I got the idea to make these from this book about the life and times of Shakespeare.

The book includes 21 activities, and making Pomander Balls was one of them.

According to the book Pomander Balls were used in Elizabethan times and in generations before them, to ward off plagues and other diseases which were believed to be caused by bad smelling air. It was traditional to carry these aromatic balls in hands, boxes, or pockets, for protection. People also attached them to chains and wore them around their necks or waists.

Happily today we know that diseases aren’t caused by icky smelling air, but making Pomander balls is still a fun thing to do and they smell AMAZING!

If you’re planning to hang your Pomander Balls on a Christmas Tree, or on wrapped gifts, you should go with a smaller citrus fruit like these medium size Clementines. Pomander balls made from larger oranges can be used as decorations on side tables, mantles, or in a centerpiece on your Christmas Breakfast table.

The first  step is to use a marker and make a grid creating four quarters on the fruit. You can use a black permanent marker, because your grid will be covered up by your ribbon later.

The next thing to do is to use a wooden skewer, toothpick, or sharp pencil to poke holes in the orange and make a design. If you skip this step and just try to push the cloves through without making holes first, you’ll end up with a lot broken cloves.

The holes that you poke for the cloves can be done randomly, in stripes, in the shape of letters, or in patterns.

Here is a design for a swirl.

And there’s this one that looks like a snowflake or a star.

Both my three year old and seven year old were entertained… for a little while…. doing this. It was easy for them to do and they both liked poking the holes and filling them with the cloves.

The next step is to cut a piece of ribbon.

I’ve found that wired ribbon is the easiest type of ribbon to work with because it can be easily manipulated and bent into the form you want.

I wanted big, beautiful, wide ribbon for my bows, but I didn’t want the ribbon to cover up my orange so…

I cut the wired edges off the ribbon into strips for wrapping.

Wrap one of the thin ribbons over one of your black grids and tie it with a double knot.

Next tie the second ribbon on over the other grid line, and again tie a double knot.

And then you cut an additional piece of ribbon to form your bow.

Now don’t freak out about this part. Even if you’ve never tied a fancy bow in your life… you can do this. You don’t attach the ribbon and then try to tie a bow. You tie the bow first and then when it looks how you want it, you attach it to the orange.

And this is why we’re using wire ribbon… so we can pretend we are master bow tyers when we really aren’t.

All you have to do is make a small loop at one end of the ribbon and wrap the long piece of ribbon around it tightly to hold it in place.

Then form a second and a third loop, knotting, and tucking, and bending them together however you can to form something similar to the picture above. It’s not an exact science and the wires really help you be able to bend and tuck and knot without things slipping. And don’t worry about things getting crumpled as you try and tie them… you can fluff all of it out at the end.

Next attach your free formed bow to your orange by tying it on with a double knot from one set of the ribbons already sticking up off your orange.

And then twist and curl your loose ends into pretty little Curly Qs.

Viola!

But wait… we’re not done yet.

Just to add a bit more AMAZING SCENT and a bit more SPARKLE you can dust on some spices mixed with very fine glitter.

I used this Baker’s Blend from the Spice Merchants – It’s a mix of cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, anise, coriander and cardamom.

If you don’t have a blend like this you can make your own from any of the spices mentioned… pumpkin pie spice is also a good one to use.

Then, mix in some very fine glitter. The best kind to use is what you find at the craft store for use with stamps and embossing.

Just mix the spices and glitter together in a small dish and then using a dry paintbrush, lightly dust the mixture onto and around the cloves.

Seriously… I can’t express how good these smell.

They make beautiful gifts, centerpieces and decorations.

You can even put some on your tree or hang them by a string on some very specially wrapped Christmas presents.

Here’s what you need…

Oranges or Clementines

Permanent Marker

Wide Decorative Ribbon

Scissors for cutting Ribbon

Whole cloves – one large sized spice jar from your grocer’s aisle should make about 8 Pomander Balls.

Spices – A Baker’s Blend, or your own mix of any of the following: Cinnamon, Cardamom, All-Spice, Nutmeg, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Coriander, Anise, Ginger, and Cardamom

Toothpicks, Wooden Skewers, or Sharp Pencils for poking holes

Fine Glitter – Embossing kind seems to work best and white or clear looks best. A gold, silver, or orange glitter tends to make the orange look dirty.

Happy Pomandering! (So not a word.)

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