Time for some festive little ornaments to sweeten up the house! As soon as Thanksgiving is over I need to get the house ready for Christmas, it’s a compulsion!
This has to be the easiest cinnamon ornament recipe I’ve found and it works great. They smell wonderful, are easy to work with and last a long time. They are even more fun if you have a little helper or two. I like to make these at the beginning of the season to get the smells of the holidays going in the house, when you hang these every time someone walks in they think you’ve been baking.
Ingredients
1 c cinnamon (just buy a cheap bottle at the dollar store)
¾ c applesauce (sweetened or unsweetened, doesn’t matter)
¼ c white glue ( Elmers school glue or something similar)
Mix it all together well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, if you need to leave it longer, it will be just fine.
Pull it out, knead well, the dough may be a little dry, if it is add drops of water a little bit at a time and knead well. Roll out to desired thickness, cut with cookie cutters, use a straw to poke a hole in the top for hanging. I’ve also made little blocks, like the size of dice to put in a bowl on the mantel.
Lay the ornaments on waxed paper, it takes about 24 hours for them to dry completely. Turn the ornaments several times while drying to keep the edges from curling. Once they are you can paint them if desired or leave them plain, tie on a bit of Christmas ribbon and hang them everywhere. I use them on the tree, on wreaths, on garlands, I’ve even used them instead of gift tags on packages. Another great idea is to make family ornaments, you can make gingerbread boys and girls, poke holes in their hands instead of on their heads and when they are dry write the names of family members on their tummy’s and tie their hand together with ribbon leaving ribbon loops at each end for hanging.
Remember, although they smell yummy they are not edible!