Natural Christmas Tree Decorations

When we were planning our Christmas Decorations, we knew we wanted to keep it simple and natural. So when it came to our Christmas Tree, we wanted to limit the store bought decorations. How best to take us back in time.

Our Christmas tree choice was something we had to really consider. We would have loved to have a natural tree, however, with the age of the floor, we needed to be careful of floors and possible pine resin. So after much thought, we decided to pull our fake tree from our home back in Chesapeake. We purchased our tree a few years ago in Williamsburg at the “Christmas Mouse Christmas Store”. It is a 9 foot tree that is with white lights.

At the base of the tree, we placed a beautiful tree skirt, but I wanted something that filled it without having allot of wrapped presents. Remember some of our Christmas past, I pulled the idea of surrounding it with beautiful Poinsettia. It really dressed the tree and kept it natural.

For the Christmas Tree Decorations, I found the greatest idea! Dried Lemons, Oranges and Grapefruit. After doing some research online, I found a simple way to making it without costing me too much.

Step One – Cutting your fruit into 1/4 slices.

Step Two – Place in your oven (right on the rack) at 225 degrees for 2 -3 hours.

Step Three – Flip the fruit half way through to keep it flat as it dries.

Step Four – Remove and allow it to cool for 24 hours.

Step Five – Using a wooden dowel – make a small hole in the flesh of the fruit closes to the rind.

Step Six – String with off white or tan yarn.

Step Seven – Hang on the tree.

The lemons didn’t do as well as I had hoped, so we didn’t use them this year. They were a little too “juicy” and wouldn’t dry well. The fruit needs to be completely dry or your decorations will start molding.

I loved the look of the fruit on the tree! With the lights behind and around them, their color really does come through. We added small bundles of cinnamon sticks and some pine cones. We were going to add a string of popcorn and cranberries, but honestly, it looked so good without them, we didn’t bother.

The topper was a hard consideration. We had an angel, but it just didn’t work. I had thought about craving out a Pine Apple from the bottom to preserve the shape and top greenery. But after some thought, I was worried that the outside structure wouldn’t hold up and would mold. So this time, we settled on a red ribbon with flowing strings. Yes, it is store bought, but the color really did match the fruit.

With this tree added to our Parlor, it really does feel like Christmas at Belle Grove Plantation.