My Weekend Mini-Makes are back with some Christmas-inspired crafts! And as usual, all are quick crafts you can complete over the weekend for less than a tenner. And even better than that, all my mini-makes are designed to be something beginners can try their hand at, whilst also being a relaxing, well-being boost. As I've mentioned before, I regularly turn to DIY and crafting when times get hard, so for me, having a creative outlet has become a vital part of my everyday life. I hope that these simple, cheap crafting ideas will inspire others to have a go, and see if it can make big changes in their life too.
So without further ado first up involves one of my absolute faves: dried orange slices. This is something I make sure to do every year in the run-up to Christmas, as its a craft that will never fail to get you in the festive mood. But what to do with all those orange slices you've now got laying around? Well here's a super easy project you complete in no time at all - a dried orange garland. The perfect handmade Christmas decoration, that smells absolutely heavenly.
You will need:
Oranges & limes - I used 3 limes and 4 oranges which cost me £1.60 in total, but it'll totally depend on how long you want yours to be
Embroidery thread
Tassells - I made these myself from more thread - you can find a DIY tutorial is here
Wooden beads - I used these 14mm ones which I found on eBay for £2.50 for a pack of 50 beads. However I only ended up using 15 beads for this length garland, so you might be able to find a smaller pack cheaper elsewhere
Long needle - I use a long teddy bear/doll making needle for most of my crafts, but a smaller needle will work just as well here
Sharp knife
Oven
Total cost: £4.10
How to dry the oranges and limes
So first up the fun bit: drying out your fruit. Chop your oranges and limes up into thin slices - the thinner the better - and lay them out on a baking tray. Make sure they're full slices too, as you wont be able to string half-slices together.You don't have to just stick to oranges and limes - you could use any citrus fruit here, lemons for example would work really well and add some variation in colour too.
Pop the baking tray in the oven on a low heat - I usually stick to around 130 degrees for 2-3 hours. Keep a really close eye on them though as they burn quickly, especially the thinner slices, and all ovens are different. I usually judge when they're done by eye - they should look darker in colour and hard to the touch. If they're still soft and juicy they're not dried out enough, and will go mouldy after a few days.
Once they're all done take them out of the oven and leave them to dry. I usually leave them overnight. Its important to make sure the slices are completely dried out before assembling the garland or again, they could end up going mouldy.
Assembling the garland
Now to assemble your garland. I used some thick embroidery thread and a long needle, but you could use a usual sized needle if you don't have a longer one.Push your fruit slices onto the thread one at a time, alternating the size and colour to add some variation. Every few slices I added a wooden bead or two to break it up a bit. When you're happy with it, tie a large, secure knot in the thread and finish off with a tassel or a bow on the end. You can buy tassels online or in haberdashery shops, however I simply made my own in a few minutes using more embroidery thread. You can find my DIY tassel tutorial from a previous post here.
Attaching the tassel to the end of the garland was probably the only tricky bit. I threaded the string from the tassel through the twisted end of the tassel and tied to keep it secure. You can see in this picture the orange thread used in the garland and the plum coloured thread of the tassel.
And you're all done! How easy was that? Hang up or display around your home, and if you store it carefully in a dry place you should be able to use it year after year.
Thanks for reading,
Sam Xx
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