Credit: Mark Kingston
What you will need
- 2 oranges
- 1 cup of whole cloves
- 1 metre of festive ribbon (Your ribbon can be Golden, red or green, shiny pink or whatever ribbons your children fancy)
- 1 pencil
How to
- Wash your oranges to remove any fruit wax and put on some festive tune. (Christmas FM perhaps)
- Mark a thick line around your orange as if to cut it into quarters
- Poke holes of about 1 cm deep into the oranges either randomly or in a pattern with the pencil.
- Keep the holes close enough together so that the cloves will almost touch when inserted stem side down into the holes. But allow a little room for shrinkage
- Do not poke holes into the lines you made – this area is for the ribbon.
- Ask your children to push cloves into the holes, stem side down, no hurry!
- This leaves the sharper parts out so they may want to use a thimble or mine wear their Christmas gloves to keep your fingers from getting sore.
- Remember, it’s not a competition and santa is NOT Simon Cowell! A rough and ready effort can be more fun and equally smelly.
- Wrap the ribbon around the orange both ways, tie in a knot at the top then make a loop and tie a second knot if you’d like to hang your pomander, or a bow if you’re going to set it on the table or mantelpiece.
- Orange pomanders take time to dry, a couple of weeks. The orange will turn brown and kind of appear to be rotting – it is NOT rotting. The oil from the cloves spreads throughout the peel making it brownish orange. The entire orange will eventually dry and become very lightweight and hopefully delightfully smelly!
