Simple Orange Pomander Balls for Advent

Until last year, I always bought one of those cute pre-made cardboard Advent calendars with the little doors that open. Then last year, I decided to go with the more creative route of planning special activities for each of the 24 days in the countdown. And by that, I also mean the much more time- and labor- intensive route. Why don't I ever do things the easy way?

The answer, of course, is stuff like this: orange pomander balls made for Advent, day two.
Making these was calming and meditative and really a multi-sensory experience. I considered writing a tutorial, but we skipped a few steps and so didn't make real pomander balls, but they're close enough in my book. There are lots of other great tutorials out there anyway.

Ninna worked diligently, silently, and with great concentration. Bojey didn't last nearly as long as she found it much more entertaining to cover a baby doll with dried cloves

And that cute set-up with a cloth over the kid table, intended to add to the atmosphere of the project, evolved (unexpectedly and unplanned) into this: a candlelight kids-only dinner, at a pretend restaurant, staffed by yours truly:

And then...no one ate a bite. Aside from me. They both sat down and waited for their food. When it arrived, Ninna, already of an age when she is a little sensitive about such things, spent a few minutes acting as if she were really looking forward to eating it, after which she got up and sat on the couch. Bojey, too young and self-focused to bother with such pleasantries, jumped away from the table immediately. Sorry chicks, this establishment serves only one meal at a time...