Orange Carvings | challenges

Orange Carving Tutorial

Orange Carving Examples

Materials Oranges/mandarins/tangerines/clementines, scissors, knife. For planning your carvings: sketching paper & pen. If you want to hang your carvings, you need a big needle, small needle, some thread & toothpicks/used matches/cocktail sticks. Seeds, sticks, and other natural materials can be used to add details.	Preparations Cut your oranges or other fruit in half or in a shape that you need if you plan your carving beforehand. The orange on the left is shaped to fit the Woodpecker model which you can find in the Examples section.
Preparations Use citrus juicer to extract the juice and pulp.	Preparations Remove the remains of the pulp with fingers.
Cutting & Carving The peel of small fruit (mandarine, tangerine, or clementine) is great for making small shapes with scissors.	Cutting & Carving These shapes were made with curved nail scissors.
Cutting & Carving If you want to hang your ornaments, remember to add a hole with a large needle. It will shrink as it dries, and a small needle will fit through it.	Drying & Shaping Turn the carvings around at least once a day for one week to ensure they dry quickly and do not develop mold.
Drying & Shaping Use small rocks to shape the carvings. This rock is placed to prevent the duck's beak curving upward as it dries.	Drying & Shaping You need to use a rock on top if you want your small ornaments to stay flat. Remember to take the rock off for some time during the day to ensure it dries properly.
Drying & Shaping Shaping with rocks.	Drying & Shaping Tree ornament that has been covered with a rock vs ornaments that dried without a rock.
Drying & Shaping These carvings are one week old and are dry enough for you to add a thread if you like.	Hanging Ornaments For large ornaments: Cut a short piece of a wooden stick and attach a looped thread around it with a tape. Put the thread through the hole in the carving, and the stick will keep it in place.
Hanging ornaments Save some staples from newspapers and use them to hold the thread.	Hanging Ornaments Duck carving hanging from a thread. The wooden stick is hidden inside.
Hanging Ornaments For small ornaments, just make a knot at the end or attach with a loop.	Hanging Ornaments Flat ornaments hanging from a thread attached with a knot or a loop.