Dried oranges

Years ago I used to make pomander balls out of oranges and cloves.  They smelled so great and were fun to do!  I've been focusing lately on baking Christmas snack gifts so I've been busy with that.  But in between all that snack-making I made a few dried orange slices, intending to use them in a bowl of rustic winter potpourri.  I could purchase these, and I have before because I think they are so pretty, but they are so easy and much cheaper to make myself!  Making them feels like a nice break from all of the strictly Christmas goings-on.

All I did was slice up a large naval orange about 1/4 inch thick, lay out on a cookie sheet, and placed in the oven.  I set the temp to 190 and set a cook timer for 4 hours.  The kitchen smelled pleasantly of orange and it helped to warm my kitchen.  {we've had a cold snap in Austin!}  When I got home from work, Hubby had set the cookie sheet off to the side so he could fix dinner, but the orange slices were perfectly dried. And now to make my rustic winter potpourri! 

I plan on adding cinnamon sticks, and some star anise, along with some dried leaves or spagnum moss, and maybe a few drops of essential oil.  It will stay out all winter and softly scent the room.

Are you doing any non-Christmas crafts?

Gina