I saw Laura Lamont posting these GORGEOUSLY beautiful pictures during Christmas of her wrapping and HAD to ask her to share her tips!
Not only does dried fruit take your gift wrap to a whole other level, it actually can be used as decor throughout the entire year! Check out her fruit wreath!
I know I will be doing this project to "fruity" up my spring decor AND I will be wrapping gifts this way next Christmas!
So next time you are eating a fruit just think how pretty it would look dehydrated ;)
Dried Fruit Decor:
All I want for Christmas is… dehydrated fruit!
Hey y’all, my name is Laura and I’m a single mom of 2 girls, and a full-time student.
2020 didn’t turn out how any of us wished for it to on 12:00:01 on January 1st, and if you’re anything like me, your emotions have been on a rollercoaster.
This holiday season I wanted to get in touch with my inner creative side, and make all the gifts I wrapped super fancy.
In the thick of exams and juggling two busy girls with hectic schedules themselves, I couldn’t commit to anything that required a lot of energy to this task.
It was this desire to get all creative that made me fall madly in love with dehydrating. It was simple, yet made my wrapping over the top, AND the aroma in my house was oh so festive. I was kind of clueless in where to start so I took to the internet to find out all the dirty dehydrating secrets.
Along the way, through trial and error, I also found some tips that worked for me. In the spirit of giving, I’ll share what worked and how you too, can wow all your friends and family with the most beautiful gifts under the tree.
To start, get on your mask, embrace all the social distancing, and head to your local grocer to get all the citrus fruits, oh and some apples and pears too! I found through multitudes of drying attempts, the fresher the fruit, the better. The fruit kept their colour better throughout the drying process, and they were less juicy which cut down on dehydrating time. My citrus haul consisted of oranges, grapefruits, pomelo, lemons, limes, apples, and pears. Now that you have all the fruit you need, START THE CARRRRR, and head home to get your dehydrating on.
Make sure to line your baking sheets with parchment paper, and preheat your oven to 200 F.
I used quite a few different cutting methods to slice the fruit but found a serrated bread knife worked the best. A mandolin worked well for the apple slices, however, I almost lost my thumb doing that so lets stick to the bread knife!
I recommend slicing the fruit approximately 1/8”, but don’t stress if they aren’t perfect.
TIP**I suggest when cutting the apples and pears, to use the end of the lemon you sliced to squeeze some of its juice on them to prevent browning.
Line the baking sheets with the fruit nice and close, as they dehydrate they will shrink and you will have lots of room.
Set your timer for 60 mins, flipping the fruit, repeat this for approx. 4 hours.
Once you hit the 4-hour mark, I lower the timer setting as some of the smaller fruits (lemons and limes) are close to being done and you don’t want them to burn.
After baking, I encourage you to leave them out to air dry until you’re ready to wrap. This allows them to finish dehydrating fully.
Now for the reason, you’ve done all this… to be the best 2021 wrapper & decorator.
Grab a couple of shapes and sizes and place them on your gift to decide how you want to lay them out (I’ve included some pictures for inspiration) - I grabbed some twine from my local Wal mart, and hit up the community greenhouses to get some Eucalyptus, Pine, Evergreen, and Boxwood to amp up the look. Don’t forget the cinnamon sticks as well!
SHOUT OUT TO Niagara Rustic Wood Creations for the BEAUTIFUL charcuterie boards!
Follow her on Instagram: @niagararusticwoodcreations
SHOUT OUT TO Niagara Rustic Wood Creations for the BEAUTIFUL charcuterie boards!
Follow her on Instagram: @niagararusticwoodcreations
There’s no set equation for this, get creative, move it around until it feels right, and enjoy the process.
I hope these tips leave you feeling festive and fruity despite the pandemic! Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2021, Love Laura (Matilda and Finley, too)