Our Little House in the Country

Thoughts, tips, tricks, tales and fun from our lives in our little house in the country

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How to Make Dried Orange Slices

How to Make Dried Orange Slices - Perfect for use in Christmas crafts, wreaths, decorations and floral arrangements - Our Little House in the Country 1

One of my favourite things to use for decorating at Christmas are dried orange slices.  They are perfect for Christmas Crafts, Decorations, Wreaths and Floral Arrangements.  This is our step by step guide to making your own!

How to Make Dried Orange Slices - Perfect for use in Christmas crafts, wreaths, decorations and floral arrangements - Our Little House in the Country 1In my spare time I love to make things – floral arrangements, wreaths, decorations, curtains etc!  I have even been trusted enough to do all the flowers for both my sister’s and brother’s weddings (they were very brave asking me to that for them!!!). Usually I but most of my supplies from a wholesaler but recently I started to think about making my own supplies.

I love to use fruit and vegetables in my displays and dried orange slices are a favourite of mine to use at Christmas. They are also really easy to make and a lot cheaper than buying ready made ones.  For a step by step guide to a simple way to use your dried orange slices take a look at our post about how to make dried orange and cloves Christmas decorations.

How to Make Dried Orange Slices

How to Make Dried Orange Slices - Perfect for use in Christmas crafts, wreaths, decorations and floral arrangements - Our Little House in the Country 1

What you need:

  • oranges
  • oven
  • oven rack

How to Make Dried Orange Slices - Perfect for use in Christmas crafts, wreaths, decorations and floral arrangements - Our Little House in the Country 1

What you do:

  • cut the oranges into slices approximately 2cm thick.
  • place the slices onto an oven rack – not a baking tray as they will stick and burn!
  • place in a cool oven – I use 120 degrees celsius
  • allow to dry for about 2-3 hours – cool and slow is key
  • leave in oven until cool
  • use in garlands, wreaths, decorations, potpourri etc.  I often attach them to a wire to be used in floral arrangements.

Be creative!

Ciara x

I have ALOT  of Christmas boards on Pinterest, this is only one – ideas that I will be using to decorate Our Little House in the Country this year!

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53 responses to “How to Make Dried Orange Slices”

  4. How do you know when they are ‘done’? I have tried this method but 10 days later they are still soft and the inside is damp and sticky. I don’t want them to go mouldy as I want to make them into decorations!

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    • Hi Jenny, I usually put mine in the airing cupboard for a few days after drying them in the oven for several hours, this tends to dry them fully. Hope that helps. I also try to wipe as much juice as possible off each slice with paper towels before putting in the oven, which I omitted from the instructions, oops! Thank you for your question.

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  6. Great idea.. I have made these before and they smell lovely. Before drying sprinkle with a little icing sugar and it adds a shiny to them. Thanks for you page.

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  11. great post, thank you so much! do you know if these would be okay for outside if sprayed with some kind of finish? (to keep bugs/insects away)

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  12. I just bought dried orange slices for my Amazon Parrot, Loro, at the pet store. Very expensive for several slices. So I googled dry orange slices and found your web site to be the one I needed to make my own for him. He is 49 years old. I only feed him the best and nutritious treats as well as Parrot food. His life expectancy is 75 to 100 years old. God put him In my hands to take care of. Pet store prices are so ridiculous. I need to provide him with good home made treats. I got him when I was a teenager at a Woolworths store my mother worked at. He was only 6 months old. 36 dollars cage and him. I have never responded to a website before but feel so grateful to have found this one. I will be back for more tips and recipes. Sorry I don’t have a nice logo to go along with my reply

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    • Hi Cherie, thank you so much for your lovely comment and I’m so glad to have been of help. Wow, 49 years! What a wonderful companion Loro has been to have in your life. My children were fascinated when I told them about your message and my little girl in particular would love a parrot! God bless and thank you so so much for your message. Ciara x

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  20. Wonderful idea have my whole family getting together this year and going to make it extra special and festive with these orange and lemon slices in my centrepiece for the table.

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  25. These are amazing. My house smells delicious! Next I’m going to try doing whole oranges after slicing a design in them. Have you done this before? I’d love any tips. I’m planning on starting with very low temp and being very patient. I’ll be stringing some cranberries while waiting.

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  27. ive been drying oranges like this for years to hang on my christmas tree. before they completely dry and are still soft. put your string or hook through them and hang them in front of lights on your tree. the light shines through the meaty part of the orange and makes them glow. they are really beautiful. and they will finish drying hanging on the tree.

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  28. Tried with 120 celsius, and the slices turned brown very quickly. Perhaps 90 degrees is enough? Anyone that knows how to preserve them so that they last for several Christmases? Going out to buy more oranges to try with. Is it possible with mandarins as well?

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    • That’s what I was thinking. I usually dry things at 50-80 celcius or about 120-180°F. That being said, I don’t know how patient I would be, drying something with so much water content 😉 I’m probably going to crystallize mine because my mom just found out she developed diabetes and gave me her huge stash of sugar! Yay for me? Lol

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  33. Great recipe. We tried it today as we wanted dried oranges as garnish for our cocktails. Only remark, the recipe says to cut 2cm thick slices, we sliced them 2mm thick.
    Drying them took 3 hours and they were delicious.

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  34. […] At Christmas, dried orange slices are absolutely everywhere, whether you make them yourself or not. Not only do they look great, but they also smell gorgeous too, so they’re brilliant to have in the home at this time of the year. In this Monday Makes, we’re sharing a list of lovely festive bits that you can make with orange slices, and some are so easy that it’d be rude not to give them a go! If you’d like to dry your own orange slices, then take a look at this tutorial. […]

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