Cinnamon Applesauce Glue Ornaments

Here is the recipe for the cinnamon ornaments I mentioned in my last post. They make a great craft activity for the kids. And, they make the whole house smell lovely. We use stars, hearts, and angel cookie cutters and hang them with red ribbon.

Last year, Noah loved making them so much, that he also made batch and gave as gifts to his Sunday School, choir, and AWANA teachers. You can also use them as part of the decorations for Christmas gifts you are wrapping.

What you'll need:
1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
1 T. ground cloves
1T. ground nutmeg
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, cloves, nutmeg,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.

Turn oven on as low as it will go.

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 baking sheet lined with foil (make sure foil is VERY smooth) and place in oven. Turn ornaments over every 5 minutes, and bake until ornaments are completely dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool on counter overnight.

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