Ideas for Making Dried Fruit Wreaths

Commercial wreaths have plastic fruit, but drying fruit is quick and easy.

Wreaths are available throughout America during the Christmas period. Most wreaths look similar. They all have a wire base, decorated with moss, holly, ivy, flowers and colorful ribbons. Making your own wreaths guarantees that you will have a personal item hanging on your door during the festive season. Dried fruit wreaths are creative and can also be fragrant and eye-catching.

Circles of Citrus

Fruits of different colors and sizes look great together.

Cutting citrus fruit into circles and drying it is the quickest and simplest way of decorating a wreath with dried fruit. Choose bright, plump oranges, grapefruits, lemons and tangerines. Cut the slices about 1/4 inch thick. Dry them on a rack in your oven for about an hour, before wiring them onto your wreath, or tying them on with ribbons. For a contrasting look, choose ribbons in colors that are complementary to the fruit. For example, hang lemons on with blue ribbons, and oranges with green ribbons.

Crushed Fruit

You could also put whole cinnamon sticks onto a fruit wreath.

Including crushed, dried fruit makes for a one-of-a-kind, beautifully scented wreath. Choose dried cranberries, currents and lemon peel. Mix the fruit with some cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamon. Cut the fruit and spices up into little pieces with a sharp knife or in a food processor. Glue the colorful, aromatic mixture onto your wreath with a strong adhesive.

Limes and Lemons.

Dehydrated limes look very festive with red and gold ribbons.

Whole small fruits look great hanging from a wreath. Get a mixture of lemons, limes and tangerines. Put them in a warm place, such as an airing cupboard, for two to three days. When the skins have turned hard and the center has dehydrated, join them onto your wreath. Thread a needle with some thick thread and put the dried fruits onto the thread. Then sow the fruit onto your wreath.

Full Circle of Fruit

A pure fruit wreath can be made very quickly, without the need to get a base, use wire or find moss. Simply cut a selection of fruit into 1/4-inch circles. Choose oranges, lemons, apples and any other fruit of a similar size. Dry the fruit circles in the oven, for about an hour. Get a piece of raffia, and put the fruit circles onto the raffia. Alternate the colors, and add pine cones, cinnamon sticks or any other items of your choice. Tie the raffia in a circle once you have the desired amount of fruit on it. Brighten up the wreath with ribbons.

References

• Mormon Chic. Dried Fruit Wreaths
• How to Make a Wreath
• So You Wanna: How to Make a Dried Fruit Garland
• Daily Press: How to make a fresh evergreen and fruit wreath