Making ornaments with this dough is a lot of fun and the result smells delightful! 1 1/2 cups applesauce to 2 cups cinnamon works for me to get a clay-like consistency. Dust hands with cinnamon for handling. You can add a teaspoon of cloves, ginger and allspice to round out the fragrance. To get them dry quicker, bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 150 degrees for one hour. Remove from the cookie sheets and bake on the oven racks for another hour and a half. (Don't roll thinner than 1/4 inch if you're using this method.)
I made 200 of these ornaments as placeholders for my company xmas party, and they were a big hit. I bake mine in a slow oven (175 degrees C) for 2 to 3 hours, and it definitely makes your home smell delicious!
My family made these this year for our Christmas tree and to give out to friends and family. It was fairly easy to work with and kid friendly (I have a two year old and a one year old.) We put the dough between two pieces of wax paper to roll it out. We used a straw to make a hole for the ribbon and we also baked them in the oven as was suggested by the other reviews. I did have a problem getting them off of the cookie sheet- because they weren't completely dry so be patient eventually they do dry! We made about 60 ornaments and the only suggestion I can think us is to make sure you don't roll the dough too thin. At least a forth of an inch or so. We bought our cinnamon at Walmart- it was only.50 a bottle and we used 5 bottles.
This is a terrific recipe my kids and I have made it for years and years. One variation that we tried this year was to melt hard candy in the center of the cookie cut outs. We just cut out the middle of ceratin cookie forms (simple shapes work best) put some crushed hard candies in the center and melted them in the oven. Make sure you spray the cookie sheet so they dont stick. They look like stained glass!! Lots of fun and they look and smell great!!
This recipe is good but I add a bit of white glue to mine to give it a little added strength.
This has quickly become our Christmas tradition. The kids first made these at school and for the last several years we have made them at home. We poke holes in them for hanging on the tree or gift tags. When they are dry we spread the dining room table with newspaper and paint them. T-shirt paints with the fine line tips are great for kids to handle and make small details with. These ornaments will give your home and tree a wonderful scent. Friends and family love to receive them on their packages as tags you can paint on the name of the recipient! Tip: Shop the "dollar" stores for cinnamon.
as stated this is easy and fun as a family project gift tags or car scent. There is a cinnamon flavoring sold in Walmart in the crafts section of the store called LorrAnn sold in dram bottles for 1.97. A drop of this cinnamon oil (on the ornament) will refresh these ornaments with a big BURST of cinnamon smell that will last and last and last...
We made these when my son was in the 3rd grade. He is a senior this year and they still smell great. I store in a ziploc after the holidays. We hang a garland in the doorway and the ornaments from it. When you walk through you just feel good from the homey aroma.
This was a fun project. Definately use something larger than a toothpick for the hole - (we ended up needing to drill a larger hole through all of ours) - a straw would probably work better. Got the cinnamon at Sam's Club for a little over 3 (exactly 3 c.). Took about 3 days to dry if not baked. I would cut them at LEAST 1/4" - probably a bit thicker. We used fabric paint to decorate and craft paint. They turned out really cute! My 5 yr old and 3 yr old had a blast. Also after paint dried I used spray polyurithane on both sides to preserve. I was worried it would interfere with the smell but it didn't. All the relatives loved receiving these from the kids this year!
I loved the idea of these ornaments but how do you keep the dough from being too sticky to handle? I had trouble getting the ornaments up and on the cooling rack once I cut them. It proved to be too much for the kids to handle and allow the cutouts to keep their shape. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.