I love Christmas time, and basically any opportunity to pull out my hot glue gun and do some crafting! This year my goal was to make a few simple Christmas DIY items using materials I had laying around my home, and also aiming to keep them as low-waste as possible!
DRIED ORANGE DIY
This seems to be the #1 Simple Christmas DIY of the year, and for good reason…it’s SO simple.
HOW TO MAKE DRIED ORANGES
- SLICE oranges into thin pieces. It helps to slice them even thicknesses so that they cook at the same rate.
- Fill a BAKING SHEET with the oranges slices. You can use parchment paper or these silicone mats that I love if you’d like, but it’s not necessary.
- BAKE at your oven’s lowest temperature – for me that was 175*F. Bake for at least 5 hours, possibly longer depending on temperature and orange thickness.
- FLIP about once an hour to ensure even cooking.
- Once the oranges darken in colour and feel mostly dry, they are finished. I wasn’t able to get them 100% dry without having them burn, so don’t worry too much about it!
- STRING a fine string like fishing wire through the flesh of the oranges. Using a large sewing needle is helpful!
See 5 Ways to Use Dried Oranges in Your Christmas Decor.
Tips:
- Cooking on a wire rack with the baking tray underneath will help speed up the process!
- Blotting the oranges before cooking them may also help speed up the bake time.
- I don’t recommend turning the temperature any higher than 200*F because then the oranges will burn before they dry out.
- Be patient, this is easy but it’s NOT fast.
CINNAMON ORNAMENT DIY
The next simple Christmas DIY we’ll be doing is these dried cinnamon ornaments! This only takes 3 ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen!
CINNAMON ORNAMENT RECIPE
- 1 cup Cinnamon
- 1 cup plain applesauce
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- Mix the 3 ingredients in a bowl until they are combined. The dough should resemble sugar cookie dough. If it’s too sticky, add 1-2 extra tbsp of cornstarch.
- Roll the dough into a ball to make sure it’s all combined.
- Sprinkle cinnamon on the counter/table to ensure the dough ball doesn’t stick.
- Roll, and cut with Cookie Cutters like you would with sugar cookies!
- If you want to hang these as ornaments, they’ll need a string hole at the top. A straw is the perfect size to make a little hole in the dough.
- Bake at the lowest temperature on your over (about 175*F) for 1 hour. Flip and bake for about another hour.
- Check the ornaments often to make sure they don’t burn. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness. They will feel dry to touch.
DIY FORAGED WREATH
To be honest, this is the least simple of the 3 simple Christmas DIYs, but I’ll still share it because it’s virtually free to make!
First, you’ll have to forage for some greenery. If you live in a moderate climate, it should be no problem to find a few types of coniferous trees. If you can’t find any trees, you could ask at a Christmas tree farm if they have any scraps you can have for free or for a discounted price.
I had three different types of greenery.
Use a piece of sturdy wire to make a circle.
I started with a base layer of one type of evergreen leaves. Then I added on other layers with the other types of leaves I found. This took lots of finicking and LOTS of hot glue.
You can leave it as a plain green wreath, or you can add pinecones, berries, dried oranges or ribbon to dress it up!
Minimalist Christmas 
