I always have so much trouble getting into the holiday spirit; it doesn’t help that since college, I now mostly just associate December with final exams and project due dates. Once those are over, Christmas has basically come and gone. Making an effort to enjoy the season before the holidays are over is difficult, especially with how busy we all are, but I know for me just taking a few hours over the weekend to decorate my apartment or make something festive feels so therapeutic. Here are a couple of easy, time-friendly ways to get into the holiday spirit!
- Pomanders
Pomanders are a super easy way to make your apartment smell amazing! Since my family started doing this a couple of years ago, I now only associate this smell with winter. All you do is poke some whole cloves into fresh oranges (it helps if they’re ripe or a little overripe); you can go an extra mile and dust the whole thing in cinnamon or arrange the cloves in a cute pattern around the orange, but your whole apartment will smell incredible within hours no matter what. The pomanders will usually last a couple of days.
- Simmer Pot
Another slightly more tedious but still super effective way to get your apartment to smell like winter is making a simmer pot. Boil a pot of water and add whatever aromatics you like; sliced oranges, cranberries and whole cinnamon sticks give the classic Christmas smell, but you can add whatever you want. Set the pot to simmer on low heat and leave it for as long as you want — just be careful that all your water doesn’t completely evaporate out of the pot. This can also be a cute holiday gift — package some dried aromatics in a mason jar and gift it to someone as a simmer pot kit.
- Mulled Wine/Cider
Not only will this also make your apartment smell great, but mulled wine is a classic and cozy Christmas drink. There are lots of different recipes online for this, but the basic ingredients are wine, spices, sweetener if desired and fruit — it’s basically the hot version of sangria (it’s better than it sounds, I promise). Mix the ingredients over low heat for a couple of minutes and serve warm. If you don’t drink or you’re not a wine person, you can substitute with apple cider (without additional sweetener) and it’ll be just as good.
- So Many Fairy Lights
This is my favorite thing to do for the holidays — you can buy a huge string of fairy lights for cheap at most hardware stores and absolutely fill your apartment or your dorm in lights. I feel like it’s hard to go too far with the amount of lights — a string of lights can instantly add warmth to any space, and I personally love the look of maximalist decorations.