Don't pay for pre-scented pine cones that have who-knows-what added for scent. Make your own!

I went in my yard today and picked up some small, tight pine cones. I was going to dry them out and scent them for a bowl in my entryway. I was very pleasantly surprised after 5 hours in a low oven. They had puffed up into very pretty pine cones. Bonus!

Note: When you dry your pine cones, make sure you put down some parchment paper or you will be spending a lot of time trying to get the sap off your cookie sheet.

I used White Fir, but Peppermint or Cinnamon are great during the holidays. Be creative!

Interested in making your own personal perfume scent?

Want that perfect combination to diffuse?

The combinations of essential oils are endless. I hope this will help you along your path to getting to that perfect choice for you.

To begin, choose essential oils that you believe will create a pleasant aromatherapy blend.
Go ahead and get creative! Start inhaling! But keep it simple.
Try and choose about five essential oils to begin with.

Do you know you like Citrus? Floral? Green? Keep these in mind.
 
Citrus – Lemon; Lime; Mandarin; Wild Orange; Petitgrain; Bergamot; Sunny Citrus; 
Herbal Spice – Basil; Black Pepper; Clove; Rosemary; Thyme
Floral – Geranium; Lavender; Rose; Ylang Ylang; Whisper
Fruity – Juniper; Citrus Bliss
Green – Basil; Immortelle; Rosemary
Minty – Peppermint; Spearmint; Sage
Warm – Cedarwood; Clove; Ginger; Marjoram

We will now look and see if we have some oils from each of the following categories. It is not imperative,
but if you can have at least one oil from each category, your scent will be perfectly balanced.

Base Notes (Fixative) – Thick; Earthy; Musky.
Noticed later after other scents subside; Staying power.
 
Middle Notes (Heart or Bouquet) – Lasts a couple hours.
Stays in the middle and draws the other scents together.
 
Top Notes (Head) – Thin; Volatile; Sharp but Light.
Most noticeable; Does not last long.

See if you can separate your five chosen oils into top, middle, and base notes. Ideally, you will have at least two top, two middle, and one base note.

Now start playing around. It's best to have perfume testers. Place a drop of your desired combination on the tester and inhale. Do this with a few different combinations. Then walk away. Come back 10-15 minutes later, (or at least smell some coffee beans in between). Start by holding the tester arm's length away and giving it a little swirl. Then slowly move closer. It should have a slightly different aroma as it gets closer. Now put it down, walk away, and come back and try another tester.

This may seem like it takes a lot of time, but believe me, it's well worth it. If you are impatient, do the coffee bean cleanser in between. You can still save the testers and come back later, too.