Yesterday, Elena and I made these cute little gingerbread look-a-like cinnamon ornaments. The main ingredient is cinnamon, making them smell delicious. The dough takes less than five minutes to put together, and then you just need to roll it out and cut into desired shapes.
It was a fun project for us. They are still drying out, but they should be dried soon, and then she has grand plans for decorating with them. I thought that meanwhile, I should share the recipe with you.
The only expensive part of the project is the cinnamon powder. I would recommend picking up some cheap stuff in bulk, if possible. We used our gingerbread man cookie cutter, but I think that a leaf cookie cutter for fall, or a star cookie cutter for Christmas would also be nice. Or perhaps even a turkey cookie cutter for Thanksgiving!
After they have dried completely, we will see how durable they are. I bet that if you left them a little thicker, they would be a bit more sturdy as I got mine quite thin.
Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments
- 1/2 cup of powered cinnamon
2 teaspoon powdered cloves
6 tablespoons of applesauce
1 tablespoon of white glue
White flour
1. Combine the above ingredients, stirring until stiff, then kneading a bit with your hands.
2. On a well dusted surface, roll out 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on a cooling rack until completely dry (2-3 days). If you are planning on hanging the ornaments, make sure you poke a hole somewhere before you dry.
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They are very durable. I still have some that my daughters and I made probably 15 years ago. They have lost their fragrance, but are still as cute as ever.
We just do ours with cinnamon and applesauce! They are lovely and last for years.
I definitely remember having the best time making those in Girl Scouts as a child. It was even more fun to hang them on the family’s Christmas trees! Such a great smell, and great tradition.
Cheers,
*Heather*
Hi
Great idea for my 6 yr old who was a chef for Halloween.
Can you bake these in the oven to dry them faster?
I was wondering the same thing??? I have heard of something like this baking in the oven but not sure if the recipe was different. I’m guessing it would work. Can someone confirm this for us please?
the McCormick website says that you can bake at 200 degrees for 2 1/2 hours… here is their website and recipe..
http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Other/Cinnamon-Ornaments.aspx
What a great idea. I love homemade ornaments. We had a bunch growing up. After my mom passed away and my father got remarried, most of the stuff just disappeared. I’m so glad you shared this recipe. It’s a reminder that I can start over and make my own.
I have some I made many, many years ago. They have mostly held up well. I think I’ll make some more! Thanks for the reminder — and sharing the recipe since I don’t know where mine is.
is the flour just for dusting or do you also add it to keep the dough together?
just for dusting. 🙂
We made these growing up, too! Just cinnamon and applesauce. Have you tried these just using those two ingredients?
I bake mine at 200F for a few hours or they can also be dried in a dehydrator. Normally I like to make them in conjunction with granola which I “bake” in my dehydrator. Our oldest cinnamon ornaments are over 20 years old. We have lost a few over the years due to breakage when the military has moved us. Thank you for the reminder! I am going to have to make up a batch of these to use was gift tags!
I love these and just bought a bunch of cinnamon so we can make them again this year. In the past we dusted the top with very fine gold glitter and they were beautiful.
I should add that we found that the larger ornaments tended to curl up on the edges as they dried. To remedy that, we would flip them over to help balance the curling every day or so (they naturally will curl upwards) as necessary.
We also made these probably close to 20 years ago and use them every year on our Christmas tree. We made small heart shapes and they are still very durable. If you want to enhance the scent after years have gone by, just use a drop of essential oil on them. It was so fun and easy to do. I have made them with a group of young girls from our church and they had a blast as well. It always brings back sweet memories when we get them out of the box to put on the tree.
These are the BEST – I have it posted on my blog with a slightly different recipe. I wish I cut them out a little thicker…..they make great tags for gifts too!
http://creativejuicesdecor.blogspot.com/2010/12/cinnamon-elmers-glue-ornaments.html
What a neat idea! I’ve never heard of this recipe. My children will LOVE doing this. Just have to keep them from LICKING their fingers. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Eager to try this too!
move them to a warm, dry spot for 48 hours to allow them to dry. Turn each ornament over every few hours to dry on each side. Alternatively, put them in a warm (not hot!) oven for several hours.
If you want to use these as Christmas ornaments try storing them in a ziplock bag with decorations. This helps to keep the fragrence, I still have the ones we made 15 years ago and they still smell great (zip lock bag storage).
I store mine in the Ziplock containers. That way they stay smelly and don’t accidently get broken. I’ve also made them heart-shaped and decorated them with small silk flowers so I can keep them up all year.
Cut small ones out to use as gift tags and write on them with glitter glue….they look great!
About how many does this recipe make?