The Best Laid Plans: Mug Swap

While in Colorado, my friend, Jill, and I made up these sweet little bags of Autumn Scents to give to her friends at a Fall Festival she helped to organize. They were easy to do, look beautiful and smell so delicious!

Autumn Scents

Ingredients:
Dehydrated lemon and oranges slices
Cinnamon sticks
Star of Anise
Cloves

How to:
We started by slicing lemon and oranges thinly and placing on a cookie sheet. We didn't have a dehydrator instead we preheated the oven to 175 degrees and baked the fruit for 7 hours. We put them in overnight and they turned out perfectly. We awoke to the house smelling very citrusy. Once the fruit was cooled, we placed several slices of each in to the bag.

We broke the cinnamon sticks in half and added 3-4 sticks, 2 Star of Anise and then a small handful, probably around 20, of cloves. We gathered the bag and tied it with ribbon.

We purchased the clear bags at Hobby Lobby but you could use small jars or even snack size zip lock bags. The orange ribbon tied off with a simple knot turned out to be a festive touch.

How to use:
Pour entire bag of ingredients in to a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer to fill your home with the wonderful scents of Autumn. You may keep the pot on the back of your stove refilling the water as needed. We boiled our trial pot all week and each day it still smelled wonderful.

See the steam rising from the pot. It is the wonderful scent of Autumn!

MUG SWAP

I participated in a mug swap and had to hurriedly get mine in the mail before leaving on our trip. In fact, I took it to the post office and then we promptly headed to the airport. In my hurry, I forgot to take a picture of the mug I sent. :( It was a bright lime green SC state mug. I included some hot chocolate packets and a SC postcard. I received my mug while I was gone. It was so fun to have a package waiting on me! I received this wonderful owl mug and goodies. I am sooo looking forward to filling this mug with my soups and stews this winter. Isn't it the cutest? The little owl faces are so adorable. Thank you, Kayla from Kayla's Creations! I love it. :) And I love Kayla's blog. Go check it out.