Wendy's Wonderings

My friend, Amanda, at Royal Daughter Designs is having a "Countdown to Christmas" featuring other bloggers ideas for homemade ornaments. I'm participating. :-) Please, visit her often as she always posts things that are inspirational/helpful, and for more ornament ideas. :-)




This is a great one to do with the kids. It's messy, fun, and they make cute ornaments. It's also very inexpensive, and makes the house smell GREAT! :-) The size of the cookie cutters you use will determine the number of ornaments you will get. We got A LOT!!

I made these a long time ago with my nephew, but neglected to take photos. So, the photos you see are not mine. I borrowed the photo from this site, http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/cinnamon-dough-ornaments.html
Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup of regular applesauce (not the chunky variety)
• 1 1/2 cups of ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup of white glue

• Assorted cookie cutters
• Drinking straw
• Colored ribbon

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together ingredients. Form the mixture into a ball, wrap it in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes until the "dough" stiffens.

2. Sprinkle more cinnamon on a cutting board or a waxed-paper-lined surface, and turn the chilled dough onto it. Dust a rolling pin with cinnamon and use it to roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness (if it's thinner than that, the ornaments will be too fragile).

3. Cut out decorative shapes with assorted cookie cutters or a butter knife, then use a plastic drinking straw to make a hole through the top center of each cutout.

4. Let the ornaments air-dry completely before stringing them with ribbon. Ornaments will need to be flipped daily for 3-5 days while they dry. They will shrink some as they dry out. Once they are completely dry you can add a string the hole and hang on the tree or throughout your home. String several together to make a beautiful garland.

** Some people remove some of the cinnamon and add other spices such as Pumpkin Pie Spice, all-spice, cloves or nutmeg. This is totally a personal preference.

Hope you enjoy making these with your kids. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling