Project: Cinnamon Ornaments

One of my kids favorite decorations are the Cinnamon Ornaments.  They are super easy and they smell SOOO yummy!  Especially when the warm lights heat them up a bit......ahhhh.  I like to put them on some little trees right by my front door.  Its a great way to enter the house!

I first made them about 5 years ago, and they were starting to lose their smell a little.  They, themselves always smell good - but they don't radiate quite as much anymore.  So my girls and I decided it was time to make more!  They really are as easy as rolling out sugar cookies.  Probably easier, and they take less time.  So here's your how to:

 Ingredients:

1 cup ground cinnamon

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup white glue

Mix cinnamon and applesauce together.  The mixture will be very crumbly.  Using a rubber spatula is easiest.  Slowly add glue and mix until consistent.  *My recipe says to let it sit one hour - if you do make sure it is covered.  It will dry out!*

This is a double batch

The ornaments shrink a bit as they dry, so I use my big cookie cutters.  Roll out the dough just like you would a sugar cookie, but without the mess.  It won't really stick to anything.  If it does you can sprinkle the surface with some extra cinnamon.  If the dough starts to get too dry you can spritz it with water.  I always make sure to knead each section really well with my hands before I roll it out, just to spread the moisture around.  Make sure you don't get the ornaments too thin.  Especially if kids are handling them - you don't want them to be too fragile!

 Once you've cut the shapes, use a straw to cut out the hole for the ribbon.

Air dry the ornaments on a wire rack lined with paper towels for 24-48 hours, turning them every few hours to keep them flat.  (As they dry they will start to curl upward around the edges).  You can also heat them in an oven at 200 degrees for 2 hours to dry them.  I think it takes a bit of the smell away - but you have less chance of curling ornaments.  Just flip them once halfway through.

At this point you can do all kinds of fun stuff.  I like to leave mine plain jane, but I've seen some really cute ones decorated with glitter and paint.  You can pretty much treat them like a wooden ornament in that way.  Then just string the ribbon through - tie a bow and you have your ornament!  These also make really cute embellishments for gifts and neighbor goodies.  And they are really inexpensive.  The biggest expense is the cinnamon.

Such a fun activity for the kids - and a nice welcome home for me.

And these cookies are the perfect treat for your activity!  I dislike ginger snaps.  But I love homemade ginger cookies!  And these gingerbread men are very close.  So yum!