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This Christmas season, switch up your holiday décor with a homemade DIY ornament or two in addition to your store-bought decorations. These ornaments are made with fresh and simple materials you probably already have in your kitchen, including fresh citrus fruits and a variety of fragrant herbs and spices. Not only will they add a festive vibe to your home, but they’ll also smell absolutely wonderful!
DIY Christmas Ornaments
We have not one but three different tutorials for you to try. So, turn on the Christmas tunes and get into the holiday spirit with these fun DIYs.
Materials for the DIY Ornament:
- Colored ribbons
- Twine (both thick and thin)
- Citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes)
- Scissors
- Needle
- Star anise
- Cinnamon sticks
- Baking paper
- Christmas decoration (optional)
- Beads (optional)
- Cloves (optional)
- Glue (optional)
Prepping the Orange Slice Ornaments:
- As our DIY ornament requires dried fruit, we will first need to dehydrate the oranges, lemons, and limes. You can do this step ahead of time. Cut them into slices of equal thickness and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Put the baking tray in the oven and bake at 212°F (100° C) for 4 hours.
- At the 2-hour mark (halfway through the drying process), flip the slices over so that both sides of the fruit can dry.
- Take them out of the oven and let them cool. They need to be completely dry before we make them into DIY ornaments.
DIY Ornament #1: Bead and Citrus Ornament
These adorable ornaments will add a bit of glam to your Christmas tree! Using dried fruit slices, holiday-scented herbs, and chunky beads, you can make these eye-catching ornaments in just a few minutes!
- With the needle and thread, poke through a stick of cinnamon. Tie the end of the thread.
- Now, thread two slices of dried orange.
- If you have beads, then you can add them after the orange.
- Continue to sew in alternating patterns the cinnamon stick, orange slices, and beads.
- Once it’s complete, tie a knot at the end to make a loop.
DIY Ornament #2: Ribbon and Citrus Ornament
For a showstopping look, combine your fragrant herbs and fruits with a beautiful Christmas ribbon to make these decorative Christmas tree ornaments.
- Although any ribbon works with this ornament, we prefer to use the spare scraps we’ve saved from wrapping presents. It’s a great way to repurpose ribbon that’s simply too cute to throw away!
- Prep your fruit by poking a hole towards the top in the middle of each piece you want to use with your sewing needle.
- Now, take the thick twine and thread it through the hole in the fruit.
- Tie the thread with a knot into a small loop so you can hang the ornament.
- Choose a piece of ribbon and tie it into a pretty bow.
- Sew the bow on the bottom of the fruit (the opposite end where the threaded knot is).
- Feel free to experiment with different styles and bows! You can even add a cinnamon stick, star anise, or cloves if you want to spice things up with more aromatic scents!
DIY Ornament #3: Citrus Garland
Ideal for your Christmas tree or fireplace mantel, this decorative garland is a great alternative to tinsel. Besides having a more natural look, it also adds a savory-sweet scent to your home.
- Before sewing together the garland, you can lay out the different pieces of fruit, cinnamon sticks, and anise stars to make sure it’s the right composition and design that you want.
- Once you have a pattern you like, poke holes in the top of each piece of fruit with your needle.
- Thread the thick twine through the fruit one by one to connect them into a long chain.
- Once the fruit has been threaded, you can then sew the cinnamon sticks to different parts. If you’d like to add the star anise, then feel free to glue them to different parts of the garland.
- To make things more festive, we recommend adding extra Christmas decorations. Hang it where you want and enjoy the festive colors and scents of your homemade orange slice ornaments!
More Christmas Ideas
We hope that you enjoyed making these DYI Christmas ornaments just as much as we did! If you’re interested in making other festive decorations for your home, then we have a few other Christmas tutorials you might enjoy. Check out our homemade felt ornament tutorial as well as our delicious Starbucks ’ Christmas tree Frappuccino recipe. And don’t forget to make some classic Christmas cookies to keep everyone’s tummy happy while you craft!
