Make a Pomander Ball Centerpiece

If you missed our pomander ball centerpiece workshop, here’s how you can make one for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table.

• What you need:
• A small dish
• 1 block florist Oasis foam
• Greens including boxwood
• 3 Oranges
• Cloves
• Cinnamon Sticks
• Bamboo Skewer or other thin, sharp stick for poking holes in the orange
• Wooden picks for holding the oranges and cinnamon sticks on the arrangement
• Other pods, cones, or berries

Soak the block of florist foam in water for at least 1/2 hour, then cut to fit in the dish you’re using.

Cut greens into pieces about 6″ long. Using one at a time, evenly distribute the evergreen pieces around the oasis. Cut the boxwood pieces a bit shorter than the evergreens and poke those pieces in last.

Once your dish is filled with greens, you’re ready to make the pomander balls. The word “pomander” comes from the French pomme d’ambre, which means “apple of amber”. Wealthy people in medieval Europe would wear a carved circle of ambergris, a rare substance with a pleasant odor, around their necks. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey is credited with inventing the “Poor Man’s Pomander” which consisted of a fresh orange, studied with cloves, and rolled in cinnamon. The cloves and cinnamon were not only good aromatherapy, but they are also a natural fungicide that helps prevent the orange from molding.

You can either make dots where you want the cloves to go with a marker, or just use your pointed skewer to make the holes. Cloves can be stuck in at random, or in a design. You can cover the entire orange, or just the top half.

After you have the oranges studded with cloves and rolled in cinnamon or oris root powder, place them in the greens. Add cones, pods or artificial berries. You can also put a candle in the center if you wish.

After the holiday, remove the oranges from the centerpiece and place them on a cooling rack in a warm room that isn’t humid. Keep them out of direct sun while they dry.