Drying Orange Slices for Christmas Decorations

I do love a bit of ‘making’ and ‘creating’ especially around Christmas time and although I love some glitz and sparkle getting a bit of something natural into my Christmas decorations and citrus fruits are just perfect for that as they not only inject a bit of colour, but also smell fabulous. Drying orange slices for Christmas takes time, but is easy to do and not at all labour intensive. Read on to find out exactly how to do it.

What can you do with dried orange slices and citrus fruits?

Try adding them into a shop bought garland. All you need is floristry wire and a sprinkle of creativity and you can spruce up even the most plain garland so you don’t need to spend a fortune.

I am not the most creative person that is for certain, but I think my garland looks kinda good – even if I do say so myself.

Once Christmas is over remove the floristry wire and add the slices to pot pourri or fill a small vase with them and throw in a fairy light or two…

Who said fairy lights are just for Christmas anyway?

Create your own table centre. This one uses ivy, fir and eucalyptus along with pine cones, orange slices and whole dried limes. If you can’t do the wreath moss base which can be tricky you can get one from a florist or use a round oasis base as the start of your centre piece.

Make your own wreath for the front door. Again the moss bases are great for this as they will keep your fir green throughout the Christmas period. Once you have covered your wreath base with greenery then you can use your floristry wire and citrus fruits to add a bit of colour and scent.

I have even seen the orange slices and whole limes strung together as a Christmas garland all of its own. Thinking about it that might work brilliantly for a summer drinks party too!

I love using citrus fruits in this way as it really creates texture, interest and somehow warmth in the house within a sea of Christmas glitter. I am trying not to use plastic wherever possible and drying citrus fruits for using in my Christmas decorations definitely helps with that.

What you need for drying orange slices for Christmas (oh and limes)

Oranges and Limes (slightly smaller ones work best for wreaths I find)
Knife
Chopping Board
Oven
Baking Tray
Non stick Tinfoil or baking paper

The how to of drying orange slices for Christmas

Preheat your oven basically to its lowest setting. Mine is 50 degrees C. When you are drying orange slices for Christmas the slower the better is the key. You need them to dry slowly and not colour in the oven
Slice your fruit either oranges or limes work best. You want to slice it so that you can see the segments. If you are drying whole limes for Christmas decorations then make cuts evenly around the lime from top to bottom being careful not to actually slice all the way through the lime.
Put the slices and whole fruits onto your baking tray lined with foil or parchment
Put the tray into the oven and leave it for at least 2 hours for the slices and 4 hours for the whole fruit. The timings will very much depend on your oven and the size of the fruit. I recommend checking on the drying orange slices periodically to make sure that they are not catching and to turn them over.
Once you think that the dried orange slices are about ready you can either turn off the oven and continue the drying process as it cools down or just remove the fruit from the oven and cool it on the side
Get out that floristry wire or ribbon depending on what you are making and let your creativity flow!