Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Perry invited all of his Water Baby friends over for a Christmas play date on Saturday morning.  And while, I ended up not taking a single pictures of all the cute kiddos, I did want to share a few pictures of the favors he gave to all of his friends.  (I learned to make these this year at school.)  I thought they turned out SUPER cute!! And they have made our kitchen smell divine!

If you’d like to make these cinnamon ornaments yourself, here’s the recipe:


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup white school glue (like Elmer's)
• Bowl
• Plastic food wrap
• Rolling pin
• Wax paper
• Cookie cutters or a knife
• Ribbon or yarn for hanging
• Straw

How to make it:

• Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl. The dough should be as thick as cookie dough. Add a bit of water if the dough is too stiff.
• Remove from bowl and knead. Put it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for at least a half hour.
• Remove the dough, knead again to make sure it's smooth. Flatten/roll the dough between waxed paper until it's between 1/4" thick and 1/8" thick.
• Cut out desired shapes, use a straw to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang. The circle of dough will pull out with the straw.
• Gently place the shapes on a piece of clean wax paper. They will take 3-5 days to dry, and you will need to turn them over a couple of times a day for them to dry evenly and flat.

Don't be surprised to see that the ornaments get smaller during the drying process. Keep this in mind when you pick out the cookie cutters for your designs. You will also notice that if you do not turn the ornaments over often enough while they are drying, the edges of the ornaments will curl.

When dry, thread a piece of ribbon or yarn through the hole to hang.

SHAPE IDEAS: Tree, Apple, House (gingerbread), Bell, Heart, Goose, Gingerbread Man, Star...

Optional Painting ideas - use acrylic paints or fabric paints to paint details, like white 'frosting' on a gingerbread man or gingerbread house, or eyes on a goose.