I have never been much of an air freshener person—spreading fake scents into the air (like spray room fresheners) always made me gag a bit, so that is double true when you are talking about sealing yourself off in a small enclosed space, like your car, with such a scent.
We’ve got a great archive of essential oil tips and posts so I knew that that was the way to go for this DIY. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to add a naturally fresh scent to your car with essential oils, and you can trade the tacky pine tree hanging from your rearview mirror for a cute chain of wool balls instead!
Supplies:
–2 cm felted wool balls
–small tassels
–small clothespins
–embroidery thread
-large darning needle
–essential oils
Cut a piece of embroidery thread that is about 16″ long. Thread one end though the metal spring loop in the center of your clothespin (you may want to use the needle to do that if you can’t just poke the thread through), pull through until you hit the center of your thread, and then tie a knot about 1″ below the clothespin.
Thread both your thread ends though the needle and add on three wool balls with the color you want on top first. Make a knot after the third ball.
Slide your small tassel onto one of your threads, and knot again to keep the tassel in place. All your components are now in place, but we’ll do one more step to hide the thread in the bottom wool ball.
Thread both of your thread ends through your needle again and pull the thread back up through the center of your bottom wool ball and out the top.
Trim the thread as close to where it came out as you can. Now your thread ends are neatly tucked away and your diffuser is ready to use!!
Choose a high-quality essential oil and add 3-4 drops of the oil of your choice to the wool ball section of your diffuser. If you want to mix scents (great idea!), try 1-2 drops of each scent and see how strong the scent is before adding more.
To install, simply use the clothespin to attach your felted ball chain onto one of your vent slats and enjoy the drive! If you hang it higher on your vent you also get the added benefit of getting a little extra burst of scent when the heat/air is being blown out, but you can hang it on the lowest rung if you’d rather that not happen too. I have seen that some people will hang air freshener type things from their rearview mirror, but hanging anything from the mirror is actually illegal to do in most states, so I say stick with the vent clip. Just add more oils to refresh the scent as needed.
Now, as far as what scent to use, that’s totally up to you, but may I suggest a calming lavender or rosmary for your rush hour traffic commute? There’s lots of fun sizes and shapes of car diffusers, so see if an of these strike your fancy as well! And once you’re back inside, this is our favorite diffuser for the indoors as well! 😉 xo. Laura
P.S. Check out more diffusors and home decor on our wishlist and shopping pages!
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Get the How-To
Supplies
- 2CM Felted Wool Balls
- Small Tassels
- Small Clothespins
- Embroidery Thread
- Large Darning Needle
- Essential Oils
Instructions
- Cut a piece of embroidery thread that is about 16″ long. Thread one end though the metal spring loop in the center of your clothespin (you may want to use the needle to do that if you can’t just poke the thread through), pull through until you hit the center of your thread, and then tie a knot about 1″ below the clothespin.
- Thread both your thread ends though the needle and add on three wool balls with the color you want on top first. Make a knot after the third ball.
- Slide your small tassel onto one of your threads, and knot again to keep the tassel in place. All your components are now in place, but we’ll do one more step to hide the thread in the bottom wool ball.
- Thread both of your thread ends through your needle again and pull the thread back up through the center of your bottom wool ball and out the top.
- Trim the thread as close to where it came out as you can. Now your thread ends are neatly tucked away and your diffuser is ready to use!!
- Choose a high-quality essential oil and add 3-4 drops of the oil of your choice to the wool ball section of your diffuser. If you want to mix scents (great idea!), try 1-2 drops of each scent and see how strong the scent is before adding more.
- To install, simply use the clothespin to attach your felted ball chain onto one of your vent slats and enjoy the drive!
Hi! This is a great idea! My daughter got her license so I am going to make her one as a little congratulatory gift. I do think it should be mentioned to research and take care which essential oils you use if you regularly have your dogs/pets in the car (and young children!). Essential oils are wonderful and are certainly better than the harsh synthetic fragrances usually found in car fresheners. However, while most EOs may be good for human adults, some are very toxic to pets (and young kids), even when they are being diffused rather than used topically. Although most of us may know to research these things, many people assume that because they are natural, they are safe. But they are very potent and can cause harm if not used properly. Dogs (and especially cats) are incredibly sensitive to them and I think it’s important to note this, especially since people will often have their dogs in the car with them. As an animal lover and future aromatherapist (currently in school for it), I thought it might be a good idea to mention it because I’ve found many people don’t know how toxic they can be to our furry friends.
I love this idea and proud of all of you who have made these! Did you order all of the materials or were you able to find them in craft stores? I would like to begin very soon.
So I just made 12 of these for my co-workers for a little Christmas present. I’m quite pleased with myself because I’m the least crafty person ever! Cute idea and once I found my mojo they only took maybe 15 minutes to assemble each one.
how long do they last for the first time?
The scent? It depends a little on how much you use and also the weather / humidity.
I have just stumbled upon this post via Pinterest and I love this little craft! Pom poms all the way! It will look super cute in the car too! How long would you say the essential oil fragrance lasts?
Aimsy xoxo
Https://www.aimsysantics.co.uk
This is such a good idea!
My car always smells like rubber as my winter tires live in the backseat (downside of living in a tiny apartment with no storage space). I bought a cheap gas station air freshener to cover the scent but I wish I had just stuck with the rubber stench instead! It was SO strong and nauseating.
Occasionally, I get a Frasier Fir air freshener in a X-Mas stocking or as a I-was-going-to-throw-this-away-but-since-you’re-here-you-can-have-it gift. I love those–the pine scent is so on point it reminds me of my hometown. However, those gifts are few and far between.
These DIY diffusers look like the perfect replacement for a) stinky car fresheners and b) good smelling, but overprice car fresheners. Plus, they’re so much cuter!
Thanks for sharing! I am 100% making this with my girlfriends this weekend.
– Grace | The Keen Kind
I made these for all my friends. Everyone loved them. Thank you for the DIY idea!
You wrote it very well, it is very nice to read this.
Apparently I left my embroidery thread at the craft store between picking it out, checking out, and getting home. I used some upholstery thread instead just to get one made, and I love it!
I WANT TO DO THIS THIS WEEKEND. My husband will be out of town on a work trip. Everyone’s getting these for their b days this year!
I just made a bunch of these as party favors and I’m trying to decide which essential oils to give with them but I’m new to essential oil mixing and I’m looking for a recommendation on 3 oils that would smell good together.
I love your ideas
Such a fun, cute little DIY! I swear, y’all always think of such great things, that would never even cross my mind!
http://pullenscozycorner.com
This is an awesome and cute idea! Btw I love the gold scissors! 🙂
Making this. Do you get the little wool balls from a craft store? I don’t think I’ve ever seen these. Wonderful craft.
We found ours on Etsy (they’re linked in the supply list) 🙂
I love this idea! Artificial fragrances make me sneeze, this is the perfect way to use essential oils in my car.
This is such a cute (and great) idea!!!
This is an amazing idea!!! I’ll do it as soon as possible! Thank you!
Genius, and so cute!!
This is the best idea for my commutes in traffic.! Love it!