Welcome back, friends! It’s day four of 7 days of DIY ornaments and today I’m sharing my FAVORITE of the bunch. This is hands down my favorite Christmas decoration I’ve made this year, and I’m so proud of how it turned out.

The best part?

Say it with me…

IT’S SO EASY!

It’s almost impossible to make this one look bad, I promise.

Ready to learn how to make a DIY dried orange garland?!

A fireplace mantel with a DIY dried orange garland

Are you kidding meeee???

I can’t stop swooning.

This is such a simple project, and while it’s a bit time-consuming, the vast majority of the time you’ll spend on this is totally inactive. The oranges take a bit of time to dry out in the oven, so the only skill you really need for this DIY Christmas decoration is patience.

And if you don’t have that, then just get yourself a good Gilmore Girls marathon going and the time will fly!

DIY Dried Orange Garland

You’ll need…

  • 7-8 oranges (I used smaller mandarin oranges, but you can use any type!)
  • Twine or yarn
  • Wood beads
  • A needle

Step One: Slice + Dry Oranges

Orange slices before and after baking

Start by slicing the oranges in thin (about 1/4″) slices. The more evenly you can get them, the better! Slices of varying thicknesses will take different amounts of time to dry out, so consistency is key.

After you’ve sliced the oranges, arrange the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and use a paper towel to blot off any extra moisture. Then, bake at 250 degrees.

The amount of time it will take is going to vary. I baked mine for 2 hours, then flipped the slices over, and baked for another hour. This was enough for most of my slices, but there were some that could have used a bit more time. I think 3-4 hours is a good estimate!

Step Two: String Oranges

Once your slices are dry and cooled off, you’re ready to put your garland together!

To string it, just grab your yarn or twine and thread your needle through it. Thread the string through the oranges (I found they hung best when I did a full stitch through them, so in through the front and up through the back).

I opted to add some wood beads to my garland, but you could easily just do oranges if you prefer. I did varying amounts of oranges, and alternated two or three wood beads between each set. I tried to keep it random for a nice organic look!

Close up of dried oranges on garland

Step Three: Hang it up!

My friends, that’s IT!

Only two steps from start to finish for this adorable dried orange garland.

If you have kids that are old enough to handle stringing the oranges themselves, it’s a really great task to pass off to them! This was the one Christmas ornament that I chose to handle completely on my own, and I found all of the orange stringing to be very therapeutic!

Fireplace decorated for Christmas with an orange garland
Close up image of dried oranges on a Christmas garland

I love how this turned out, and I have a feeling the dried orange garland will be a decoration we go to again and again!

And that’s our DIY Christmas decoration for the day! Stay tuned tomorrow for another fun idea, and if you need to catch up, click on any of the links below.

7 Days of DIY Christmas Ornaments

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