Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Easy Cinnamon Ornaments WFMW


I have always wanted to make homemade ornaments with DV. You know, the kind that look like cookies but bugs, dogs, and kids don't like so they can actually hang on the tree for a season.
This year we did it! DV's magazine "Your Big Backyard" came with a recipe for Cinnamon ornaments. I figured that cinnamon would not be too attractive for eating and would be great for smelling so we gave it a try. I have only modified it slightly.
The only ingredients you need are cinnamon and applesauce. I recommend using inexpensive cinnamon (we get ours from Sam's). You will need about 4 oz of applesauce and 2 oz plus of ground cinnamon.
1. Mix the cinnamon and applesauce together in a small bowl. I used one of the snack size applesauce containers (4 oz) and then filled it half full with cinnamon for measurement. My applesauce was pretty wet so I ended up having to add quite a bit more cinnamon to get the right consistency dough. The dough should be like a sugar cookie dough.
2. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4" thick and cut shapes out using cookie cutters (We used the small 1" Christmas cutters that Wilton makes.) Place the cut shapes on a cookie sheet. Next time we do this I will use parchment paper on the cookie sheet. When you re-roll the dough you may have to add more cinnamon to keep the consistency.
3. Use a toothpick to make a hole in the top of each shape.
4. Bake at 200 degrees F for 20 minutes.
5. After the shapes cool thread an ornament through the hole and hang them wherever you need a cinnamon scent. It is great in combination with our fresh tree smell!
This recipe makes 30 1" ornaments.
Cinnamon ornaments work for me! For more great ideas visit Shannon's Rocks In My Dryer for her Works for Me Wednesday.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks like a great idea. I am toying with the idea of decorating a second tree this year with all homemade ornaments. This would be a great addition to the ornaments.

Debbie said...

These would look great and really make the house smell like Christmas. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

We're going to make these next week. I love the smell of cinnamon and the girls love to roll and cut dough. Thanks for the idea!

Here's another one that lasts and young kids can make. My parents still have the one I made in Kindergarten on their tree. You cut out a Christmas shape from poster board and punch a hole in the top for hanging. Then have them glue dried pasta in various shapes all over one side. I gave them a paper plate with some glue on it to dip in. After it dried, I spray painted them with silver metallic paint.

Some Christmas shape templates can be found at the bottom of this page:

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/Xmas/color/shapes/index.htm