I have the sweetest little Christmas décor idea to share with you. It makes me giddy just thinking about it, because it’s super easy, inexpensive, good for the environment and BEAUTIFUL! Today, I offer you dried oranges. There are a gazillion potential ways you can decorate with them. Tie them to garland, hang them as old fashioned Christmas ornaments, place them in a pretty bowl with star anise, cinnamon sticks and maybe a few pine cones, use them to adorn your gift wrapping as pictured above, and so much more.
Simple can so often be best, and these dried oranges are a simple way to spark Christmas cheer. This year I made Holiday Candied Nuts to share. In the picture I tied a baggie of the candied nuts together with some string, a cinnamon stick and a dried orange. Pretty, right? 🙂
Dried Oranges
You Will Need:
Orange
Knife
Baking Sheet
Silpat or Waxed Paper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees F (that’s as low as my oven could go).
Line a baking sheet with a silpat (if you don’t have one try waxed paper to prevent sticking).
Slice an orange thinly, and spread slices out evenly on the baking sheet.
Bake for 4 to 5 hours until oranges are dried out. Mine took 5 hours.
To hang or tie the dried oranges on string, all you have to do is poke a small hole in the center with a paring knife, that’s if a hole wasn’t already created in the drying process.
I hope you enjoy making these dried oranges as much as I did, and that they add joy to your holidays!
My children are now on Christmas vacation… yipeee!
I’ll be taking the rest of the year off, but you can be sure to catch me occasionally on social media (facebook, twitter, and G+). I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to end of the year down time with my little family. We’re sending much love and light, and oodles of Christmas joy and magic your way. Thank you for a great year!
Wishing you a good old fashioned Christmas from my family to yours, and many, many blessings in the New Year!
With love & immense gratitude,
Wendy Irene
