One of my absolute favorite smells is when an orange is being peeled.

I remember when I was pregnant for the first time and traveling for work. I was on a flight and feeling pretty nauseous and it didn’t help that in general there aren’t always the most pleasant smells on a plane. Someone around me (or it may have even been someone on the plane that took off before us for all my bloodhound nose could tell) started peeling an orange.

Ahhh, it was heaven to my delicate senses.  I wanted to get up and find that person and beg to sit next to them. I restrained myself.

But it’s no wonder I craved OJ through all of my pregnancies!

Anyway, I saw on Pinterest where someone boiled orange peels with a dash of cinnamon to make their house smell good (I tried to find the original post so I could link back here but the site is no longer there.)  Since everyone in my house is battling a cold we are surrounded by oranges and orange juice so I figured why not make use of the peels and some cinnamon sticks I have and try it out! 

Vitamin C by inhalation?  Probably not.  But it made the house smell divine nonetheless.

Yes, I said divine. It smells that good in here right now.

Love the smell of orange like me?  Here’s a few other things you can do with your leftover peels:

• If your disposal has that ‘not so fresh’ odor happening, cut up some of the peels, toss them down and churn away.  Not too many though, and don’t leave your disposal on for long…I don’t want you blaming me for a broken disposal 🙂
• We’ve all heard that vinegar is the best natural cleaning agent out there.  But lets face it, it leaves your house smelling like a salad. So why not add the peels to a jar of white vinegar and let them soak (for a couple weeks).  Add to a spray bottle and now your cleaner will have a citrus scent instead.
• Create your own orange flavored vodka by letting some of the peels marinate in the bottle.  Mmmm.
• Put some clean peels in a jar of sugar to make orange sugar.  Great to make sugar cookies, yummy in your tea, etc.
• Orange Zest!  It will last in your fridge for at least a week.  Great in salad dressings, marinades, you name it.

Do you have any other great ideas for orange peels?