Dried orange slices and peel are lovely to use in Christmas crafts and recipes. Although they are available in the shops they are super simple to make at home. Not only does it work out cheaper, they will also make you home smell divine!
If you are planning to use your orange slices and peel in recipes, please bear in mind that you need to adhere to your usual food preparation practices. For example, hand washing and appropriate covered storage for them to be considered safe for consumption.
I’d also recommend that you use unwaxed fruit if you are planning to consume them, and particularly so for the dried zest part of this tutorial.
How to Dry Orange Slices
For dried orange slices, simply slice up your fruit evenly (ours are between 5-10mm) and spread out on a drying rack.
It is useful to make holes now with a skewer if you plan to add string or a ribbon later.
Spread it out on a piece of muslin and fold over the edges to protect. Then leave on a drying rack to dry in a warm place.
Citrus rind has a high concentration of the oils which gives the fruit its scent and flavour, and is delicious added to all manner of dishes.
We used ours in our DIY Spice Bags. You needn’t stop with oranges, these methods work equally well with any citrus fruit.
We’ll be using our slices to decorate our Christmas wreath, in Pot Pourri, and as an embellishment for gift tags. They also look really pretty hanging on a Christmas Tree.
For more Christmas craft inspiration, please check out our wonderful succulent Christmas tree and our grow your own Christmas decorations post.
22 comments
these orange slices look so beautiful! they would be lovely on the tree or gifts! How long will they last or will they not mold once dried?
I actually still have the one on the tartan ribbon hanging up, and I just checked it and its still fine (so that’s 8-9 months), so as long as they’re properly dried and are kept in a manner that air can circulate freely they keep well – certainly fine for presents, and the tree, although I wouldn’t use it for cooking now!
wonderful inventive ideas
Thanks Abi, and thanks for visiting x
This is such a wonderful idea! It looks beautiful & I bet it would smell so lovely too. I’m going to pin this for next year! Thanks so much for sharing them with my holiday linky. I hope you have enjoyed your holidays x
They are a lovely thing to make – we have them dotted all over the place. We had a great holiday thanks – hope you did too x
I love this post and have shared it in Christmas Traditions & Magic For Children over on facebook! X
I don’t know what it is about orange slices, but there really is something lovely about them :) Thanks so much for sharing x
What a fabulously festive idea! I may just try this you know. Thanks so much for sharing and for linking up! #MMWBH
There’s loads you can do with them – such a cheap decoration!
Wow! I love this idea of having my home smelling all nice and fresh throughout Christmas! :)
They do smell fantastic – I love all the smells of Christmas :)
These look great! I will need to cut some oranges to dry , I love these and will need to make some for our tree I think. Really like the idea of them as tags for presents too.
Thanks so much for linking up to #HowtoSunday :) x
It’s such an easy thing to do at home – and so many different ways you can use them :)
Thanks for sharing this! I have been toying with the idea of doing our own pot pouris bags as little gifts for christmas and this is super helpful!! Found you through #howtosundays
They are so easy to make – really makes a sweet little gift too :)
I had never considered making my own but it looks reasonably simple. I can imagine how lovely they would be! Thanks so much for sharing – I will be giving this a try :) #HowToSundays
Really is easy – would combine really well with all your lovely herbs :)
How do you store these, both the slices and the peels, do ensure they are safe for consumption?
As long as they are totally dry they’re fine in a jar or sealed container. I have actually kept mine wrapped in the muslin hanging up, they’d store well in a paper bag too. I’d advise against storing in the fridge as they’d start to absorb moisture again :)
What perfect timing, I was looking at some dried oranges in a shop today and wondering how easy it would be to make my own. This looks pretty straightforward so I’ll have to give it a try.
It really is, and I’ve noticed the ones in shops are often discoloured – I imagine they must freeze dry or bake them. Doing it by this method they keep their lovely colour :)