If you’re trying to avoid plastic and save money all while giving more meaningful gifts this year, try these eco-friendly orange slice ornaments with herbs! Easy to assemble and with all natural components, these ornaments are great to keep around your own home, too. Craft a natural, healthy Christmas aesthetic with this DIY ornament tutorial and make gift giving simple this year. 
More Homemade Holiday Help:
Fabric Scrap Wreaths for Any Holiday
Last Minute Gifts Kids Can Make
Make Herbal Holiday Grapevine Wreaths
Citrus to Use for Orange Slice Ornaments
To stick with the classics, use any variety of orange. Oranges are the perfect size to craft ornaments with and their bright, orange color is festive. However, there are other varieties of citrus that can also be used for making ornaments and other decorations.
- Blood oranges have gorgeous orange/red contrast are a great variety of orange to consider.
- Pomelo is the largest of the citrus options, with grapefruit running a close second. These fruits sliced up will large and gorgeous for your ornament making. However, their size is also a caution; be delicate when assembling so they don’t break.
- Mandarins, clementines, lemons, limes, and citron are all the perfect size for smaller ornaments.
- Consider kumquats for tiny ornaments!
The only citrus that isn’t really suited to this are finger limes (Citrus australasica.) and Buddha’s hands (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis). These are really only readily available in Australia and China/India respectively, FYI.
Herbs to Consider for Orange Slice Ornaments
You don’t have to include fresh or dried herbs with your orange slice ornaments, but they improve the fragrance and the presentation. Woody herbs are the best for ornament and wreath making because they’re sturdy.
- Dried basil, by comparison, is too weak and crushable to hold up to much use.
Here are some woody herbs for crafting:
- Bay
- Cinnamon sticks
- Hyssop
- Lavender
- Oregano
- Rosebuds
- Rosemary
- Star Anise
- Thyme
- Yarrow
Several of these herbs are simple to grow yourself, further saving you money. When you grow your own craft supplies, you keep them super local – you can’t get more local than your backyard!
If growing herbs has been a goal of yours for awhile, there’s no time like the present to plan which kinds you’d like to have on hand. From food to medicine to handmade products, herbs are versatile and useful. They can even be grown in pots!
Here are a few useful articles to get you started:
50+ Herbs for That Grow in the Shade
Grow Herbs for Wounds – Save Money!
If you need to, this year you can purchase herbs from your local healthy grocer, craft store, or herb store. Be sure to look for whole stems so that you have enough to custom fit the herbs to the orange slice ornaments.
Other Natural Items to Consider
Like most natural crafts, orange slice ornaments pair well with botanical elements of all kinds, not just herbs. You might also consider:
- Acorn caps
- Moss
- Lichen
- Twine
- Bark
- Straw
Variations of Sliced Citrus Ornaments
You need to decide how you want the finished ornaments to look before you make decisions about processing.
For example, if you want to display whole, preserved oranges on your tree, you need to learn how to make a clove-studded orange, aka a pomander. This will need to be done at least a month before you want to display them to give them time to air-dry completely.
If you live in a humid climate and air-drying is not feasible for you, you will need to dehydrate these in an oven or dehydrator.
- To learn about this process in detail, please visit our post: DIY Pomanders: Clove Oranges & Apples.
It’s not a difficult process, I promise. It smells amazing the whole time you’re making the pomanders and it gives you and the kids time to hang around chatting with each other and getting messy.
A perfect recipe for holiday fun!
Citrus Slices for Ornaments
The other traditional way to display citrus ornaments is in slices. You can create lovely, one dimensional ornaments and garlands with single citrus slices.
–>>Learn to Make Citrus Garlands with Orange Slices.
If you’re making dried citrus ornaments with kids, this is your best option because it’s a simple process.
- Dehydrate
- String a loop
- Hang
How Do You Dehydrate Orange Slices For Ornaments?
Orange slices for ornaments must be preserved via dehydration. You can freeze dry citrus for food storage and consumption, but for crafting, dehydrating is the sturdier option.
–>>Here’s how to Dehydrate Citrus for Crafts & Food.
Eco Friendly Orange Slice Ornaments (with Herbs)
If you want to make a three dimensional orange slice ornament instead of something flat, this tutorial will teach you how. Using properly prepared orange slices, and fresh or dried herbs, make these simple 3-D citrus ornaments to give as gifts or to decorate your home.
Natural Citrus Slice Ornament
Equipment
- Twine
- Scissors
Ingredients
- Dehydrated Citrus Slices
- Dried Woody Herbs
Instructions
- Dehydrate citrus slices using the instructions linked in the article. To make ornament making easier, make a cut on each slice from the outside to the center.
- Lay out the dehydrated citrus slices and double check that the slice you made in each pice of citrus is still clear and open. Be gentle; since the slices are now dry, they're more easily broken.
- Match two slices of roughly the same size. You'll nest these two slices together to make an ornament, so be sure you like how they look together.
- Line up slices on each piece of citrus and tuck them into each other so they're connected. Gently make sure that they fit well together.
- Using a long piece of twine, you're going to basically wrap the center of the ornament to provide stability and to hang it. Starting at the top, with one length of the twine on either side of the ornament, bring the string all the way down to the bottom of the ornament.
- Cross the strings over at the bottom of the ornament and bring them back up to tie a simple square knot. Don't overthink this! You're simply wrapping the center of the ornament vertically in twine.
- Leave a few inches to make a loop and tie another square knot and then clip the twine. You can use the loop you just made to hang the ornament on the tree, or you can add an ornament hook to the loop.
- To add fresh or dried herbs to the ornament, simply bundle them in small batches and use the twine to tie them to the top of the ornament. Keep them small so as not to overwhelm ther citrus slices.
Notes
Citrus Slice Ornaments – a Few Photos
Be gentle when you nest the slices together. If they break, you can still use them in potpourri bowls or winter simmer pots. Toss them into your water, too. (Only do this with slices you haven’t sprayed sealant onto, of course!)
Use fresh or dried herbs – both look and smell great! Be gentle with dried herbs, however, because they’re more likely to shed leaves.
There are myriad ways to make a loop to hand the citrus ornaments, but in our experience shoring up the center with the twine helps keep everything stable. You could use hot glue, but I like to keep this craft naturally simple.
If this step makes you crazy, skip it and use the hot glue. Use an ornament hook. Use whatever makes this craft easy for you – it’s supposed to be fun!
Citrus Slice Ornament Notes
Keep this simple!
- Honestly, that’s my only real note. The beauty of these is that they’re easy, quick, and uncomplicated.
If you end up with leftover slices or even bits of slices, use the needle to simply layer different pieces of citrus together. Flat layers can add dimension, too, and are simple to make. 
- To preserve these ornaments as long as possible, keep them in a dry, cool, dark place during the year. Wrap them in paper and lay them in layers.
Remember, you can spray them with acryllic sealer to make them last longer, but it does remove their smell.
You can expect the orange slice ornaments to last a few years, if stored properly. When you’re done with them, simply compost them and make new ones!
This is the beauty of natural crafts!!
The 3-D Part
Don’t let the term 3-D scare you off! This just means that you build the ornaments to cross each other, or nest with each other, to create an object that is no longer flat.
The first step to making 3-D dried citrus slice ornaments is to plan ahead. You’ll need to pre-cut wedges into the slices of citrus so that they’ll nest into each other.
You also need to schedule the time it takes to process the orange slices in your dehydrator or oven on its lowest setting. If you’re using an oven, keep a close eye on your dehydrating citrus to be sure it doesn’t burn.
After the slices have full dehydrated, re-cut your pre-cut slices and gently next them together to create a 3-dimensional ornament.
Adding Herbs to the Dried Citrus Slice Ornaments
You can leave the citrus ornaments as is and their beauty is obvious in their simplicity. Hang them in front of twinkle lights and they will appear to glow soft orange (or whatever color citrus you used).
Since I’m a nerdy herb girl, I usually add dried herbs of various kinds to my citrus ornaments. This adds to their aromatic value in that the orange scent is enhanced by the smell of the herbs.
Uses for Dried Citrus Ornaments
Obviously, these ornaments can hang on a Christmas tree, garland, wall hook, floral arrangement, wreath, light fixture, twinkle light string, paper lanterns, gift tags, and so much more.
If you haven’t treated them with anything like acrylic, you can display them for awhile and then add them to your simmering potpourri on the stove.
You can assemble them and give as gifts with instructions for the recipient to add them to their tea pot or hot bath.
Dried Citrus Ornaments are Breakable
Dehydrated citrus slices are sturdy, but they’re not indestructible. Be sure to instruct children or any helpers that they need to handle the slices with care.
The neat thing about these materials, though, is that if one breaks, you can still use it as a food or potpourri. Let your goats munch on broken bits or add them to your compost. Put them in your ice water or diced them for your holiday breads.
Natural materials serve so many different purposes!
- Only reuse any pieces that you haven’t sprayed with sealer.
Do Sliced Orange Ornaments Go Bad?
Here’s a little excerpt from our article on dehydrating citrus for food and crafts to answer that great question:
It can, but if you dehydrate citrus correctly, it should last indefinitely for crafting purposes. Whether eating or crafting, the key is to dehydrate the citrus slices COMPLETELY. You must ensure that the citrus is completely dry before using it and/or storing it.
If you are air-drying and at any time during the process you see mold developing, compost the spoiled pieces and increase the air circulation around the rest. Air-dry ONLY if you live in a very dry, hot climate.
Other methods of dehydrating citrus include using a dehydrator or an oven.”
I recommend that article for more storage information, as well as how long you can expect to keep them.
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