Sarah Dowdey wrote in How Smells Work, “A smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people’s moods and even affect their work performance. Because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain’s limbic system, an area so closely associated with memory and feeling it’s sometimes called the “emotional brain,” smell can call up memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously.” Click on sniff to read the entire article.
What is the best smell of Christmas {or winter} for you?
The beauty and scent of fresh evergreens has long been a tradition for the holidays. These hearty branches are an easy way to bring the beauty of nature into our homes as it becomes cooler outdoors {for many of us}. I grew up in the PNW, and love the scents of our beautiful evergreens, but, I must admit, the fragrance of these tree’s eastern relations, the Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir have always triggered a more intense feeling of the authentic, traditional scent of Christmas for me.
I’m so excited to announce that you may be able to experience this fresh, woody scent very soon, because the GreenValley Christmas Tree Company has offered to send a fresh Fraser Fir wreath to a lucky Splendid Market winner.
Details for the giveaway are at the bottom of this post, please, enter often, but enter soon, we will have a random drawing on Wednesday, 12/14, so the wreath can be shipped to the winner in time for the holidays.
I was able to order a box of Fraser Fir branches to be shipped to me, and oh my, they did make my house merry. Along with other greens and holly, they freshened my collection of blue and white export porcelain.
And they were the perfect frame for my budding Amaryllis.
I also used them to make my favorite holiday bouquets. I love the combination of deep green branches paired with fragrant white Casablanca lilies during the winter months. To make these bouquets, I filled the vases with evergreen branches, and then arranged stems of Casablanca Lilies into this base. Next, I filled in the space around the flowers with more boughs of greenery and holly making the arrangements look taller and fuller. These bouquets look great inside
and out and they usually last for weeks. If the blooms of the lilies fade, just replace them with fresh stems.
Okay, let’s get this giveaway started! Complete any, and/or all of the following steps to get your name in the hat, the more steps you take, the more times your name will be entered:
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Subscribe to Splendid Market {if you are already a subscriber, leave a comment and let me know}. To subscribe, enter your email address in the box in the top right corner of this page.
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Get a friend to subscribe to Splendid Market {and let me know who your friend/s is/are.}
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“Like” Splendid Market on Facebook {you can click on the “like” icon in the column to the right, middle of the page}.
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Follow Splendid Market on Twitter {see “follow me” in the column to the right}.
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Blog, twitter or facebook about the giveaway and leave a comment or send me an email to let me know.
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I am sniffing a fragrant Fraser fir bough as I write this and I’m so excited to be able to share this fabulous scent with one of you! Just imagine that fresh whiff as you open the box! I hope it conjures many marvelous memories for you.
Bon chance!
Oh Emily .. I already subscribe, post, comment and love Splendid Market and was just feeling like a wreath might be just what my door needs
xo Tova