This homemade dried orange garland couldn’t be easier to make and costs only a couple of bucks. It’s a perfect accent to your Christmas décor.

I wanted a pop of color and layered one of my dried orange garlands above my kitchen sink. I also hung one in my kids’ playroom.

Supplies

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Pick up a few Navel Oranges and clementines from the grocery store.

Didn’t wind up using the grapefruit. Next time!

Slice them up pretty thin (aim for about 1/4 of an inch thick). You can either use a mandoline or cut them by hand. Do as I say not as I do – I made the mistake of cutting a few pretty thick and they really slowed up the drying time in the oven. Just something to keep in mind if you’re not looking to spend the entire day waiting on oranges!

Ah hindsight on those thick slices

Lay out your slices on cookie sheets. I started off elevating mine on wire racks on top of the cookie sheets. I have read that people have good luck with this, allowing more airflow underneath the oranges. However, I noticed mine were leaving grill marks on the oranges. ‘Grill chic’ wasn’t quite the look I was going for. I wound up just putting them on parchment paper halfway through bake time.

Blot your oranges with a paper towel to soak up any excess moisture as best as you can.

Please judge only my dried orange garland not my figernails

I set my oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and popped them in.

Here’s where you just use your discretion a bit, but get prepared to settle in for a few hours. I think total bake time for me was 5-6 hours, and I flipped them a few times during that time period. Cut them thinner and it won’t take as long. Everyone’s oven is different!

My clementines were the first to look slightly brown and dry so I took them out before the others.

Like I said before, I cut a few slices pretty thick and they were taking forever to dry out. I did wind up taking the oranges out for a bit so I could use the oven to make my kids dinner.

Here’s a hot tip: after making your kids dinner, don’t get impatient and pop your oranges back into the oven before the temperature has settled back down. You will wind up with burnt oranges and you will be super bummed. Luckily, I noticed before all the oranges were goners and salvaged about half.

Very sad burnt oranges

Once done, it’s time to get crafty.

I was torn between a simple fishing line to make the oranges look like they were floating and using some white butchers twine. I wound up using the twine with a large plastic needle I had on hand, but you can totally use a toothpick or something similar.

I hung up a garland over my kitchen sink above my little Christmas Village. I like the dried oranges in front of a window because they kind of look like stained glass when the sun hits.

I used the clementines for my kids play room, and added some simple wood beads to the garland.

Overall a simple and easy DIY project to add to your Christmas décor.

These dried oranges would be totally cute to add to gift wrapping or made into ornaments as well. Lots of options!