For some reason, this is the year I decided to try some new holiday DIYs (ok, we all know why I decided to do it this year.) I’ve made a few wreaths and ornaments over the years, but that’s pretty much the extent of my DIY holiday decorations. After seeing a few pictures of really pretty citrus garland, I decided that would be what I would attempt to make this year.
It might seem daunting, but after I got the hang of drying the oranges the rest was pretty simple. I picked up a couple of packs of wooden beads to use and chose to string my garland together with jute twine.
How to Make a Citrus Garland
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Slice your oranges (you can also use grapefruits or lemons) about 1/4 inch thick and lay them in single layers in between paper towels to soak up some of the juice.
- Place the orange slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the orange slices for about 3 hours, turning them every 30 minutes to help them cook evenly. Pay close attention during the last 10 minutes, they’ll start to darken pretty quickly.
- Let the oranges cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Use a skewer to poke holes through the oranges, then string them onto the twine. I also added a few wooden beads in between each citrus slice.
- I added a drop of Christmas essential oil to each slice. This isn’t necessary, but it smells nice!
*I tied a loop at the beginning and end of the twine so that I could easily hang the garland from hooks. I also created a video of the process, which you can see here if you need to see the process.
In the market for more seasonal goodness? You can find all my holiday posts right here!
