How many of you decorate your tree with beautiful Christmas ornaments and then go out and buy those cinnamon scented pinecones to add the fresh smell of cinnamon to your home? What if I told you that you could get both the beautiful ornaments and the wonderful smell all in one item that you can make yourself or turn into a fun project to do with your kids? Well, you can and it takes only a few supplies and few simple steps.
Getting Started
To begin, you will need to get a lot of applesauce and a lot of cinnamon. When I make up a batch of ornaments, I usually use about 3 cups of applesauce and 3 cups of cinnamon. How much you use will depend on how many ornaments you want to make. While these are great for your own house, they are also great as gifts for friends and family. You will also need to get an assortment of holiday cookie cutters, a rolling pin, a nail or pencil, ribbon, glitter, glue and anything else you might want to use to embellish your ornaments.
Time to Create and Wait
Take equal amounts of the applesauce and cinnamon and mix together in a large bowl. Continue to mix the two ingredients until you get the consistency of cookie dough. Turn the dough out onto a flat surface dusted with cinnamon and roll out with your rolling pin, similar to what you would do if you were making cookies. Once you get to the desired thickness you want your ornaments to be, grab the cookie cutters and start cutting out shapes. If you are going to hang these ornaments, use a nail or pencil tip to make a hole near the top of the ornament. Remove the shapes and place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Once you have them all cut out, place them in a cool dry location and allow drying for a few days. The drying time will vary depending on the thickness of your ornaments.
Decoration Time
Once the ornaments are dry and hard, you can decorate them with glitter, beads or anything you want to add to them. If you made holes in the top, take your ribbon to tie a hanging loop onto the ornaments. Once they are complete, begin decorating your tree or hanging them around your house. These can also be added to wreaths as decorations and will combine the smell of cinnamon and pine.