Do you have your Christmas tree yet? Do you know how you’ll decorate it? If you’re like me, then you probably like to change up your Christmas ornaments every few years as long as it fits within your budget. This year I decided to decorate my tree with only handmade dried fruit ornaments: oranges, apples, cranberries and star fruit. For oranges, I chose navel oranges since they have a nice thick, deep orange skin and are less juicy than Valencia oranges. For apples, a good red apple like Red Delicious, Rome or Empire works well.
Dried Apples, Oranges and Star Fruit:
Ingredients:
- Select about 3 each red apples, oranges and starfruit
- Lemon juice
- Ground cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves (optional)
Other supplies:
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Bowl
- Baking sheets
- Jute or twine
- Fabric or buttons to accent ornaments
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Slice apples, oranges and star fruit in ¼ inch cross sections.
If desired, remove seeds.
Pour lemon juice into a bowl and coat apples in juice. (You can skip this step with oranges and star fruit).
Place fruit on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel. Dab it until the much of the moisture has been absorbed.
Sprinkle with ground cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves to give them a nice fragrance if desired.
Use a toothpick to make a small hole in the fruit that you will thread the twine through.
Transfer fruit to a baking sheet.
Bake for 4-6 hours until fruit is dry, flipping over every hour. Remove pieces once they dry.
Cut twine into 6 inch strips.
Thread the twine through the holes made earlier and tie a loop with the twine.
Hang on the Christmas tree and enjoy!
Depending on your style, you can add other things to dress up your ornaments – like small bows, ribbons or buttons. Use your ornaments to compliment your existing decorations or to be your exclusive decorations on your tree. Or check out these instructions for dried apple garland or how to make a dried fruit wreath.