This works…you’ll never believe it, but it works. We made cinnamon applesauce Christmas ornaments this weekend. These ornaments are cool and they smell awesome! We started with 1/2 cup of applesauce and added an equal amount of cinnamon. At first, it mixed up pretty well and seemed right (whatever that is!) but we quickly found we needed more cinnamon. We didn’t measure but I’d say we ended up with another 1/2 cup of cinnamon. Anyhow, mix the two ingredients until they form a fairly dry, thick, clay-like consistency. Roll them out between sheets of waxed paper until they are 1/4 inch
thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and start them drying on a clean sheet of waxed paper. We poked holes in them to run a string through for proper hanging. Once they have dried about 24 hours, you can flip them and move them to a wire drying rack to finish. I think ours will be dry tonight (48 hours). Let me tell you, they smell awesome! 
When I walk in the door at night, the cinnamon fills the air. I sort of want to lick them but I know better…
Just so you know, they do not taste as good as they smell. Isaac likes applesauce with cinnamon – a lot. He reasoned (as I always do) that if a little is good, a lot must be awesome. He tried some of the dough but quickly downed a bunch of water after eating a small bite (who am I to discourage a little first-hand experience?) Before Isaac’s bite, Abigail decided she would wait on her brother’s experience before she tried the dough (who am I to push her into reckless behavior?)
As with many crafty things, Isaac was mainly in a hurry to get things done. He did tough it out because it all smelled so good. We discovered that appley cinnamon leaves a pretty good stain on your hands but it washes off pretty easily. We also did a little science related to soil testing – Emily’s Dad is a civil engineer so he was able to rate the consistency of our dough compared to soil. I think he mainly enjoyed slamming balls of dough onto the waxed paper to see how much it compacted! It made a great cinnamon thump!
I love this recipe, too! Recently a friend came by and she mentioned making these with my older daughter last year. I had a vague recollection of her doing this activity in our kitchen, but could not remember ever hanging up the ornaments. Then it dawned on me–we had left them to dry on top of the cupboards and never taken them down! I climbed up there and brought them down and we can hang them up this year. Well, better late than never!
Mmmm…I love cinnamon. Maybe it’s a good thing you can’t really eat the ornaments. If not, they would be gone instead of on the tree!
Sweeeeeet, we gotta try this one. Thanks for sharing the idea. Now, where’s that apple sauce…..mmmmmmmmm
ahhh brings back childhood memories…I think my mom might even have some of these ornaments from when I was a kid. I have a few from my bigger kids and they still smell yummy!
I’ll tell you, these things are no longer cinnamonizing the entire house but they still smell awesome and have dried quite well in 48 hours. They are somewhat fragile but I think they will take quite a bit. I broke one last night trying to force a ribbon through the hole (better to use fishing line or make bigger holes)
My girls made these in school years ago-they still smell good!
My boys made the dough at pre-school (I think it was a slightly different recipe) and then we rolled them out and made shapes (with a hole for hanging) at home. I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them (at my oven’s lowest temp) until they were hard and dried out… they so smell so good! They had fun and it is a good way to make “home spun” ornaments!
Heather
Baking them on low…that’s a good idea! They dried for us ok, but the cat was very curious and “tried” a few. If we’d have baked them, it woudn’t be an issue…cool idea!
I remember making these ornaments with my daughter several years ago. The smell was wonderful. These ornaments will keep for years, if you keep them sealed and not in moisture.
You have a great blog.
I hoped they would keep…glad ot hear of your experience Brenda. Thanks for visiting and for the compliment!