Monday, November 19, 2012

orange craving

if you have been reading my blog for a while
you already know that right about this time of year I get a big orange caving


I dry slices in the oven
.... and then use them to make stuff (of course!)


how I dry my orange slices:
slice the oranges relatively thinly - about 1/4 inch thick I guess
lay out on wax paper on a cookie sheet
bake at 200 degrees (f)
check every hour - flipping the slices over is a good idea too
do this until dry (about 3 hours?)

... and save the end bits!
drop them into a saucepan with a cinnamon stick and some water
simmer and smell .... my, oh my, it's like heaven


and then comes the fun part
... making stuff!
like these ornaments


ornament DIY ingredients:
dried orange slice
hot glue pieces of lichen in the middle
hot glue a deconstructed pinecone on top of that 
(or some other kind of bead, button or bauble)
dip in melted beeswax 
(beeswax: a fantastic preservative - and it smells great too)


 .... here's a link to the wreath I made last year ....

15 comments:

JoZart Designs said...

Ooh! I can smell it in England! It's as good as it looks..
Jo x

Sue said...

Your house must smell lovely and festive!

Gayle Price said...

Gorgeous ! and thanks for the "how to do". Your last photo is stunning, do you mind if I PIN it ? xx

Yvonne said...

OH, I do love the smell of oranges. Your dried orange idea here is really cute. Lichen? It's not wet enough here to have it, but may could find it in the store...maybe. :)

*jean* said...

hmmm...yum! oranges, pinecones & beeswax...lovely ornaments, kimmie!!!

Anonymous said...

I can smell it from here Kimmie and I do adore those little orange wreathlets! How pretty. xox

DAWN said...

You are a rare gem and these are little off shoots of your brilliance!! I love how fresh and alive they appear and that special jewel quality in the sunlight is a marvel!
~Dawn

Halle said...

Simple beauty...love it! I'm going to have to try the orange trick on the stove...likely would be good with lemon as well with maybe some thyme or rosemary...

Annie Cholewa said...

These are so very pretty ... I must give this a go, thanks for the how-to Kimmie :D

Tracey FK said...

gorgeous... xx

Rita said...

Cute! I could almost smell them! :)

~*~Patty S said...

oh so lovely
your house must smell yummy too!

great idea about using beeswax to keep the slices from turning dark!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we are back from a week in sunny Colorado...catching up and back to reality :)

oxo

Linda Vincent said...

Inspirational...as always! Now I'll be drying them as well as carving and studding with cloves ;-)

Catharina Maria said...

They are beautiful , I have also make them like Linda , with cloves .
Love ♥RINI♥
I will try this too Kimmie !

Lynn Cohen said...

So clever and so beautiful. And smell good too I bet.