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     A craft n 01 f0 (‘3‘:{ten 
     
    
   
   
    
     written and illustrated by SUE STEPHENSON 
     
    
   
   
    
     While walking through the woods this fall you may 
     
     run across a long—abandoned apple tree brimming with 
     
     fruit or a heavily-laden wild crab apple tree. You can 
     
     use these finds to add beautiful scents to your home and 
     
     to bring a bit of your walk in the woods home with you 
     
     for the winter. 
     
    

    
     There are many ways to use apples to scent your home 
     
     but probably the most well—known is the pomander. Origin— 
     
     ally, in Elizabethan times, the pomander was a small ball 
     
     of gold or silver filled with rare—scented spices and 
     
     "fixed" with ambergris. This was worn on a chain around 
     
     the neck or waist to ward off objectionable smells. 
     
    

    
     Today the pomander is generally known as an apple (or citrus fruit 
     
     such as orange or lemon) studded with cloves, and that has been cured in 
     
     a spice mixture. They are very easy to make and involve three basic steps. 
     
     1) Preparing the pomander - cover the outside surface of the apples with 
     
     cloves, pushing the pointed end of the clove in through the skin of the 
     
     apple until only the head of the clove is showing. It may be easiest to 
     
     poke a small hole first with a nail. The cloves can be placed in lines or 
     
     randomly over the surface of the apple. This 
     
     should be finished the day it is started or the 
     
     apple may begin to rot. 
     
    

    
     2) Preparing the spices — the clove-studded apple 
     
     then needs to be 'cured' in spices and a fixative 
     
     to enhance the smell, keep the fruit from rotting, 
     
     and to ensure the scent remains for some time. To 
     
     make enough curing spice mixture to keep several 
     
     pomanders curing at once (802.), you need to mix 
     
     together: ounces powdered cinnamon 
     
    

    
     ounces powdered cloves 
     
    

    
     ounce powdered allspice 
     
    

    
     ounce powdered nutmeg 
     
    

    
     ounce powdered orris root 
     
    

    
     The type and amount of spices can vary according to taste, but the 
     
     essential ingredient is the fixative, in this case orris root. It is 
     
     available in health food stores and should always be added in the propor— 
     
     tion it is in the above mixture: 1 ounce orris root to 7 ounces spices. 
     
     This mixture can be used over and over again, but should be stored in a 
     
     plastic bag between uses. 
     
    

    
     3) Curing the pomanders - after mixing the curing spices, sprinkle about 
     
     half the mixture in a glazed pottery bowl, and place the pomanders on top. 
     
     Sprinkle the rest of the spice mixture over the pomanders. 
     
    

    
     Turn the pomanders each day, making sure to sprinkle them with a bit 
     
     of the spice mixture. continue this until the pomanders have ' 
     
     completely hardened (two weeks to a month). Once they are 
     
     hard they are finished. They can be tied with ribbons and 
     
     displayed in bowls to scent a room, placed in drawers, 
     
     or hung in a closet. 
     
    

    
     These pomanders will last forever — when ( , . 
     
     their scent fades, just dip them in warm water, f' 4 ‘, 'p’ ‘3‘;/’ 
     
     put them in a bowl of curing spices and cover »"' " 
     
     with a plastic wrap. Keep turning them everyday 
     
     and in a couple of weeks they'll be good as new. 
     
    
   
   
    
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