Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

Do you want to be able to give your friends and family a handmade gift that will last for years to come?

Do you want every pore of your furniture, your walls, your skin and your dog to smell like cinnamon for days and days on end?



Do you want to do something fun with your kids that leaves lasting memories and is almost free?




Did I mention that you will smell like cinnamon?






This is the activity for you--

Note: In respect to our stomachs after overindulging yesterday, this is a non-edible recipe-
my stomach is thanking me-- actually, if you really wanted to, you could probably eat this....

technically you can eat dog food too, but do you really want to?




The Cast of Characters
We bought the big jug of cinnamon from Sam's Club because:

a)it was cheaper



b) I knew my kids were not going to want to stop at the 12-15 ornaments that the original recipe calls for

c)my in laws were going to Sam's Club, so they bought it and I forgot to reimburse them- makes it free for me!!

Yeah, yeah, I'm giving them their money......I promise

d)we like to buy things in bulk on the prairie




Mix 3/4 cup applesauce with 1 cup + 2 Tblsp cinnamon in large mixing bowl- actually you don't need a large mixing bowl, a smaller one will do......




we just like to do things big out here....


This is my big momma-jomma mixing bowl--- love this mixing bowl, but I am pretty sure all my bread dough is going to smell like cinnamon for a while.....



My mom had one just like this growing up that she rose all her bread dough in--- she made buttery crescent rolls for Thanksgiving from this mixing bowl---

oh yeah, no food--- no food for at least 2 more days..... please, no more food.......



Where was I......?

Mix applesauce and cinnamon together, using a spoon at first and then with your hands--- you can let your kids help with this step, but please, don't let them touch their face or their eyes!!!




Yes, I, not my children, learned this the hard way..... I sacrifice so much for them....





Dont'cha like my lovely rancher wife hands? Have you ever noticed that there are not many hand models among pioneer women?

In my alternate life I wanted to be hand model.....actually, I never did..... but I do envy women with lovely hands, small veins, and a noticeable lack of barbed wire fencing scars, calluses and broken bones..... wild mustangs, fences, ropes and lovely hands do not mix well....






Mix until it sticks together in a ball--

Taking small amounts of dough at a time (covering the rest), place between two sheets of Saran Wrap and roll to between 1/4 and 1/3 thickness-



This is my 7 yr old's hand- she has lovely hands...










Peel off top layer of Saran Wrap and cut with cookie cutters-- this is where you can let your little imagination and creativity run wild--- you can make snowmen, candy canes, stars, hearts, or even St Patricks Day shamrocks----



This is my 10 yr olds hands- she also has lovely hands, but you can see the deterioration beginning already....see the scuff on the knuckles and the barb wire scratch on the arm?


I am so sorry honey....your dreams of hand modeling are going to have to go the way of my own...


We have one of those bags of 100 cookie cutters that you can get for $6.99 at Wally World so we can do every holiday on the calendar and a few that they haven't even invented yet.... if you have the same, have fun....

I am sure that your friends will understand the Easter Bunny shaped Christmas ornament gift that your 7 yr old just had to make......or the Fourth of July flag with red and green ribbon tied to it that is going to the 5th grade teacher....

With a regular drinking straw, or in my son's case, a chopstick ( I have no idea where the chopstick came from-it's not like we have chinese food around the corner on the prairie), poke a hole in the ornament somewhere for a ribbon or raffia to go through--



Trust me, don't skip this step... it is really hard to get the holes in later..... really, really hard....









You can also use toothpicks to draw designs in the shapes or, once again in my son's case, a hole in the head of his snowman.... gonna have to take him to therapy for this one...
actually I think it was just a misplaced ribbon punch... and we're gonna stick with that explanation.....


If I had a Nikon d80, this would be a crystal clear picture in all it's hole in the head glory....



But as much as my little Kodak has stood me well these past 3 years, it just can't cut the mustard anymore....

Somebody puhleeeze buy me a Nikon d80 for Christmas?

I don't want to resort to begging..... it so isn't pretty or ladylike and we all know that ladylike is something that I aspire too.... ok, ok, I'm begging here....



Place all your shapes on cookie sheets and place in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours (or you can let them sit on the counter and dry for two days in the interest of saving energy- or you could throw a few potatoes in the oven with them to bake in the interest of saving energy and multi-tasking- whatever floats your boat-- aaaahhh! I mentioned food again....sorry)

We had this lovely mold (center of picture) that we found in the jumble of cookie cutters in the cupboard-- got it at a Pampered Chef party some odd years ago--



It has never been out of the box.....It was thoroughly broken in tonight, let me tell you...




Just a note, if you use a mold like this one, make sure that you spray it well with non stick cooking spray---those little buggers do not want to come out, I tell ya!



Once the ornaments have cooled, you can take raffia or ribbon or whatever, string it through the holes, hang it on the tree or give it to a friend.... we strung the smaller shapes on some raffia for a garland for our tree.....





Now I sound like Martha Stewart.....


I wonder if Martha Stewart smells like cinnamon?