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^[2]These cinnamon ornaments are a great homemade gift that your kids will love making…and giving to friends, family, teachers, etc. As a kid, I used this dough like a clay to make cinnamon bears with my mom. Now, I’m making cinnamon ornaments with my kids. With two ingredients, this is a fast and easy craft to make. However, it does take time to dry before you can decorate them, so plan accordingly.

As a kid, we started with a bottle of ground cinnamon and just started mixing in the applesauce until we got the right consistency. Recently, I’ve had good luck using the recipe below from the McCormick website ^[3]. (I may have slightly modified the wording.)

Last year, we made two batches of these and gave them to all of the kids’ teachers for Christmas. The kids loved being able to give all their teachers, aides, coaches, instructors, etc. something that they made.

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Cinnamon Ornaments Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup applesauce
1 large bottle (4.12 ounces, or 1 cup + 2 TBSP) ground cinnamon

Equipment and Other Supplies Needed:

cookie cutters
drinking straw
oven and baking sheets, or wire drying rack
colorful ribbon
fabric paint or glitter glue to decorate

Directions:

1. Mix applesauce and cinnamon in a small bowl until a smooth ball of dough is formed. Adjust amount of applesauce and cinnamon as necessary to get a good firm consistency — not too crumbly nor too sticky.
2. Using about 1/3 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap. Peel off top sheet of plastic wrap. Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters.
3. Make a hole in the top of ornament with a drinking straw if making ornaments. Place ornaments on a baking sheet.
4. Bake 2 1/2 hours at 200° F. Large or thick ornaments may need a little longer to dry. Cool ornaments on wire rack. (Or, to dry ornaments at room temperature, carefully place them on wire rack. Let stand 1 to 2 days or until thoroughly dry (turning about every 12 hours).
5. For ornaments, insert ribbon through holes and tie to hang. Glitter glue is great for decorating them.

Additional Notes:

• Makes about 16 medium-sized ornaments.
• For my frugal friends, visit your local dollar store. You’ll find everything you need for this project, even the applesauce and ground cinnamon (which can be pricey).
• If you like the gingerbread smell, consider adding ground cloves, nutmeg, and ginger to the dough. Making gingerbread boys and girls to hang on the tree? Add some googly eyes and glitter glue to give them some dimension.
• You can also use these as air freshners — a bowl full of balls in the bathroom or some flat shapes to put at the bottom of the kitchen trash can or the ashtray in the car. The scent should last 3-6 months. You can add cinnamon oil to them later to extend the scent.

Notable Links:

• Cinnamon Ornaments at McCormick’s website ^[3].
• For more recipes using cinnamon, visit Friday Foodie Fix at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang ^[5].