This craft is special to me because my first time seeing it or making one was when my mom was our Brownie leader and taught all of us. I love the smells and process of making it. This is a wonderful all-around sensory experience.
Materials:
Oranges
Cloves
Ground spices (e.g. cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, all-spice)
Citrus zester or vegetable peeler
Toothpicks
Rubber bands
We did this with oranges we had around the house. It might be fun to buy oranges with this project in mind, so they are the color and size you want.
We bought a couple containers of whole cloves and used only a percentage of them, as it is work getting them in.
Speaking of work, kids may want to use a toothpick to pre-puncture the orange’s skin, making it easier to get the clove in, which has a poky exterior.
If you’re making designs with the cloves, or by scoring, rubber bands are useful in guiding you in straight lines around the orange.
When I was a kid, we covered the orange in cloves, and rolled it in spices. One of my kids opted to make designs by scoring the skin with a citrus zester. Rolling it in spices may not have a desired effect on the designs, so you may want to skip the spices if scoring.
The spices certainly add to the aroma, which is the primary reason for making a pomander. Maybe our spices were too old. We only liked the smell of the cinnamon and cloves, so we stuck with those. It’s easy enough to make a mixture in a bowl and roll the orange in it, or sprinkle on top.
The kids really loved this Christmas project, as they had complete independence and there were no right or wrong ways of doing it. They loved the aroma as they worked, and the Christmas songs playing in the background made it a festive evening together.
A shepherd in the field:
A sheep in the flock:
The hill to Bethlehem:
Cool circle designs:
A Christmas tree:
Santa Claus:
Textural designs:
All spiced up: