How to Make Natural Fruit Ornaments

Fruit ornaments are one thing you can do to decorate your all natural (or totally fake) tree. Here are two methods you can use.

Clove Method

1- Choose your fruit. Citrus, apples or pears will do best for this kind of fruit ornament.

2- Buy whole cloves, lots of them.

3- Use a toothpick or pin to make a hole before inserting the clove.

4- Insert cloves in this manner all over the fruit. You can do this in patterns and then later decorate the empty spots with ribbon. If you have a specific, more intricate pattern in mind, you can use a sharpie to denote where the cloves will go. (I do dearly love sharpies). The ribbon can be held in place using pins.

5- You can dry the fruit ornament before placing it on the tree, but since I live in Florida, there's no drier place than on the tree. Some folks do this long before Christmas so they'll be dried out, but I enjoy the color of the fruit.

6- Figure out how it will be displayed. The smaller fruits, like pears or lemons, can be hung from their ribbons on the tree. Large fruits, such as oranges can be nestled in the tree branches.

7- Know that you will have to check on your fruit ornaments. Maintenance is important. They shrink over time, so you might have to tighten the ribbons. If your design does not include many cloves over the surface of the fruit, it's possible that it may rot instead of drying. Remove these so that they don't stink up your fine tree.

Dried Fruit Slices

Although not as colorful, these fruit ornaments are easier to maintain.

1- Choose your fruit. Apples, pears, citrus or even berries can be used as part of a dried fruit ornament.

2- Cut your fruit. Dense fruits such as apples and pears should be cut more thinly, at about a ¼ inch. Water dense fruits such as lemons and orange can be cut up to about ¾ inch. You want pretty slices that take advantage of the natural curve of the fruit. Berries you can buy already dried at the natural food store, or you can dry them whole yourself.

3- Dry your fruit. Oven times vary. You want about 170-200 degrees. If you have a dehydrator-that's even better! In the oven it can take as little as 45 minutes to 3 hours. You don't want them crisp, just a bit leathery to the touch. Some will curl up and not look as good. Use those as filler for your fruit ornaments or toss them.

4- String it. Use a needle and heavy threads in a pretty color to string the fruit together in a bunch-or just hang single fruit using fishing wire. Decorative crafting wire also looks pretty. Berries can be used to accent fruit slice ornaments, as can cinnamon sticks and ribbon.