DIY Tabletop: Easy Citrus Garland
Entertaining expert Camille Styles shows us a holiday idea you can do with your kids.
To my distinct stage mom–ish pleasure, my three-year-old daughter is developing quite the taste for decorating these days. Not only did she spend a good two hours decking out an intricate gingerbread house by herself, she’s also been begging me to let her help with the myriad (still in progress) holiday projects around our home.
This tabletop idea from entertaining guru Camille Styles is just the ticket for decor-loving kids to do with a little help from a grownup. The popular lifestyle blogger—and author of the recently released Camille Styles Entertaining: Inspired Gatherings and Effortless Style—created the winter-appropriate garland as part of a festive lunch she cohosted at the New York Botanical Garden with Pure Leaf. I’ll be tackling it with my little ones before our Christmas breakfast. Let us know how it turns out with yours!
Camille Styles’s Citrus Garland
• Cut two large oranges into ½-inch-thick slices.
• Lay each slice flat on a baking rack that’s nested in a sheet pan, and bake in a 200˚ oven for six to 12 hours, or until oranges are fully dry. To allow air to circulate completely, leave oven propped open a few inches throughout the drying process.
• Once orange slices are dried, easily string each slice onto a long piece of thick jute twine. Run the garland down the center of the table or around in a circular shape. If desired, use freshly gathered leaves as place cards by writing each person’s name on a leaf with a gel pen.
