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Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments make a beautiful natural addition to your tree decorating!  Learn how to dry orange slices and make these pretty (and lovely scented) Christmas ornaments.

Today I’ve joined in with a talented group of bloggers and we’re busting out ideas for handmade Christmas ornaments!  Thank you to Krista of Happy Housie for organizing!  Make sure to take a tour through all the beautiful DIY Christmas ornaments at the bottom of this post.

If you missed my previous post as part of this Seasonal Simplicity Christmas Series, make sure to check out my DIY Winter Wonderland Snow Globe Forest!  Today I’m sharing this simple and cute tutorial for Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

Dried Oranges for Christmas

This year I’m absolutely loving the look of sliced and dried orange slices in Christmas decor.  There’s just something so festive about seeing them tied along string garlands, tucked into Christmas wreaths and as Christmas tree ornaments.  They’re so bright and cheery and remind me of Christmases past. So I decided to try my hand at drying some slices and making some Christmas tree ornaments with them.

How to Dry Oranges Slices for crafting

Tips, Tricks and Things I Learned about Drying Orange Slices:

  • I came across many many many recipes that said orange slices will take 2 to 3 hours in the oven at 170 degrees. That is wrong. They take much longer. I found the best to be 6 hours at 170 degrees. Any longer or any hotter and the orange slices will just cook and turn brown.
  • Make sure to place the orange slices on an oven safe baking rack placed over a cookie sheet. The baking rack will allow the warm oven air to circulate around the oranges.
  • Flip the orange slices over about every hour or so.
  • And make sure to watch the orange slices a little more closely at the 5 hour mark. I wanted mine to be orange in colour so I actually removed them from the oven when they were slightly underdone. It’s ok that they finish drying in the air.
  • Another idea that might work (I’m going to try this next), is to just slice them and let them air dry over the course of several days.
  • Once the slices are done, you can add them to all kinds of craft projects.
Print

How to Dry Orange Slices

How to dry orange slices for crafting.

  • Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 6 hours
  • Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
  • Method: Baking

Ingredients

  • oranges

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees F.
  2. Slice the oranges into 1/4 inch slices.
  3. Lay the slices on an oven safe rack, then place that rack on to a cooking sheet.  This will allow air to flow around the oranges as they bake.
  4. Bake for 6 hours.  Turn the slices over every hour or so.  The oranges slices should be somewhat pliable when they’re done.  Start checking them diligently around the 5 hour mark.

Keywords: dried oranges, how to dry orange slices

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How to make Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

With these dried oranges I wanted to make some Christmas tree ornaments. I wanted them to be jangly and tied up with pretty little sticks of cinnamon and some jingle bells. So that’s what I did.  Here, I will tell you how to make them!

Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments-2

Supplies for your Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments:

  • dried oranges slices (3 for each ornament)
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 silver bells
  • string for hanging
Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

Putting your Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments together:

  • Start with a cinnamon stick.  Tie and knot the string around the cinnamon stick.
  • Thread the string through the centre of 1 orange slice.
  • Thread the string through a silver bell.
  • Tie and knot the string around another cinnamon stick.
  • Repeat with the remaining orange slices, cinnamon sticks and bells.
  • Tie a loop at the top of the ornament for hanging.
  • And now you’re done! SO simple and SO cute.

Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornament Tip:

The smell of these is very subtle and lovely.  But if you want a stronger scent, consider adding a drop or two of an orange essential oil to the oranges, and a drop or two of a cinnamon essential oil to the cinnamon sticks.

Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments

How pretty would these Cinnamon Stick and Orange Slice Ornaments look hanging on the Christmas tree?  They’re also perfect for gift giving…as hostess gifts or tied to a present.

More Christmas Ornaments to Make:

Now don’t stop here…it’s time to check out more beautiful handmade ornaments…there are so many great ideas here to make!

Have a very Merry day!

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11 Comments

  1. Just sliced my oranges and put them in the oven (they were pretty juicy so I blotted them with some paper towel first).
    I saved the left over end pieces to add to a pot on the stove later this week (with some cranberries/cinnamon sticks/cloves) to make the house smell Christmas-y!
    Thanks for the tips!

  2. I really like making orange slices and apple slices. I do mine the exact same way except I sprinkle mine with lots of cinnamon and allspice. Makes the house smell so good!!!

  3. I really like making orange slices and apple slices. I do mine the exact same way except I sprinkle mine with lots of cinnamon and allspice. Makes the house smell so good!!!