Dried Fruit Wreaths

Here's a craft anyone will enjoy.  It's cute, it smells rich and fragrantly, and it's great for this Holiday time of year!.

By Kathleen Gordon-Ross, senior editor

SUPPLIES:

-Medium Gage wire (wire is the best thing to use when making a wreath. If making a garland or swag, dental floss would work just fine. You can find the wire in the floral department of a craft store like Michaels, Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's. I use 20 gage wire and can get 20 lengths for $1.)

- Dried Bay leaves

- Dried apple and/or orange slices 

- Cinnamon Applesauce ornaments and/or beads 

- Needle Nose Pliers 

- Raffia

Addition items you can also use to decorate your wreath or garland: 

- Dried grapefruit, lemon or lime slices 

- Nuts (again you'll need to drill a hole in the middle) 

- Pine cones (large or small) 

- Torn strips of homespun fabric 

- Cinnamon sticks (3-4 inches long with a small hole drilled in the middle) 

- Gingerbread ornaments 

- Wood beads 

- Cookie cutters 

- Rustic tin cut outs 

STEP BY STEP:

1. Decide what you want to use on your wreath: apples, oranges, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon applesauce ornaments. For this wreath we are using bay leaves, dried apple & orange slices & cinnamon applesauce ornaments.

2. Shape wire into a loose circle roughly the size of the wreath you want. Allow 1-2 inches to connect the two ends and complete the circle. (I used a cereal bowl for the small wreath.) 

3. Using your needle nose pliers, bend one end of the wire to create a loop. This will keep the contents of the wreath from slipping off as you thread more and more things on it. 

4. Thread the following items in the order listed: 
Play with the quantities to achieve your own desired look. 
- 5 apple slices 
- 1 1/2 inch bay leaves 
- 4-5 orange slices 
- 1 1/2 inch bay leaves 
- 5 apple slices 
- 1 1/2 inch bay leaves 
- 4-5 orange slices 
- 1 1/2 inch bay leaves 
- 5 apple slices 

5. To complete the wreath, thread the straight end of your wire through the end with the loop. Once threaded through the loop, bend the straight end into a second loop so that everything is tightly in place and the wire forms a complete circle. Cut any excess wire, or add more stuff to fill the space. 

6. Carefully reshape the wire to the desired shape. 

7. Using raffia create a loop to hang your wreath from with a bow. The bow can be used to hide your wire closure. 

8. Hang a cinnamon apple sauce ornament in the center with a simple raffia tie 

      
 
 


How to Make Cinnamon Apple Sauce Ornaments

1 cup cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. allspice
1 tbsp ginger
3/4 c. applesauce

In medium bowl, combine cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger & nutmeg. Add applesauce, stir to combine. Work mixture with hands 2 to 3 minutes or until dough is smooth and ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters. Using straw or pencil, make small hole in top of ornament. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 150 degrees for 1 hour Remove from the cookie sheet and bake on the oven racks for another hour and a half.

If you have a dehydrater they work great for this project as well. Instead of placing the cut outs on a cookie sheet and baking them, place them on their dehydrater racks and dry them that way.

The dough gets really sticky, so becareful when rolling out the dough. Also I've found that simple cookie cutter shapes (hearts, trees, pumpkins, snowmen, etc) work better than shapes that have a more complex edge. As well as adding these to your spice fruit wreaths, you can also use these ornaments to decorate gifts, hang on tree, etc.

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