Hello! Thanks for hopping on to my blog! In this episode of "I'm Not That Crunchy, I'm Poor" we will be discussing one of the cheapest ways to decorate for the holidays! ORANGES! They're bright, fun, cheap, organic, and also serve as a great mid-craft snack if you save some slices for eating. What more could you want?
This is honestly a very easy craft, it is a bit time consuming however. I also take a bit of a *debatably* easy way out. While most people get a large needle to thread their oranges on twine, I prefer (and if you've been following me for a length of time this won't surprise you) hot glue. I love hot glue. If I could write a love note to hot glue I WOULD. It's serious.
LET'S GET STARTED!
You will need
+Oranges (a combination of other citrus looks super cute too!)
+Knife
+Twine
+Hot glue
+An oven
+Much time
+Ornament hooks*
*these are for if you want to hang them on your tree, instead of a garland.
First you'll want preheat your oven to 220°F and to slice your oranges. I didn't dry the ones that were mostly rind, or that I sliced too thin and missed the bottom. I set every slice on a towel to help get the extra juice off.
After I finished slicing I took another towel and dabbed over the tops to continue to get the excess juice off. Once that was finished I put them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Then you'll stick them into the oven for an hour.
After and hour you flip them over and stick them back in for another hour (I told you it was time consuming).
Then once they finish I take them out and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
Once cooled, you can either stick an ornament hook in and hang it on your tree, or begin to make a garland!
To make the garland I heat up my hot glue gun, measure the length of twine that I need and lay it across a solid surface. I use the floor, feel free to use a table if your prefer. I find it best to also lay out your oranges before hand to see where you'd like them to sit on the twine. Once the glue is hot, begin putting small dots or lines of glue on the back of an orange slice and attaching it to the twine.
I have done it multiple ways where I lay the orange with the glue face up, and then press the twine on top, or turning the slice back around and pressing from behind. I preferred pressing the twine on top because I burnt my fingers less.
Once you finish you can hang them wherever you'd like! They're so beautiful in their simplicity!
I love the brightness and color it brings to a room!
Do you like to decorate with orange slices? Let me know if you do, or if you try this year!
Thank you so much for reading!
Let's be friends!
Amber