Pinterest is overflowing with ideas for fall simmer pots. They’re the best way to fill your home with all the fruity, spicy scents of the season. Most are made on the stove top, which require some care and supervision. Not ideal for easily-distracted folks like me; there’s a reason I’m only allowed to burn jar candles in open spaces around the house.

So I found a great workaround!

My first crockpot came with a ‘Little Dipper’ mini crock. I made queso in it for a party once, but hadn’t used it since. When I cleaned out my kitchen recently, I found it buried in the back of the cupboard and thought, “hey, worry-free simmer pot!”

It works like a charm: I can plug it in and leave it for hours, it gets just warm enough to fill the room with fragrance without scorching or burning off all the liquid, and I can reuse it for days.

It’s fun to experiment with different scent combinations. These are some of my favorite simmer pot ingredients to mix-and-match for the season:

• fresh sliced apples, oranges, grapefruit or lemon
• cinnamon sticks
• cloves
• pumpkin pie spice
• pure vanilla extract or vanilla essential oil
• lemon essential oil
• sandalwood essential oil
• fresh rosemary

To start, I fill the crock about halfway with the fresh sliced fruit, then add filtered water until the fruit is covered (be careful not to overfill; don’t go higher than 3/4 full). Then I add the cinnamon and/or fresh herbs, a heavy sprinkle of the ground spices, and assorted essential oils (usually 8-15 drops of each oil, depending on how much I want the fragrance to come through). Finally, I stir it all together to combine.

I leave the lid on for the first 30 minutes or so to heat through, then remove the lid to let it simmer and steam. If the scent starts to dissipate, I cover the crock again for a bit to reheat, and repeat, and so on and so forth. ;)

For more home fragrance inspiration, check out Ingrid’s ‘DIY Room Scents + Sprays‘ video.

If you don’t have a ‘Little Dipper,’ a regular ol’ crock pot will likely do the trick! Search for one in a thrift store that you can dedicate to the task, or find an old pot for a stove top version (check out Pinterest for helpful instructions).