Making Holiday Pomander Balls

A pomander ball is a round fruit covered with whole cloves. Pomanders are traditionally made out of limes, oranges, or oranges. They make wonderful scented gifts and can be given to scent closets or drawers. They also make wonderful smelling Christmas decorations when displayed in a festive glass bowl. You can tie ribbon around a pomander ball and use it as an ornament on an old fashioned themed Christmas tree. Making pomander balls is a great project for the kids over winter break.

To make putting the cloves in the fruit easier; try using a push pin. Insert and remove the push pin and then insert the clove. In traditional pomander balls the cloves are placed very close together so that they touch. The whole fruit is covered in this fashion. Pomander balls can actually stay fragrant for years. Place your pomander balls in a brown paper bag with some powdered ores root and seal the bag. Shake the bag vigorously and store in a dark dry spot for three weeks. You can tie lace, gingham, or red ribbon around the pomander ball to hang it on a Victorian Christmas or country themed Christmas tree.

If you are making pomander balls only to be displayed for the holiday season you can stud the cloves in interesting patterns. Draw your shapes on your fruit with an ink pen. Use a connect the dot lines to be able to cover your pattern with the clove studs. Pomander balls can be stuck together using tooth picks to create center pieces such as a pyramid. You can use smaller pomander balls to spice up your homemade garland.

In order to save money on cloves you should buy them in bulk. Apples can make good display pomander balls and are not as expensive as citrus. If smaller children wish to make pomander balls simply use a fork to prepare the apple skin for the cloves. Poke the apple skin all over with a fork and have them fill in the holes with the whole cloves.

You can buy netting at the craft store. Simply cut the netting into a square that allows for enough netting to be gathered and tied at the top of the apple. Simply bring the netting around the finished pomander ball and secure the top with ribbon or string. You can put a ornament hanger in the center of the knot on the top of the pomander ball in order to hang it from your tree. If you wish to add extra fragrance spray the finished ball with hair spray and quickly dust the ball with ground cinnamon. Throw out any leftover cinnamon powder when you are finished

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