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Reviewed / Tim Renzi
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You put up the same holiday decorations every year: The lights, bottle brush trees, and tinsel. This year, consider adding something new to your holiday décor rotation with dried orange garland—an easy Christmas craft that starts in your fruit bowl.
Making a dried orange garland will fill your home with a sweet citrus fragrance—and probably have everything you need to assemble this classic holiday greenery already in your kitchen (like that spool of kitchen twine that’s been sitting in the back of your drawer for years).
Here’s how to make dried orange garland.
What you need
Dried orange garland is fun and easy to make.
- Navel oranges
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
- Kitchen twine or rustic twine
- Sewing needle with large eye or toothpicks
Pro tip: One and a half oranges should be enough for about two feet of garland, so plan accordingly.
How to make dried orange garland
1. Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 200° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Thinly slice oranges
An extra sharp knife will help you slice the orange rounds extra thin.
Cut the oranges in thin slices ideally to about an eighth of an inch in thickness but no larger than a quarter of an inch.
3. Bake the oranges
Space the oranges out evenly on a baking sheet and avoid overcrowding the pan.
Lay oranges on a baking sheet about an inch apart and place in the oven. Bake the oranges for three to four hours. Make sure to flip the oranges once an hour. You’ll know the orange slices are done baking when they are fully dried and not sticky to the touch.
Smaller slices may take less time, around two hours, and should be removed from the oven as soon as they’re done. If you notice that the edges of the orange slices appear warped rather than lay flat, you’ve overcooked your citrus.
4. Let the slices cool down
These orange slices will take about three to 4 hours to fully dry out.
Once the slices are fully dried, take them out of the oven and let them cool completely on a wire baking rack.
5. String the orange slices together
Use a sewing needle or toothpick to help thread the twine through the oranges.
After the slices are cooled and ready to handle, it’s time to string them together. To do so, poke a hole in the flesh part of each orange segment using a small sharp tool like a sewing needle. This helps guide the twine through the holes.
If you don’t have a sewing needle, use a toothpick to poke two holes in the slice, and then string the twine accordingly.
The baked orange slices are delicate and may crumble, so handle them with caution when you make your dried orange garland. For this reason, it doesn’t hurt to make a few more slices than you think you’ll need.
6. Tie up the ends of the garland
Tie the ends of the twine together so you can easily hang it from doorways or window frames.
Once you’ve strung together the orange slices to create your desired length of garland, tie off each end of garland with a little loop so you can easily hang the garland from doorways, window frames, and mantels.
Pro tip: If you have leftover orange slices, the orange slices can double as an extra festive garnish for your holiday mocktails and cocktails.
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