The Scents of Christmas Past, Present, and Future

So, this is it.  We're down to the final stretch of holiday fun.  At last check, this is Day #20 in A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR, and all I have to say is that if you haven't finished your holiday shopping (or even started your holiday shopping for that matter), you'd best hurry up.  There's only a few precious days left.

You also may want to bring along a compass and Band-Aids...in case you get lost or injured at the mall.  Believe me, if I didn't work in retail, you can bet your bottom dollar that I would not be anywhere near a mall the last week before Christmas!

Fear not though.  I am here to help with another cool gift idea for you to consider.  And as luck would have it, it happens to be tied to today's theme!

I'm sure everybody has heard of Mr. Sketch markers, right?  They're those felt tip markers that are in bright colours, smell like fruit, and seem to last several years?

(No kidding.  I got a set for a birthday gift when I was ten, and I was still using them at 16.  Definitely a good quality product, believe me.)

Well, during the holiday season, Mr. Sketch came out with a special 6-pack of scented markers that each have a different holiday scent to them.  Have a look!

Now, my only regret is that I can't let you smell these markers yourself.  I don't think the Internet provides "Smell-O-Vision" just yet.  But I can assure you that all six scents definitely remind me of the holidays.

In fact, that's what I've decided to make this post all about.  Smells that remind you of the holidays.

Of course, I'll be talking about all six scents that these markers release, but I think there are other holiday scents that Mr. Sketch may have not thought about and therefore I'll be adding my own suggestions along with the colour that I think would work best.

The first marker in the package is red, and according to the legend, the red marker emits a candy cane scent.  Certainly, this one is one that I can get behind.  In fact, of the six colours that are in this package, the red is my favourite.  Now, candy canes are one of those things that are quite optional.  Some people love putting them on their trees as decorations, while others just don't bother.  I'll admit that I used to use candy canes, but by the time Christmas came, we'd have maybe two out of 24 canes still on the tree because we all ate the other 22.  Still, there's nothing quite like the scent of a peppermint candy cane, and while I suppose the scent is the same as a package of Doublemint gum, the smell and taste of a candy cane absolutely reminds me that Christmas is coming.

(SAFETY WARNING:  Do NOT eat Mr. Sketch markers.)

The next colour in the mix is kind of a light yellow colour...almost beige.  But there's a good reason for that.  Do you maybe notice that the colour of the marker is almost the same colour as cookie dough?  That's because the marker has a sugar cookie scent.  And really, what's Christmas without cookies?  Why else do you think I used cookies as the theme for this year's advent calendar?  Cookies that are baking in the oven are admittedly a common smell during the holidays.  I think my mother bakes enough cookies during the month of December to keep every bakery in town stocked up...until Christmas 2018.  For what it's worth, I love the scent of this marker...but since yellow is not my favourite colour, this marker doesn't really get used a lot.

Next up is a dark green colour, and gee...I can't imagine what Christmas item you could find that is dark green in colour...except for maybe the centerpiece of any Christmas celebration.  Yes, the green marker is supposed to represent pine needles...but instead, I think the good people at Mr. Sketch used too much scented stuff in the marker because instead of smelling like pine needles, it smells more like Pine-Sol.  But you can't argue the logic of having pine needles as the quintessential holiday scent.  Back in the days when my family used real Christmas trees, it truly was the sign that Christmas was here...the smell of a freshly cut pine tree.  Now that I use artificial trees, that Christmas joy seems to be slightly less magical.  But I suppose that if I really wanted to recapture that authenticity, I could either buy pine scented Febreze or hang up a dozen of those car air fresheners on the tree itself.

The purple marker is perhaps one of the most confusing of all, because it's scent represents something that I completely had no idea even existed.  But according to the marker legend, it represents sugar plums.  You know, sugar plums?  The things that the kids dream about in "Twas The Night Before Christmas"?  Apparently, they really do exist.  They aren't really plums, but they kind of look like purple jujubes sprinkled in sugar crystals.  I've actually never seen one, let alone eaten one, so I have no idea if the marker is accurate in their scent.  But, it's a pleasant enough smell.  I imagine the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker smelling just as sweet...well, if she were real, that is.

In this package, there's also a brown marker, and the only brown things that I can think of that could also be the colours of Christmas stuff are yule logs and gingerbread houses.  And, well...in this case, they went with gingerbread.  Now, I have to say, I am not the biggest gingerbread fan in the world.  I could maybe bite the head off of a gingerbread man and that would satisfy my gingerbread craving all year long.  But when it comes to the smell of gingerbread, I absolutely love it.  Gingerbread baking in an oven is like the most perfect Christmas smell ever.  And, even though I may not like eating gingerbread, I do love decorating gingerbread houses.

I wish I could say the same about the final marker in the bunch.  Whoever decided to make a scent that smelled like chimney smoke must have been out of their minds at the time, but yet, that's exactly what the dark gray marker smells like.  Chimney smoke.  Seriously, I made the mistake of smelling this one first, and it totally made me gag.  But, I suppose that with Santa Claus sliding his way down at least a billion chimneys every Christmas Eve, I suppose it's only natural that his velvet red suit gets coated in soot.  I imagine his dry cleaning bills must be horrendous!

So, those were the six scents that the people at Mr. Sketch chose.  Now I will add six scents and colours of my own to make this one a twelve pack.  I think I can do it.

1.  Orange = Pumpkin Pie

(More of a Thanksgiving themed scent, but then again, it is the holiday edition.)

2.  Light Brown = Hot Chocolate
(Whenever I came inside to warm up, hot chocolate was my go-to drink.  And besides...how can you screw up the smell of chocolate?)

3.  Light Orange = Stuffing
(And I don't mean Stove Top either...I mean the stuff you bake from scratch!)

4.  Yellow = Egg Nog
(I may hate the taste of egg nog, but I do love the smell.)

5.  Periwinkle = Winter Scented Candle
(Okay, so I'm cheating with this one...I just wanted an excuse to have a blue marker.)

6.  Pink = Honey Glazed Ham
(Seriously, imagine having a ham scented marker.  It was either that or baked beans, and personally, I think ham makes a better colour.)

Any other scents that remind you of the holidays?