Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year, and this is one of my new favorite traditions. This garland adds a warm, rustic look to a Christmas tree or mantlepiece using things you might already have in your house (I did! But I also bake a lot). I came up with this DIY because I wanted to find more activities I could do with my family as an activity that would get us in the Christmas spirit. Personally, we had a cheesy Netflix Christmas movie on and hot chocolate to sip. We are actually spending Christmas in our Florida house for the first time, so a lot of traditions we had previously, we are no longer able to do. For example, in Williamsburg, VA we used to go to the drive through Christmas lights, ice skating in Colonial Williamsburg, and attending the fireworks.
So anyway, to the good stuff. First, I took a good long time prepping the dried oranges. They're gonna take a long time, so be prepared to wait. I sliced the oranges, honeslty some thicker than others. Ideally, they should all be 1/4 inch thick. I will also say that one batch was on no baking sheet in the oven, just on the plain old oven rack, and it worked just fine. The cooling rack on top of the baking sheet was easier though. I left them in the oven for 6-8 hours at 175° F. They were actually at such a low temperature that I just took them out with my hands!
Next, I hot glued some star anise to like 10 of the slices for my first garland. I'm sure there's a better and more natural way to do this, but I did not have the energy to figure it out. They turned out looking so cute, and I love the colors together. The brown and orange looks cozy on the Christmas tree!
Then, I strung the orange slices together using the big needle and the twine. By trial and error, I discovered that it is best to tie each orange in place at the top of the orange unless including extra elements (which you can learn more about in the instructions).
And from here, you just have to hang it on your tree! I love this DIY because it's realtively easy once you have all your materials together. I also like how it uses traditional Christmas things like oranges and star anise. Here I am with my finished garland!
What you need:
Oranges
Cranberries
Rosemary (on the stem)
Baking sheet
Hot glue gun and sticks
Instructions: Dry your oranges
Preheat your oven to 175° F.
Slice your oranges about 1/4 inch thick
Lay out the orange slices on a drying rack on top of a baking tray.
Bake your orange slices for 6-8 hours or until they are dry.
Instructions: Making the Garland
Lay out all of your materials - your twine, needles, dried oranges, star anise, cranberries, rosemary, and cinnamon sticks.
Cut your twine to 8ft and thread your needle.
Add whichever elements you'd like, about 6-8 inches apart
Element: Orang with star anise
Hot glue the star anise onto the dried orange slices, enough for however long you want your garland (Mine was about 8ft and I used ten orange slices).
Element: Orange with rosemary and/or cinnamon sticks
Thread the twine slightly to the side of the middle of the orange sliced around a sprig of rosemary and/or a cinnamon stick and then out the other side of the orange, tying a knot in the back.
Element: Plain cinnamon stick
Tie the twine around a cinnamon stick in a normal knot.
Element: Cranberry
Thread the twine through the middle of the cranberry.
4. Repeat this process until you've run out of your slices.
5. Once your slices are on the twine, make a loop/knot at each end
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