Slice it right! This video gets up close and personal with cutting fruit for drying. A brief review of the basics is also included. You can also dry fruit in an oven on very low temperature (around 200 degrees), but you can’t leave the oven unattended as you can when you use a dehydrator. A quick tip is that you can find dehydrators at garage sales and thrift shops; you don’t have to purchase a new unit. Make sure you clean, rinse, and dry your trays after you complete your drying so you’ll be ready to go next time you need to dry naturals for your crafting.
FaveCrafts 365 Drying Fruit for Crafting Part 1
Crafting with naturals is a blast! I gather acorns, pinecones, and more to craft with and make centerpieces, Christmas ornaments, and door wreaths. Adding fruit to the mix is natural! But how to you dry fruit for crafting? Watch this video for the basics of drying fruit and note that the basics can be used for drying any natural.
Use your dried fruit for these projects!
Dried fruit would be a wonderful variation of materials for this cute fairy house. Click Here.
This topiary would be awesome using dried fruit. Click Here.
How to: Capture the Season by Crafting with Fruit
When it comes to autumn decor, nothing captures the season’s essence better than seasonal fruits. Fall fruits include: apples, pears, blackberries, grapes, plums, figs, raspberries and blueberries. Within the list I just mentioned lies the basic color palette for all of your fall decorating needs.
- Apple – bold reds and greens
- Pears and Grapes – blushed reds and yellow-greens
- Blackberries and Plums – deep purples and auburn reds
- Figs – Burnt oranges and reds
- Raspberries – Bright reds
- Blueberries – deep blues
Using the color palette of fall fruits, you can come up with some pretty amazing fall decor that will transform your home into a cozy autumn getaway. If you want to incorporate the actual fruit into your creations, it is suggested that you use artificial fruit that you can buy at the local craft store in the seasonal section. For a basic apple and berry wreath, incorporate the bold reds and greens from the color palette, along with deep blue from blueberries or purple from blackberries. Be creative and see what you can come up with.
Berry Apple Wreath
You will need:
- 2 Styrofoam wreaths
- Reindeer moss (to cover styrofoam)
- Artificial apples and berries, approximately 60 apples and 14 bunches of berries
- Toothpicks
- Florist Wire
- Floral Pins
- Wire Cutters
- Craft Glue
Steps:
- Glue smaller foam wreath on top of larger wreath and allow to thoroughly dry.
- Glue moss covering front and back of assembled wreath.
- Use wire cutters to cut floral picks into 2″ lengths.
- Apply glue to one end of a wooden pick and insert it into center bottom of an apple. Repeat for each apple.
- Apply glue to other end of pick and insert it into outside edge of wreath. Repeat to glue apples side by side in a row around outside circumference (see photo).
- Insert berry bunches into wreath, forming a circle just inside outer circle of apples (see photo).
- Continue alternating circles of apples and berries on wreath, ending with apples at inside center.
- Bend 10″ length of florist wire in half and twist ends together. Insert ends of wire into top center back of wreath to form a hanger. Secure hanger by inserting floral pins into foam over ends of twisted wires.
Click here to see the entire Project.
I came across a blog called Raw Food Crafting that isn’t related to the kind of crafting that we do, but you must check out the fruit photos they’ve posted, because this is what I mean by crafting with rich colors.
Or how about these pears I found featured on DudeCraft that are shaped like little Buddhas – literally grown that way, incredible!
You may also want to consider making your own artificial fruit for your fruit-bearing craft projects like this faux fruit craft at FamilyFun.com.
If you’re a proponent of natural beauty, try your hand at crafting with fruit and fruity colors this fall season to really capture the essence of the season.
