This year I wanted to try something different to add to my holiday decor. I wanted to make something that was easy, didn’t take too much time, and wasn’t expensive. I’ve always loved the look of dried orange garlands, but never took the time to actually make one. Since it’s still 2020 and we are still in this Pandemic I figured it was worth a shot. Turns out it was super simple to make, and looks really pretty.

SUPPLIES

• 4 Navel oranges (you can buy more or less)

• 1 pack of cinnamon sticks

• String

• Bells or whatever decor you want to add

• Scissors

• Knife and cutting board

• Embroidery needle

• Food dehydrator or use this tutorial for oven method

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut your oranges into 1/8”-1/4” slices. I was able to get 32 slices total.

2. Place oranges on dehydrator trays and set dehydrator to the fruit setting. I cooked my oranges for about 6 hours.

3. Test to see if your oranges are fully dried out. If you can still squeeze some juice out, put back in to cook longer.

4. Once fully cooked, you can start assembling your garland.

ASSEMBLY

1. Take your embroidery needle and thread the string through the hole.

2. Take an orange slice and thread the needle starting from the back of the orange slice. I threaded my needle towards the middle at the top in the “meat” part, not the rind part fo the orange slice.

3. Continue threading your slices until you think you have a long enough garland and use scissors to cut the thread from the spool leaving enough to have extra.

4. Cut a handful of 2” strands of string. (This is how you will attach the bells and cinnamon sticks.)

5. On every other orange slice, pull the 2” strand underneath the string that you threaded through the orange slice. Do not tie to threaded piece of string yet.

6. Place a cinnamon stick on top of the strands and tie a knot around the cinnamon stick.

7. Once you add the cinnamon stick, add the bell. Thread the string through the bell and tie to the cinnamon stick.

8. After you have tied all the cinnamon sticks and bells to your oranges, you are done! Decorate your heart out. :)

Enjoy your beautiful natural garland that smells oh so good!