These dried orange slices bring back that nostalgic old timey Christmas feeling, don’t they? They are a great way to add that vintage Christmas feel to your decor this year, and they are both inexpensive and easy to make! I also experimented with some pink grapefruit, and they turned out beautifully!
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Make sure you follow these instructions to a tee! I’ve seen lots of people try these and completely mess them up because they didn’t prep properly or use wire racks. Trust me, you’ll thank me for these tips and tricks later!
What You’ll Need:
- 25 oranges
- 3 grapefruit
- 4 wire baking racks
- serrated knife
- paper towels
- twine
- embroidery needle
- christmas ornament hooks
- clear Krylon
How To:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2: Cut your oranges and grapefruit into 1/4 inch slices. If they are too thick, they will take forever to dry, and you will ultimately need more oranges.
Step 3: Use paper towels to blot off the excess juice on both sides of each slice. This step is KEY. This will keep your oranges from dripping everywhere and will help them dry faster.
Step 4: Place your orange slices on your wire baking racks and place in the oven. Set a time for 60 minutes, when it goes off, pull the racks out and flip each slice.
Step 5: Wait another 60 minutes and check on them again, if not yet dry, flip one more time. Make sure you are periodically checking your slices (about every 30 minutes) after the 2 hour mark. Once dried or mostly dried, pull them out. Thinner slices will dry faster and need to be pulled out, while thicker slices could take between 3-4 hours. And be sure you pull out the slices if they start to brown.
Step 6: Once all of your slices are dry, allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Then spray a light coat or clear Krylon on both sides of each slice. This will ensure you can keep your garlands for many years to come.
Step 7: Once the Krylon is dry, use an embroidery needle and twine to create garland. Just poke one hole in and then another hole coming back out, creating one long stitch on each slice.
Step 8: You can also create ornaments by simply using a christmas ornament hanger and poking one end through a slice.
Step 9: Hang and enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial! Remember, wire racks, blotting each slice with paper towels, and spraying with Krylon are super important to making these dried orange slices (and grapefruit, too!) look beautiful and last for years to come!
I hope this project brings a bit of Christmas nostalgia and joy to your life! And if you try this for Christmas, I’d love to hear about your experience below!
Until the next project…
XO,
Ana
