Dried Oranges for Christmas Decor

My creative draw pulled me to dried oranges this year! I have never done them before but wanted to try a few new handmade decorations. So why not give it a try. This quote sums up my want to try, while also highlighting the learning that came along with trying it for the first time.

I hope you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things. Trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself.

Neil Gailman

First Round: Oven Dried

My first attempt was using the oven. Since I decided I wanted to try drying them, and didn’t have a dehydrator…the oven it was!

A Few Lessons…

Mine took longer than 4 hours, I would say closer to 6 hours, a few thoughts on this…

I feel like placing them on a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet would have helped with the air flow to help dry them. The flipping every 30 minutes didn’t seem to cut it. I also know that I did not slice my oranges as thin as I probably should. (Use nicely sharpened knife, it will help with this!)

The Results

Even though I would try a few things differently next time, I still love how they turned out! There were plenty of crispy ones, but overall, they turned out great!

Round Two: Dehydrator

I loved them enough that I wanted to try more. I kept seeing posts about the oven verses dehydrator method and which one works best. Spoiler alert….I like them both!

Same plan

1. Cut the oranges 1/4″ thin (still not the best cuts, but a little better)
2. Place slices on the dehydrator (of course a quick Amazon search and a bit of research, I found THIS ONE. I am no dehydrating expert, but this one was easy to set up adn start using right away. Just the right size for someone just starting to dry)
3. Dry at 150 (of what your dehydrator recommends for citrus fruit) for 6 hours.
4. No flipping, which I will say was the best part in all of this!

Since I still didn’t do the best on my cuts, i did have a few dry faster than others, so I removed those when I felt they were done.

I forgot to take pictures while drying them! But the color with the dehydrators was much brighter, and truer to their original color. Here is a picture where I used them as props, you can see the dark verses bright.

Project Time

With the collection of dried oranges I created a couple things…

• Simple Twine & Orange Garland – poke a hole in each side of the orang piece, then run a piece of twine through it, repeat! Repeat for the length of garland you want, adding oranges and spacing them to your preference. Twine string is a staple in my craft and wrapping supplies.
• Ornaments – Using bakers string, and a little snowflake charm (skip the charm or add any one that you may like or have.) Poke a hole in the oranges and string them together.
• Mini Swag – closely tie oranges together, I did a pattern with the dark adn bright oranges, then tie too longer strands at the end to hang on a mirror, picture or a window.
• Add to Arrangement – I just placed the pieces into our island christmas arrangement.
• Future – Fire Starters – I kept scraps and pieces that didn’t make the cut for crafts and decor. I plan to add them to my fire starters. (A future project)

I loved the dark rustic look of the oven dried oranges.

In the end, I can’t say I like one method more than the other. The dehydrator was easier in my mind, because of no flipping, but the oven method required no dehydrator and I loved the dark rustic look of the oranges.

I can say that this will not be a regular tradition for me! And I don’t think I will keep it for Christmas only.

I learned, I messed up plenty along the way, from the drying process to the assembling them into decorations. But, it was a lot of fun to “just give it a try”. It is not a big project (in my mind), minimal supplies and a clear stopping point. Ideal for someone looking to “just give it a try”.

What do you think? Are you going to give it a try?

Share any drying tips and tricks you have done!