovepot Potpourri

The most basic way to make a simmer pot is to add water and a combination of fragrant ingredients into a pot. Many people use a Dutch oven or even a slow cooker, but you can also use a saucepan or a little pot specific for simmering. You can add a variety of items that you have on hand, like fresh fruit and dried spices. Or you can keep a mason jar full of dried fruits and your favorite spice berries and add a little bit whenever you want to create a simmer pot.  A way to gift a simmer pot is to add those dry ingredients into a bag and include instructions on how to use it. 

What to put in your Simmer Pot

My favorite recipes include dried fruit along with fragrant whole spices. Remember that for gifting you want to keep items that will last in your bag. Avoid fresh fruits. Popular ingredients for simmer pots include…

• Cinnamon Sticks
• Cranberries (dried to last longer)
• Citrus Fruit: Orange Slices (dried if packaging), lemons, limes
• Whole cloves
• Star Anise
• All Spice berries
• Dried fruit: Apple Slices, Pear Slices
• Dried Ginger Root
• Pine branches
• Vanilla extract
• Essential Oils

How to use a Simmer Pot

Using a simmer pot is so simple! You can add all the ingredients into the pot at the same time. Place your pot on the stove and turn it to medium-high. Wait until your simmer pot begins to boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and remove the lid. Now, just allow the fragrance to fill the air. You can maintain your pot by continuously adding hot water to it as the water level decreases. Remember that as water simmers, the water is evaporating so eventually it will all be gone if you do not add water. This will result in burnt ingredients and a rather unpleasant smell, so just keep an eye on your pot!

You can also use a slow cooker on high heat. It may require more ingredients and not be as fragrant due to the slower evaporation time of the scented water. 

When gifting your simmer pot ingredients, you want to make sure to attach instructions. I have provided a free printout below! You want this gift to be simple for your loved ones to use. 

How long does a Simmer Pot Last?

This does depend on the ingredients you use. If you use dried ingredients you can keep your simmer pot for up to a week, refrigerating between uses. If you are using fresh ingredients it will last for a couple hours, but will then need to be thrown away.

How to Gift a Homemade Simmer Pot

These make the perfect teacher gifts, great hostess gifts, and an easy gift when you have lots of people on your list. Here are the bags I used to package my gifts. I created a collar for each bag using this wire Christmas ribbon. After that, I attached my instructions with a hemp rope that I tied into a bow. I have included printable gift tags that you can use on your gift. To make this an even more wonderful gift, use this beautiful glass simmer pot to store your ingredients and give this combination to your loved ones as a Homemade Gift basket. For more ideas for handmade gifts check out my post on Christmas Homemade Gift Basket Ideas. 

DIY Christmas Simmer Pot with Printable Instructions

Whether you are creating your Stove Top Potpourri as a gift or to fill your own house with the smells of Christmas, we hope you enjoy these recipes. Comment below any additional ingredients you love to use!