There’s something so refreshingly simple and pretty about these dried orange garlands. They honor an age-old Christmas tradition, while also exuding the natural and minimalistic vibe associated with the ever-popular Scandinavian décor. Plus, they are super easy to make. Like, put them in the oven and forget about them until the timer goes off. There’s zero artistic ability required and it’s pretty inexpensive compared to many other holiday décor ideas. There are, however, two tricks to making the most beautiful dried orange garlands and I’ll disclose those below.
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Here’s how to make dried orange garlands:
Step 1 (which also happens to include the first trick!):
Pre-heat the oven to 200° F. Then, gather and prep your supplies. You’ll need:
- Foil lined sheet pans sprayed with non-stick spray
- Sharp, non-serrated knife
- Cutting board
- Twine or any other kind of string you’d like to use
- Glue gun with glue sticks – This mini glue gun kit is great!
- Lastly, 5-10 oranges depending on how long you’d like you’re garland to be.
And here’s the first trick: Use Cara Cara Oranges. Why? Because these babies feature a beautiful, deep, pinkish-orange flesh that looks stunning when dried. They give you a rich color that other varieties don’t have. They also don’t have any seeds which can be a big pain to have to pick out of your slices. Lastly, they are the perfect sized oranges for drying slices. The finished slices will end up being a little smaller than the original size due to the moisture being removed, so the larger varieties work best. That’s just the first of two tricks for making the most beautiful dried orange garlands!
Step 2:
Cut your orange slices so they’re approximately 1/8 inch thick and lay them out on paper towels. Once all of your slices have been cut, lay paper towels on top of the slices and press gently to remove any additional juice. Look at how gorgeous they are!
Step 3:
Lay the orange slices (leaving just a little space in between) on the prepared sheet pans and place them in the oven.
Trick # 2! Bake these slices at 200° F for a low and slow combo that won’t burn them! Even increasing the temperature to 225° F started to give me some brown spots and edges. Patience will certainly pay off by baking your orange slices at a lower temperature for a little longer. If you have a convection oven setting, I highly recommend using it but it’s fine if you don’t.
Step 4:
Set a timer for 30-45 minutes and flip your slices over when it goes off. Pop them back in the oven and set the timer again! Repeat this step as many times as necessary to achieve your desired dryness.
Tip: Your oranges will continue to dry slightly after you remove them from the oven so, if they still feel a little soft when you press on them, it’s ok. You just want to get them to the point where there’s not any juice seeping out when you pinch the flesh. For me, it took 4 – 4.5 hours.
Step 5:
Remove the orange slices from the oven when they’ve reached the desired dryness and move them over to a cooling rack. Give them about 15 minutes or so to cool. The slices will also harden a little more during the cooling phase. This is when you can begin heating up your glue gun.
Step 6:
Lay several orange slices, pretty side down, in a horizontal line with roughly the same amount of space between them. I spaced mine out approximately 2.5 inches. Squeeze a line of hot glue horizontally across the orange slice and then lay the end of your twine or string down across it.
*Think about whether you’d like to have any extra string at the end to be able to tie it to something. I chose not to but it’s certainly an option.
Use a toothpick to push the twine down nicely into the glue so it stays. Complete this step for the rest of the slices until you’ve reached your desired garland length.
Step 7:
Hang your masterpiece! These dried orange garlands are so pretty draped down a banister or even on your Christmas tree. I just love the way they look paired with some contrasting greenery!
There you have it! A complete tutorial on how to make dried orange garlands! I hope you have so much fun making these. Please share and pin this post for others to enjoy and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter so you can get fun inspiration sent straight to your inbox!
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