Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments: My House Smells Fabulous!

I suspect that everyone in the world has made these, but they are lovely!  It's all the fun of decorating cookies with none of the sugar--and a bonus lovely fragrance that lasts for days.  Cinnamon-applesauce ornaments made up the bulk of my ornaments the first year I moved out of my parent's home and needed to scrounge up inexpensive decorations, so I have a nostalgic fondness for them.

The kids and I made these ornaments to give as gifts as part of our third week of advent Giving and Serving.  

Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments
Mix equal parts of applesauce and cinnamon to form a dough.  Roll out between pieces of wax paper or parchment paper to 1/4 inch thickness and use cookie cutters to cut shapes (parchment paper simplifies the process as it can go right in the oven meaning no need to transfer ornaments).  Use a straw (I like to use narrower espresso stand straws/coffee stirrers) to make holes for ribbons.  Dry for an hour or two in the oven on the lowest heat setting or let dry at room temp for 24+ hours.  They smell heavenly while drying and afterward!

After well-dried, decorate.  We waited until the next day to decorate.  I had the kids place buttons on the trees and wreaths (made from a flower cookie cutter with a hole added to the center) and I hot-glued them down.  Later I added a bow and hanging ribbon.

I love how they turned out!  To encourage the kids to get into the spirit of giving, I let each of them pick several people to whom to deliver their finished ornaments.

For the remaining ornaments, we used fabric puff paint to add decorations.  I started out doing it and being a bit of a control freak, but Big Brother asked to try, so I took a deep breath and handed over the paint.  His skillful outlining was quite impressive.

My mother picked up 1 lb jars of generic cinnamon for just $3.00 each on sale just before Thanksgiving, so these were quite economical.

The kids had fun in both the cutting and decorating stages and the results were great--definitely an activity to repeat next year.