DIY dried Orange slices

I really like the way how natural Christmas decorations give a certain type of nostalgia to a space. It reminds me of Victorian Christmas' or Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. So I wanted to try and add some natural Orange slice ornaments to my tree. And maybe say I absolutely love how they turned out! And it was ever so easy. 

Start with navel oranges. I bought about five and got about 20 ornaments out of them. 

Preheat oven to 225°F.

First slice the oranges as thin as you can with a really good slicing knife. Watch your fingers! (some people like to use a fork to hold your orange in place. )

 

Next blocked your orange slices on the kitchen towel or paper towel to release the excess moisture. 

Place the orange slices on a baking rack and place in the oven  on the middle rack. 

Let these babies cook in the oven from 2 to 3 hours. Well every 30 minutes turn the oranges around so they don't stick. Watch out they don't burn some of the slices or thinner than others and usually the ones on the outer edges get darker quicker to remove those first. Let them dry out in the oven until they are no longer juicy. 

Here is how mine look like after they came out of the oven:

Let them cool for a bit and then let your imagination take over what they're going to be used for:) 

I used mine for both my advent wreath and for Christmas tree decorations. 

I poked a hole in it with a large toothpick to make a threading whole (is that a word?) lol... For my jute to string. 

The End

~ Cat