LILL's LIST

Homemade Gelatin Air Fresheners
My kids really enjoyed making these and giving them to friends and family. Everyone we gave them to was thrilled with their gift and asked for refills throughout the year. So be prepared for future requests or, better yet, include the recipe on the jar or glass.
We usually double the recipe to make a quart and then pour it into pretty 4 oz jars that we get at the dollar store or yard sales.Votive candle holders, little vases, juice glasses and even little bowls work well. Just make sure that they’re clear if you’re adding color to your gel. You can even get fancy and use the smallest fishbowl you can find, let the gelatin set somewhat and add tiny toy fish, plastic plants or pretty stones. Use your imagination, but just remember that the gel is going to dissolve eventually and won’t be propping up whatever you add to the jar.
Non-Toxic Gel Air Freshener
2 Cups of Water
4 pkgs of unflavored gelatin
or
large pkg of DIET flavored gelatin
20 drops of essential oil
1 Tbsp Salt or Vodka (keeps it from getting moldy)
Optional-Food coloring for unflavored gelatin
Heat the water to boiling. Stir in the gelatin and remove it from the stove. Add the other cup of water and stir thoroughly. This is important because you don’t want lumps in your gelatin. Add the essential oil. If you’re adding coloring, add it now. Pour into decorative containers and cool until firmly set. (If you put them into your fridge uncovered, your fridge will smell like the essential oil. This might not work if you’ve used something very strong.)
Non-Toxic Play Dough
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Flour
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 cup Salt
2 tsps Cream of Tartar
1 regular pkg DIET flavored gelatin
Combine and mix all ingredients, then knead with your hands. You may want to sprinkle flour on your hands first. When smooth and dry, put it into plastic bags and close tightly. This will keep for up to six months. You can use it to make ornaments. Roll out the dough and then cut it with cookie cutters. Put a hole in the top with a straw and let them dry. Thread a ribbon or ornament hanger through the hole and hang them on the tree. This dough can almost be painted.
Some ideas: Use powdered ice tea mix and add some ginger to make brown “gingerbread” people ornaments. Because of the salt, this shouldn’t be eaten, although it’s technically non-toxic. Too much salt can cause nausea, especially in kids.

Even during the harsh cold weather in Maine, there’s abundunt wildlife right outside our window.While I miss the beautiful, colorful flowers, some of our birds are almost as vibrantly hued.
Evening Grosbeaks and Blue Jays feed on the ground, enjoying the thistle and sunflower seeds knocked down by the drabber colored chickadees and sparrows. On the bag of thistle seed, Red Polls, Purple Finches and House Finches jostle and twitter at each other as they pull the tiny seeds through the mesh.
This year, we tried a few different things to compensate for the loss of the birds’ favorite place to perch between feedings. It was a huge, dry-rotted oak that we had to remove before it fell down. We still have a smaller maple and a good-sized spruce where they can shelter from snow and wind, so we used them to provide a little extra.
To supplement the two suet feeders we already had, we mixed cornmeal with chunky peanut butter, spread it liberally on pine cones, leaving dry spots for their feet to perch on, then rolled them in sunflower and millet seeds and hung them from the branches of the spruce and maple. The chickadees, especially loved them.
We also pulled up our sunflower plants with the heads still attached, instead of leaving them like we usually do, and tied them into bunches with garden twine. Then we hung them from the hook under the feeder and from the tips of branches in the spruce.
My daughter’s innovative idea was to take our old grapevine wreath, which has certainly seen better days, attach some evergreen swatches, tie on a couple of seed bells and bunches of grapes. We hung it from a branch of the maple and the birds were soon perching and feasting. They looked so festive against the dark green of the wreath. We also stuck some peeled oranges on sharp twigs on the maple for the Cardinals and Blue Jays.
As we approach the Winter Solstice, we appreciate the light and warmth of our home and admire the fortitude and energy of the wild birds outside our window. With neither fire nor any shelter but the trees and bushes, they somehow manage to survive the Maine winter with pluck and perseverance. And so will we.

Pomanders are easy to make. They’re a good craft project for kids and can be made in an evening or afternoon. However, if you want your pomander to be ready for Christmas, now is the time to start it. And if you want to make something other than the usual clove-studded oranges, read on.

The basic pomander that most of us have made at least once in our lives is the orange pomander. To do, poke holes in an orange with a sturdy toothpick or one of those plastic flossing picks and then stick whole cloves in them. You can make a pattern, such as spirals or any geometric pattern. Just don’t put a row of cloves right around the orange, or the skin might peel off at that point. When you’re done, shake the orange in orris root powder in a paper bag. Orris root powder is a fragrant preservative.

For a pomander that’s a little different, start with an apple. Stud it with cloves in the usual way, but then roll it in cinnamon or cinnamon and ginger, or cinnamon, ginger and allspice. Or apple pie spice. I used pumpkin pie spice by mistake once and it still smelled heavenly.

Another variation: Use a lemon, stud it with cloves and then shake it in ginger in a paper bag. This is one of my favorites, because it reminds me of my favorite ginger ale. The one with the twist of lemon. Or use a lime, stud it with cloves and shake it with nutmeg.

Whatever kind of pomander you decide to make, you must leave it in the paper bag, in a dark, dry place for three weeks or so until it’s thoroughly dry. When it’s dry, take it out and cover it with a piece of netting. This keeps it together as it ages and dries out more. I like to embellish my pomanders with beaded straight pins and sequins. Just put a straight pin through the hole of a sequin and push it gently into the fruit. A pretty ribbon to tie the top of the netting and the pomander is ready to hang or give as a gift.

Pomanders may also be hung on the Christmas tree, from a curtain rod in a window, or in a closet. They can be tucked into drawers like sachets or several can even be used as a centerpiece in a pretty glass bowl. Use your imagination and get started now, so that when Christmas comes, you’ll have plenty of pomanders to keep your house smelling sweet or to give as gifts.