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* Cinnamon AppleSauce Ornaments

Quick & Easy Last Minute Ornament Idea

December 17, 2014
Since the weather here has been crazy… never quite as crazy as the weathermen say but unpredictable at best… I have a few boredom busters up my sleeve to keep the natives from becoming too restless!  I pulled this one out this weekend and I was so excited I had everything already on hand.
 
I had made cinnamon ornaments a few years ago and my kids enjoyed it so much that I knew we were going to do it again this year.  Since my daughter is getting a bit older and really likes crafting, I set out to find a way to make these a little fancier this year! 


We started with the basic recipe of equal parts cinnamon and applesauce. We also added about a tablespoon of white glue because Martha Stewart said it gives it a better consistency and when Martha speaks, we listen!  For the ornaments shown here, I used 1 cup of applesauce, 1 cup of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon white glue.  If it’s too sticky, just add some more cinnamon and if it’s too dry, throw in some more applesauce. 

 
I rolled out my dough between wax paper and didn’t have any trouble with it sticking. I rolled mine to about 1/8 of an inch thick.  From there, we started using our favorite cookie cutters!  We used a straw to make the hole for the ribbon.  Last year, I used a toothpick and didn’t get very uniform results so I would highly recommend using a straw!  Just the tool for the job!    

Some recipes call to let them dry for a day or two but I do not have that much patience.  Someone suggested cooking them for 2 hours in a 200 degree oven and that worked well for us.  Plus, the house smelled amazing!!

Finally, the decorating!    In order to try a little different spin on them, we cut out a template from Martha. 

 
The cutting portion was done while the dough was still wet! It turned out great.

Another super cute idea is to use your straw and cut several holes in an ornament so that yarn can be thread through each hole.  This was perfect for my son who wasn’t into getting his hands dirty but enjoyed the weaving part once the mess was over! 

 I also LOVE glitter…. Probably more than a normal 39 year old should… so I used lots of glitter on these ornaments this year!  TIP ALERT:  Use a paint brush to spread your white glue.  My favorite is this snowflake because you can still see the beautiful cinnamon color but it sparkles too! 
 

 
Another great addition this year was simple white paint.  I painted these with simple white enamel paint and the results were stunning if I do say so myself!  The contrast between the dark cinnamon color and the bright white paint was gorgeous.  One of the surprises for me while doing this was that it only took one coat of paint.  I thought it would seep into the dough but it was quite a simple addition with great results. 
 

 
This is a great craft that many of us probably did as children and what a wonderful family tradition to start or carry on this year!