Fall Wreath

I saw this wreath in a holiday magazine last year and I've wanted to make it ever since. I guess it was hung at a little Chateau (You can see the blog for all the different wreaths featured at the Chateau here: Le Petit Chateau Blog Post).

I just got a new Nesco dehydrator specifically for this project. So far the orange slices have been in the machine for about a 1/2 hour and I can already see a difference in the top shelf. I used a mandolin to cut most of the slices to the same size. But, when I had 2 oranges left to slice, I couldn't get the mandolin to work properly any more. So, I had to cut the rest by hand which means they won't all be uniform. I guess this also means that they won't dry at the same rate as the other slices, but I think it will make my wreath look more unique since I'll have some thin slices and some thicker, more chunky ones too. I cut up 5 navel oranges - we'll see if that's enough or if I'll need more...

Once my orange slices are dried, I'm going to spray them with matte, clear acrylic paint to seal them. Then I'll be hot-gluing them around a Styrofoam wreath form I bought at Hobby Lobby. I'm not really sure the best way to cover the form, so I'm just going to wing it and I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm thinking I might cover it with the orange ribbon I bought and then glue the oranges to that. I don't have any evergreen boughs laying around, so I'm going to use some cinnamon sticks, a nylon flower and some pretty orange ribbon for the accent decoration at the top.

I'm really looking forward to hanging this on the front door of our apartment. I think it will be a nice, fall-themed wreath that will add a little color and a little fragrance to our building's hallway. Once I try it out, my mother-in-law would also like one for her door. Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, so this will make a great present. I am super excited to begin the project, so I'll post more once I get it all going! Happy crafting!