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10/30/2012

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Some of my favorite projects are revisiting the ones I loved when I was younger.  They are classics for a reason, right?  The first ornaments I remember making as a kid were cinnamon dough: just cinnamon and applesauce, cut into Christmas shapes.
Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Cinnamon is a natural preservative so these last a long time as long as they are stored with the same care as other potentially fragile ornaments.  And what I love most about them is that they smell amazing – for a long time!  When I made these, my husband said, “Smells like Christmas in here!”  Raya just said, “Cookie!” – so I am also happy to report that while they don’t taste very good, if someone attempts to munch it, it’s at least safe.

To make your cinnamon dough, mix a 4 – oz. bottle of cinnamon (yes, the whole thing) with 3/4 – 1 c. of applesauce.  It will depend on how “wet” your applesauce is as to just how much you will need, so add 1/2 cup first and stir it up, and add it a tablespoon or two at a time until you have a nice stiff dough.  All it needs to do is stick together as dough – it should be fairly dry.

**Note – I was using regular/standard sized cookie cutters, and this size batch made me 16 ornaments.  You will get more or less from this depending on how thick you roll your dough, and how big/full your cookie cutters are.

Roll it out like you would do for cookies.  I rolled mine between sheets of wax paper to keep things clean. ;) But use the method you like best!

Once it’s 1/4 inch thick, cut your shapes with cookie cutters.  I made gingerbread men and snowflakes.  You’ll want to poke a hole in them for hanging – I found a straw worked really well.

Now, you can either air-dry them for several days, or to speed things up, bake them in a very low oven (150F) for an hour on each side.  If you opt to let them air-dry, you’ll want to turn them about twice a day, so they dry evenly.

If you opt to bake them, set them on a wire rack to finish drying.  Mine needed another half day or so to harden totally.

Once they are dry, you can add a string and hang them!  I was originally going to use some white puff paint to add details, but as many times as Raya has tried to eat one, I’m going to stick with the rustic (non-toxic!) look.  I’m still trying to decide what to do with the snowflakes… I’m thinking a garland.  Thoughts?

So, what Christmas crafts were your favorite as a kid?

I link up to these great parties!

Filed Under: Christmas, Kid Crafts, Tutorials Tagged With: ornaments

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I love it when you love my work! All tutorials and photos published at Happy Hour Projects are copyrighted. If you would like to feature my tutorial on your website or share it on your social media you may use one photo to feature, as long as you provide a link back to the original post.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jen says

    12/04/2012 at 12:45 am

    Making these this weekend with the kiddos, they will have a blast.

    Reply
  2. Marilyn says

    12/03/2012 at 5:31 pm

    Adrianne, Isn’t it amazing how it just takes applesauce and cinnamon to make these amazing ornaments? My youngest used to actually eat these when he was a toddler…he still thinks these taste good…can you believe it? Thanks for sharing at the homemade holiday party.

    Marilyn
    4you-withlove.blogspot.com

    Reply
  3. Accidentally Wonderful says

    12/03/2012 at 11:48 am

    Some of my students made and are selling these ornaments this week for a Special Olympic fundraiser. The library (where they are selling them) has never smelled better! I’d love it if you’d share this at my linky party http://accidentallywonderful.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  4. Debby says

    11/22/2012 at 12:31 am

    Just a good tip to pass along. I’ve made these over 20 years ago, and what I found is if you take a strainer (big enough for the jar of apple sauce to fit), and you strain off the liquid you then will have the apple sauce more on the dry side. You still have to use quiet a bit of cinnamon, but it is more economical to get rid the excess liquid. Also I have found if you take some gesso and apply it after the ornaments ave dried, it make it much sturdier. Good article.

    Reply
  5. Tracy Joyner says

    11/02/2012 at 4:55 pm

    These are awesome! Can't wait to make some this year…

    TracyAnn from http://www.crochethappy.com and http://asktracyann.crochethappy.com

    Reply
  6. Heather Whoneedsacape says

    11/02/2012 at 2:22 am

    My boys are really going to love these! Pinning!

    Found you at Seven Alive!

    Reply
  7. Scrappy Sugar Girl says

    11/01/2012 at 4:22 am

    I want to eat these ornaments!

    I just wanted to stop by and drop a hello. I was on Pinterest and I saw a pic of your baby. http://pinterest.com/outfoxprevent/the-outfox-germs-mindset-outfox-infection/ I contribute to a board for tips to outfox germs. The pin was your post about the shopping cart germ guard. Speaking of…I see your cute little one has grown so much in the year. Still adorable as ever.

    Reply
  8. tumblecontessa says

    10/31/2012 at 10:03 pm

    This is a super idea. I may have heard of it somewhere but I never had such good instructions. I can' wait to try it. Saw you on Lil Luna. I hope that you will share these at my holiday cookie exchange: http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/2012-cookie-exchange-cookies-and-memories/

    Reply
  9. Jessi says

    10/31/2012 at 9:37 pm

    Awesome, I've never made ornaments with cinnamon before! We used to make salt dough ornaments all the time, but I bet the cinnamon smells great. Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!

    Reply
  10. MsFoxsSweets says

    10/31/2012 at 4:56 pm

    my oldest daughter made one of these in kindergarten! 10 years later it still looks as good as new and smells of cinnamon!

    Reply
  11. Veronica and Daniel says

    10/30/2012 at 10:35 pm

    We loved making these as kids! They smelled so yummy and we would paint faces on the gingerbread men with puffy paint :) So fun!

    Reply
  12. Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects says

    10/30/2012 at 3:18 pm

    Oh shoot – I meant to include this in my post! I will update the post to add it, but I made 16, using full-sized (standard sized, if there is such a thing??) cookie cutters. It will of course depends how big and full your shapes are, but that's an approximation. Just roll the leftover dough back out and re-cut it. :)

    Reply
  13. Kirsten says

    10/30/2012 at 2:45 pm

    I'd like to make this with my students, can you tell me about how many cookie ornaments one batch will make? (Obviously it'll vary by size of cookie cutter.) But any approximate would be helpful!

    Reply
  14. Kadie says

    10/30/2012 at 1:20 pm

    We never made these as a kid!! They are so cute and look pretty easy, I think they may have to go on the list for this year. We always made paper snowflakes I make them with my kiddos too. I think the snowflakes into a garland would be adorable!

    Reply
  15. Jill says

    10/30/2012 at 12:40 pm

    Oh my gosh! The memories…I used to love making these when I was little! I think you should make garland out of the snowflakes. How cute would that be? I'm going to have to try this with Reed. Great job!

    Reply
  16. Melanie says

    10/30/2012 at 12:24 pm

    I made so many of these as a kid! Nat and I have plans to make some soon for her first time…

    Reply

Trackbacks

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Hello, and welcome! I'm Adrianne, an artist, author, designer, and blogger in mid Michigan. I work from home, chase my two kids, and this once-city-girl is learning how to care for chickens and adjusting to life out in the country. I have a compulsion for daily creativity... sometimes it's jewelry-making, paper crafting, metal stamping, mixing and baking, or giving new life to recycled items. But with 2 young kids, time is short! My goal here at Happy Hour Projects is to share projects and tips that you can do in an hour or less. The ideas you find here are designed to add a little creativity in your day, no matter how much (or how little) time you have!

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