A little late to the game here, but I saw all the dried orange garland videos on social media and just had to try this myself! Mine are more ornaments than garland, but I still love the way they look on my Christmas tree.
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This is such an easy craft to spice up your holiday decor. They just take a little bit of time so aim to do it when you’re home for most of the day.
How Do I Dry My Oranges?
After you slice up your oranges, you have to put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 225°F for about 3-4 hours. I found this oven temp from this blog post.
Start with 3 hours. Half way through you should flip them. Thicker slices will take more towards the 4 hours mark.
My slices were a little uneven, so I was taking out the finished slices and letting the thicker slices stay in for a little longer.
You know they are done when they are browned around the edges. If the orange pulp inside starts browning, your’re keeping them in too long.
More Drying
After they come out of the oven, if you touch the middle, it may still feel like it’s got some liquid in there. That’s ok, because the next step is to place them on a drying rack and let them sit for another day or two so they fully dry out.
I let mine sit for a few days because I live in a humid basement apartment right now, and they were completely dry when I checked them after that time.
String Them Up!
So in order to make your dried orange garland or ornaments you will need a needle, twine, scissors and cloves.
I used a pin I had in my little sewing kit to poke a hole into the top of an orange slice and then I put the twine through the hole. You can even take the pin and stretch out the hole a bit more because twine is such a thick string.
After I put the string through, I put a whole clove in the hole with the twine. I feel like this helped the orange not move around on the string and it gave it a little extra Christmas vibe. It also smells really good!
You can make them into ornaments like I did, or use one long string and make a garland for your tree or home.
Can I Keep My Oranges For Next Year?
Yes, you can!
They should last at least two years. You just want to dry them out enough to prevent mold from happening.
In order to be extra cautious, I plan on packing them up with one of those silica packies, that usually come in vitamin containers to keep them dry. The silica will draw any moisture to the packet and not the orange, since you know humid basement apartment.
Just pack them up in some tissue paper with your other ornaments and take them out next year! Your dried orange garland should be good as new.
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