Homemade Christmas Love: Homemade Incense

We are the sort of people who make almost all of our consumables from scratch with love.  So it suites that our gift giving would also follow the trend, sharing the love of home-made with friends and family. We're giving a little series on the gifts we are sharing this year for you to enjoy.

Little Incense Village.

First on the list is homemade cone incense. To me, this seemed an impossible do, but hark!, it was actually not even that tough!

The hardest thing about this was finding the binding agent, Benzoin Gum. It may sound scary, but it is actually a resin found in balsam trees that has been used for centuries in creating incense for religious ceremonies.  It can be found in craft stores and in many online herbal shoppes.


Next, you need powdered herbs. I used Eucalyptus and Lavender for my first batch, which will be a relaxing incense for stressful days. For the second batch, I used a simple blend of ground ginger and ground cinnamon that I had in the kitchen already. This will smell like a welcoming home environment, sort of like baking cookies!

1. Start with these ingredients. Three teaspoons dried powdered herbs to 1/4 teaspoon benzoin gum. 
2. Mix very well in a small container.
3. Next, add water drop by drop, mixing as you go, until you have a paste that feels like playdough. 
4. Now you are ready to form cones. It's important that they stay small enough to dry well. Mine were the length of the tip of my thumb. 
5. Dry for 36 hours, placing the incense on their side for the bottom to dry. 

A batch can be formed in under five minutes as you grow proficient in shaping them. It won't lead to many cones, but as you get used to handling the dough, you can double or triple the batches. I'm so excited, I've been making a batch a day.