These dried orange slices with star anise make the prettiest, natural, and fragrant DIY Christmas ornaments for your tree! They’re so simple to make and look like glowing, stained-glass windows!
With a few citrus fruits, parchment paper, star anise, a hot glue gun, and fragrant citrus oils, you’ll create ornaments that look and smell beautiful!
This year, I wanted my Christmas tree to be entirely decorated with natural ornaments. No plastic, no tinsel, just guilt-free, elegant, all-natural prettiness (except for the lights, of course).
I used roses and lavender bunches, baby’s breath “snow” and these pretty little oranges, and it turned out to be the most colorful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen!
Sometimes my Christmas trees are entirely natural, sometimes they include silk roses and sometimes I combine the two. But I always include these homemade ornaments.
I also love combining different citrus fruits to make the ornaments different colors! Blood oranges have a gorgeous red color and tiny limes add some fun texture!
What You’ll Need to Make the Ornaments
This is what I used to make multi-color citrus ornaments, but you can use nothing but simple oranges, and they’ll be just as pretty!
parchment paper – I find parchment paper is the best lining for your baking sheets when dehydrating the citrus. Foil can sometimes leave seared marks on the citrus, and using nothing at all can make the citrus stick to the pan.
glue gun – I’ve used thread to attach star anise to my citrus ornaments in the past, but it’s a bit time-consuming. I went for a hot glue gun this year to speed the process, but if you’d rather use a needle and thread, take a look at my post on how to make simple citrus ornaments.
orange & cinnamon oils – When people see photos of my Christmas trees, they always say “That must smell amazing!” But the citrus ornaments actually lose their aroma once dry, unless you add a little essential oil secret ingredient. See the section below to find out exactly what I use.
toothpick – You’ll use a toothpick to pierce the sliced, dried citrus to make a hole for string.
string – You’ll use about 7 inches of string to make the hangers for the ornaments, so make sure to find string or twine that is thin enough to go through the little hole.
dry baby’s breath – this is optional, it makes the ornaments very delicate, but I just love the way it looks on a few of them.
star anise – I love how the little stars look in the centers of the citrus. They also add a lovely aroma too.
citrus – I used 2 oranges, 2 blood oranges, 2 lemons, and 5 makrut limes. I started seeing these tiny, little limes in my food store in late September. They have such a strong, bright aroma, that you can smell it through their skin!
How to Keep Them Smelling “Citrusy”
After the citrus is dried, it loses its bright scent, so I make them smell delicious again with natural oils!
I use the cinnamon oil from this spice collection from Laguna Moon, and the orange oil from this set. They’re so elegant and naturally derived, not synthetic.
I also like to add some of the ginger oil, bergamot, and clove in the spice collection to give the ornaments a bit more of a zing.
I also add just a few drops (I mean like 1 drop to only 4 ornaments) of Eternal Essence “Cinnamon Orange Clove” oil. It doesn’t really smell like cinnamon or clove, but it does smell like a warm, sweet orange. Different than the Laguna Moon orange, which is brighter.
The citrus smell of your tree will likely be quite strong after you first decorate it with oil-sprinkled ornaments, but the smell will fade within 24 hours to an elegant citrus-spice whisper.
Something to keep in mind, especially if you’re having guests over. Best to sprinkle the oils the day BEFORE a party so they’re not too strong.
The aroma will continue to fade over 5 days or so, so simply refresh some ornaments with oils as often as you wish.
How to Make Dried Citrus Christmas Ornaments – Step by Step
1. Thinly slice citrus into quarter-inch thick slices.
2. Place the slices on parchment paper (or Silpat), and dehydrate them in the oven at 200 F. for 2-4 hours. The smaller, thinner fruits may take only 2 hours, but the larger oranges may take up to 4 hours. Be sure to check on them every hour to be sure.
3. Remove them from the oven, and be sure to place them on a flat surface to cool. If they’re warm, they may bend if placed in a bowl or on top of each other. Don’t worry if they’re not entirely dry. They’ll continue to dry while hanging on your Christmas tree throughout the month.
4. I use a hot glue gun to attach the star anise and smaller citrus to the centers of the larger ones, but you can also use a needle and thread to thread them together. I also glued a little bit of dried baby’s breath flowers to some.
5. Use a toothpick to pierce a hole through the tops of the larger citrus for the hanging string. To make your ornaments smell like Christmas magic, liberally sprinkle a 100% natural orange and cinnamon oil onto them in equal parts.
6. If you want to store them for later, place them in a container, but don’t cover them with a lid. They may still have some moisture in them, and covering them with a lid can trap that moisture, and they can potentially mold. You want them to air-dry completely.
Common Questions
You’ll simply pop them in the oven at 200 F. (93 C.) for about 2-4 hours. Their dry time all depends on how thick you sliced them, so after 2 hours, see if they’re still a bit wet.
You’ll know they’re done when they’re only slightly bendable. If they’re not completely dry, don’t worry, they’ll continue to dry over the next few days on your tree.
The best time to make them into ornaments is actually a day or 2 after drying in the oven because the centers might still be a bit wet after they come out.
Giving them a day or 2 to further dry out on a countertop or in an un-sealed container really makes them nice and dry, but again, depending on how thinly you sliced your oranges, they might be ready right out of the oven.
You can use just about any kind of orange including tangerines, mandarines, and clementines. You can also use other citrus like limes, lemons or grapefruits! The main thing you’ll want to look for is the thickness of skin.
You don’t want to use citrus that has very thick skin, so go for the thinner-skinned varieties.
Nope! Once they’re dry, they’re dry and won’t mold. However, like all organic materials, they’ll age and may not look as pretty next Christmas, so don’t bother packing them up with the rest of the ornaments. Make more next year!
Enjoy your gorgeous, little citrus ornaments and Merry Christmas!
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Here Are a Few More Christmas Crafts and Cocktails!
- How to Make Natural Cotton Christmas Garland
- How to Make DIY Christmas Tree Decorations
- The Godiva Chocolate Candy Cane Cocktail
- How to Make Homemade Flower Ornaments
- A RumChata Coconut Snowflake Cocktail
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How to Make Dried Citrus Christmas Ornaments
Equipment
- sharp knife
- baking pan with grate
- thred or string
- parchment paper
- glue gun
- tooth picks
- citrus oils – see notes for what I use
Ingredients
- 5 oranges or assorted citrus – thinly sliced
- 25 star anise
Instructions
- Thinly slice citrus into quarter-inch thick slices. Place the slices on parchment paper (or Silpat), and dehydrate them in the oven at 200 F. for 2-4 hours. Smaller, thinner fruits may take only 2 hours, but larger oranges may take up to 4 hours. Be sure to check on them every hour to be sure.
- Remove them from the oven, and be sure to place them on a flat surface to cool. If they’re warm, they may bend if placed in a bowl or on top of each other. Don’t worry if they’re not entirely dry. They’ll continue to dry while hanging on your Christmas tree throughout the month.
- You can use a hot glue gun to attach star anise and smaller citrus to the centers of larger ones, but you can also use a needle and thread to thread them together.
- Use a toothpick to pierce a hole through the tops of the citrus for the hanging string. To make your ornaments smell like Christmas magic, liberally sprinkle a 100% natural orange and/or cinnamon oil onto them in equal parts.
Georgia
Can you use a food dehydrator instead of the oven? And what about adding some scented oils to the slices before drying? Thanks!
Genevieve Morrison
Yes! I’ve used a dehydrator to make the orange slices, but I would actually add the oils after drying. The scent will last longer that way. Set the dehydrator to 135 F. and dry between 2-5 hours. If they’re sliced very thin, they may be dry after 2-3 hours. If they’re a little thicker, they may take up to 5 hours. If they’re still a little wet, even after 5 hours, don’t worry. They won’t rot. They’ll continue to dry once you’ve hung them on the tree over the next few days. I love the orange oil in this set (along with all of the other scents) https://amzn.to/471dYYm
Krugman Pam
I used hot glue to anchor the star anise on to the orange slice and it worked wonderfully. I also used blood oranges – also now called raspberry oranges because of the red and orange coloring the slices resembled to me like beautiful cathedral windows with or without the star anise. Also, just a tip here – star anise in your typical grocery store was $12 for a small jar. I purchased a whole bag in bulk at a natural grocery store for just a few dollars. Thank you for this lovely article. This is the first year I’ve made these and I gave some as gifts to a few friends that were so impressed and charmed by them.
Genevieve Morrison
Awesome! Thank you for your input! Glad you enjoyed the article. I wish I could find raspberry oranges. That must look so pretty! And I know what you mean about the price of star anise. It’s steep – at the end of the season, I remove them from the oranges and just use them the following year, but that was a great idea to do a little more digging for a better price. It really ranges depending on where you look for them, for sure.
Lauren Poor
I’m in love with this tree!! Did you make the dried flowers or buy them? Please give details if you made them. Also, does the baby’s breath not go bad after being on the tree for a couple weeks?
Genevieve Morrison
Thank you very much, Lauren! I bought the flowers and dried them myself. There was a sale of roses so I bought about 6 dozen. The baby’s breath looks prettiest when it’s fresh on the tree, but it actually dries quite nicely. It just shrinks a bit, but it still stays white for at least 3 months. If you want to see how I made the flower ornaments, take a look at this post, and thank you again! https://www.shekeepsalovelyhome.com/homemade-flower-ornaments/
Shari Green
I have to agree not much fragrance to them when they are done is there any thing that can be added to them other than anise star or can we put cinnamon on them for added smell or anything of Christmas smell?
Genevieve Morrison
I’ve seen people attach cinnamon sticks, and that looks really pretty. You can also get a little fancy and add some dry lavender or other floral accents. Another thing to try would be to pierce the orange rind with a few cloves before you put the oranges in the oven! That would really give them a Christmas smell 🙂
Sharon
Do you know how these would fair outside? I am thinking about turning this into a garland to hang outside. Maybe weave into some traditional pine garland or string together with pine cones. I have a new orange front door and trying to figure out to not clash and have a more modern look. Have you shellacked these before? Thoughts on weather proofing. TY.
Genevieve Morrison
That sounds nice. I suppose it depends how exposed they are to the elements. Are they on a wreath that needs to withstand the rain? Is there a porch protecting it from precipitation? I haven’t placed them in water after they’ve dried and I haven’t shellacked them, so I’m not exactly sure how they’d hold up if they were directly rained on or snowed on. But if they’re only meant to last for a season, I think they would be perfectly fine if they’re on a front door wreath that’s under an awning.
Christine Semanson
I’ve put my tree in the kitchen this year, and this would be a great decoration to add. Are you tying the star anis on with the string and knotting it on the back?
Genevieve Morrison
Yup! I basically use a needle and thread to sew through, then I hold the star anise to the orange slice, then I sew across it, pulled the thread tight, and tie the thread in the back 🙂
Cindy
Once they are dry, is there much fragrance from the oranges?
Genevieve Morrison
Not really. They’ll have a very faint smell, but will smell more like star anise if you’re adding it to the ornaments.