The Twelve Days of Craft-mas: Day One

On the first day of craft-mas, I made this for my tree…

A dried fruit garland!

Dried fruit plays a huge role in Victorian Christmas decorations. I couldn’t find any direct sources for dried fruits on a string, but I did find mention of “bright yellow oranges…suspended from the tree” in an issue of Demorest’s Family Magazine from 1890(1).

Fig. 1. Necessary tools

Difficulty: medium/hard

Time: ~8 hours total

What you’ll Need

• Apples and oranges (as many as you’d like!)

• Knife and cutting board

• Lemon juice and salt (to preserve the apples)

• A working oven (the fruit will need to sit in it for 6 hours, plan accordingly)

• Sewing needle (one that you don’t mind getting dirty)

• Thread (the stronger the better)

Part one: drying the fruit

Preheat oven to 150 degrees farenheit.

Slice apples and oranges into ¼” thick slices or thinner.

To keep the apples fresh, soak them in a solution of lemon juice and salt for 15 minutes, then pat them dry. I used these instructions as a reference.

Lay your slices out on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Leave in the oven for 6 hours, flipping every once in a while. I flipped them every hour and that seemed to do the trick.

Once they’ve dried out, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let the fruit cool. 

Part two: Assembling the garland

Discard any slices that you don’t want on your garland. If you’d like your fruit to be in a specific pattern, you can lay it out beforehand.

Cut a string of thread at the length that you want your garland to be and thread it through the needle. 

Pull the thread through your first fruit, and just as it gets to the end of the thread, tie a knot around it.

This will be the beginning of your garland.

Continue to thread each slice onto your garland. If you’d like the fruit to sit at equal distances, you can tie the thread onto each piece, but this is not necessary if you’re okay with a bit of disorder. 

When you get to your last piece of fruit, tie the end of the thread onto it. 

Spread out your slices (if you haven't tied each one on) and now your garland is ready for your tree!

Fig. 2. My chaotic fruit garland on my chaotic Christmas tree.

And there you have it! A lovely fruit garland for your tree!

What I enjoyed

Above all, the best part of this craft is the warm aroma coming from the kitchen. If you want to fill your house with the sweet scents of apples and oranges, this is the craft for you. 

I also love how the orange slices look when they’re in front of a tree light (fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Dried orange slice with light shining through.

What i found difficult

This craft wasn’t too difficult in itself, but finding a 6 hour window in which no one needs to use the oven is a bit tricky. Luckily, I have access to the Visitors Centre kitchen at Dalnavert, which has a rarely used oven. I also found that the thread I used made it difficult to rearrange the fruits, so I might try a different thread next time around. 

All in all, it was a great experience, and it looks adorable on my tree!

How did your garland turn out? Share a picture or two with us on Facebook and Instagram @dalnavertmuseum !

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Sources

1. Anonymous. “Home Art and Home Comfort: Christmas Tree Ornaments”, Demorest's Family Magazine, Vol. 27, No. 2, December 1890, p. 106.