How To Dry Orange Slices for a Classic, Old-Timey Christmas Look

Today on the blog, I thought I’d share an easy holiday DIY with you!! I’ve been knee deep in oranges this week drying citrus fruit to add to our Christmas decor! I just love classic look of dried oranges hung on the tree, or strung up as a garland!! And as a lover of old things, the history of oranges at Christmastime really appeals to me too. So in this post, I’ll be sharing how to dry orange slices for a classic, old-timey Christmas look reminiscent of simpler times.

white bowls of oranges, grapefruit, and clementines

During the Great Depression, oranges were considered a luxury, and so giving these as a gift was a big deal! That really puts things into perspective for me these days y’all. And seeing these dried oranges in our home will definitely serve as a reminder of just how blessed we are!

how to dry oranges, grapefruit and clementines

I actually ended up drying three different citrus fruits to experiment a little! The oranges of course were my first thought, but I also decided to try my hand at drying grapefuit and clementines as well. The oranges came out just as expected. Beautiful and classic! But the grapefruit also turned out so good, and I am so happy I decided to dry these as well! The pink and the orange tones together is just the prettiest combination, and I love the size variation!! The clementines ended up being a deeper darker shade of orange. They were much juicer and smaller which made them more difficult to work with, but I was really happy with how they turned out too!!

how to dry orange slices
how to dry orange slices for farmhouse Christmas decor

Ok, so let’s get to the “how to” part of this DIY!

  1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Slice your citrus 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.
  3. Lay slices on paper towels to soak up some of the moisture.
  4. Bake on parchment paper lined baking sheets for 6-7 hours.
  5. Flip oranges every hour and watch closely towards the last 2 hours so you don’t burn them!
sliced citrus on wood cutting board
how to dry orange, grapefruit and clementine slices
drying oranges and clementines

Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of your slices! So it’s a little trial and error to time them. But honestly, at 175 degrees, you should be able to catch it on time if you’re monitoring it closely. (And I say this as the person who literally always regrets using the broil setting on our oven!) I actually pulled my slices out of the oven while they were a little underdone, and I let them finish drying on these metal racks so that the air could circulate around them.

how to dry citrus fruit for classic, old-timey Christmas decor
dried citrus fruit
how to dry orange slices
dried orange slices

Well it’s back to the kitchen for this old girl… I still have a few more oranges to dry before I’m done. My plan is to string these up into a garland or two, and I may use some as ornaments as well. I can’t wait to share how they look when I get it all together!! But for now, I hope you enjoyed this little DIY on how to dry orange slices for a classic, old-timey Christmas look! I think the grapefruit and clementines were a fun twist on this idea!! Thanks for stopping by the blog today, as always thank you so much for following along…

Love, Brittany

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