Citrus: The Trendiest Christmas Décor Item of 2020!
If you are on Instagram or Pinterest regularly, you’ve surely seen an abundance of citrus-inspired décor ideas in your feed this year. There are countless tutorials and fun ideas of how to work oranges, lemons and grapefruit into your holiday designs.
In a crazy year that has kept us homebound and isolated, we have been reminded to find joy in the simple things in life. Those simple pleasures might include a walk through the neighborhood, baking, time in your garden, or rekindling your love of reading. I have even started needlepointing! In anticipation of a quieter holiday season, I have found that many of us have infused the same simplicity in our holiday décor.
I willingly hopped onboard this inspired seasonal trend and dried my own assortment of citrus for use around the house. It’s quite a simple process to dry the fruit:
Step One: Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Step Two: Cut your citrus of choice into 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick slices
Step Three: Pat the slices dry so any excess liquid is removed.
Step Four: Bake for 2-3 hours, flipping the slices over once per hour. Check to make sure they are completely dried out. I found it works best to let them rest in the oven for another hour or so before stringing them.
After drying an abundance of fruit, I used it all throughout our home. I started in the kitchen with this great House of Jade garland tutorial: https://houseofjadeinteriors.com/2019/11/diy-dried-orange-slice-garland/
I love the bright pop of orange against our light blue cabinets (Behr English Hollyhock from Home Depot).
I am patiently waiting for my paperwhites to bloom in the window sill!
I was wondering exactly how I should incorporate oranges into our mantle when Joanna Gaines posted an Instagram story of her own mantle that I just loved! I copied her groups of three slices on my own mantle and love how it turned out. I added a screenshot of her story below so you can see how hers looks.
I used dried oranges, grapefruit and lemons to decorate my outdoor wreath. I always buy a plain green wreath and have so much fun decorating it myself. It’s the one time a year that my hot glue gun gets to see the light of day. I love the soft colors created by the citrus and the dusty pink ribbon. I was actually inspired by a gorgeous fresh wreath for sale at Terrain (link here).
I used holly berries and hakonechloa grass (on the left) from my garden to add more dimension and texture to the wreath. Cinnamon sticks and pinecones give a classic Christmas feel. It is all tied together with the pink ribbon that I actually saved from a Grace Rose Farm flower delivery over the summer. I knew I would find a pretty way to use it again!
