“ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary, and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.” – Diane Ackerman
In the distant past, a young woman lived in a suburb of Chicago who thought nothing made her home warm and cozy like the flicker of candlelight. Even better, was the fragrance it gave off that surrounded her and all she welcomed into her home. She loved her highly fragranced home so much, that lighting a candle in her kitchen early in the wee hours of the morning became a habit that went on for years and years. For her, this reflected the desire of her heart to make her home a place of beautiful memories and the aromas that would trigger those special memories to come forward in the years to come for those that she loved and served daily within this sanctuary.
Then came the day when she learned how many unhealthy ingredients could be encompassed in the word “fragrance.” After reading many studies and articles on how dangerous candles (and so many other household products) were, she decided that her beloved candles needed to go for the sake of her health, and all the people that she loved living in, and visiting her home.
A house is built by wisdom
and becomes strong through good sense.
Proverbs 24:3 NLT
After a little while, missing the lovely little glow at the dinner table, on her kitchen counter, or flickering across her fireplace mantel, she started to think that maybe it would be safe to burn a soy candle, only to find out that she couldn’t just buy any soy candle. Where did the soy come from? Is it 100% soy or does it contain paraffin, you know, the product that is petroleum-based? What other dirty little ingredients are in there, and, once again, what was the source of the fragrance? Lovely Beeswax candles could be made and used, but she wasn’t prepared to go that route just yet.
This is where I cue the discovery of the world of diffusing into my little tale of woe. As you may have gathered, I’m the one who had the candle addiction, and it wasn’t an easy habit to break. Candles were used regularly throughout our home. Diffusing high-grade essential oils opened another world of fun and creativity for me.
First, one pretty little diffuser sat on my kitchen countertop. Did you know that they make diffusers that flicker like candlelight? How wonderful is that! Then another was added to the living room. Now, every room in our home has one, and most, are used daily. It’s the best of both worlds for me. I can make my home not only have the most beautiful aromas, by using high-grade essential oils wafting around me, but more importantly these aromas are beneficial to my family’s health and well-being.
I enjoy diffusing so much that I create monthly diffuser calendars. You can find them in the Essentially C.J. shop where I have started the process of making these calendars perpetual, and also here:
Some of my diffusers are beautiful and proudly displayed in a place of honor, but some need a little help to take center stage in fitting them into my decor. It’s fun to see how creative I can be in finding vessels that won’t impede my diffusers, but boost their appearance in a fun way.
Carved Pumpkins, the artificial kind, are the only Halloween decorations you will find in my home nowadays, and this metal jack-o-lantern fits the bill perfectly for a diffuser upgrade.
This cute metal house can take me through all of the seasons, but during the holidays, it gets a little visit from my hot glue gun to add a few appropriate decorations to make it more festive.
Sometimes, all that is needed is to plop my diffuser on a pedestal, surround it with a seasonal wreath, plug it in, and have it mist away, and I’m a happy lady.
Another fun way to make your home smell lovely is a simmering pot. Pinterest has a variety of recipes for seasonal simmering pots to try, but this article has some nice ones too.
How to Make a Simmer Pot to Fill Your Home with Seasonal Scents
How about using a single-serve crock pot? That would be a perfect countertop vessel to have a no-fuss simmering pot in, but even finding an appropriate pot size at the thrift store or using one you already have on hand for your simmer pot on your stovetop will do the trick.
If I had a wood stove that had a nice resting spot for one of these Cast Iron Lattice Steamers, this is one that I would use during those cold fall and winter days.
By the way, when I want the appearance of a flickering candle, especially on my fireplace mantel, I now have the option to use these, while I create the aroma by using my diffusers.
Flickering Candles
How about you? What aromas do you like to surround yourself with, especially as the days are getting cooler, that you hope will inspire beautiful memories in your home?
Do you have a favorite diffuser or simmering pot recipe that is on repeat in your home that you could share with us? I lean heavily on my conifer tree essential oils, Black Spruce, Blue Spruce, and Juniper are some of my favorites to put on repeat in my diffusers, with a drop or two of Lavender, citrus oils, or beloved blends into the mix.
Here’s a favorite recipe of mine- 5 drops Evergreen Essence (a blend from my favorite essential oil company), 4 drops Juniper, 3 drops Orange, 2 drops Vanilla oleoresin.
There are fun, creative ways to make our homes smell lovely without using harmful, synthetic, highly- fragranced products.