There’s something about this time of year that inspires doing things by hand; whether that's baking festive treats, brewing up some mulled wine, or in this case, making some of your own decorations. We thought it would get us in the Christmas spirit (and make the office smell amazing) if we got together one lunchtime and made some festive decorations. Something we are constantly mindful of at TT is our impact on the environment, so we decided we would use natural materials. However, this didn’t feel like a compromise - we love the rustic, timeless charm of our results.

STEP 1

Carefully cut the citrus fruits into thin slices. Place them on a clean tea towel and gently press down on both sides to remove some of the moisture from the slices. Once you have enough to fill your oven, place them on oven racks and set the oven to the lowest possible temperature.

STEP 2

Remove the trays every 30mins to 60 mins and flip the slices over each time so that they cook evenly. They will take a few hours to cook, depending on the size of the fruit. When they start to feel dry (it’s okay if they’re a little bit sticky), carefully remove them from the oven so they don’t burn.

STEP 3

Once all your citrus slices have dried and cooled, lay out all your materials and invite some friends or family over for a festive crafting session. We listened to Christmas music whilst making ours which really helped set the seasonal mood. Everyone really enjoyed taking a break to do something crafty and creative - plus the smell was amazing.

TOP TIPS

Use the stem of the thyme to pierce a hole in your orange slice or help feed the twine through the hole of the bead. Use the orange slice as a starting point. Twine is fairly thick so make sure your beads aren’t too small. Use the twine to attach your herbs/spices. Be creative and try out different designs.

INSPIRATION

Hang them on your Christmas tree or around your house. Incorporate them into some greenery, and display on a mantlepiece, windowsill, side table or bannister. Attach them to gifts.

Check out our TikTok or Instagram Reels to see a video of our process.

SHARE YOUR ECO DECS WITH US

If you try making some eco decorations of your own, we’d love to see your results! Tag us on Instagram via @talkingtables_tt