Cinnamon Applesauce Ornament Tutorial & Fun Ways to Use Them

This was previously posted as a guest post for One Creative Mommy. 

Today I am sharing a fun cinnamon & applesauce recipe to make ornaments.  This is definitely not a new recipe, because I made some of these ornaments almost 20 years ago that I still use every year!  I have a few projects that I wanted to create using these ornaments.  This is a super easy and fun project to do with children, too!  The best part is they make your house smell divine.  There are so many recipes for these ornaments, but I followed the recipe from McCormick's.

These are the miniature ornaments that I made many years ago!  I store them in the jar, and they still smell wonderful. 

You only need 2 ingredients:  3/4 cup applesauce and 1 (4.2 oz.) bottle of cinnamon.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

To create the ornaments, you will need wax paper, a rolling pin, cookie cutters, straw or coffee stirrer, and cookie sheets.

Combine the applesauce and cinnamon in a bowl, and mix very well.

                              

Once you have thoroughly combined the ingredients, form into a ball.   Go ahead and dig right in!  The easiest way to mix it well is with your hands!

Place on wax paper, and cover with wax paper.  Using the rolling pin, roll out to about 1/4 " thickness.  I like the look of the thicker ornaments best.

Cut out the desired shapes you want to use, and start over forming another ball and rolling.  Continue these steps until you have used all the dough.  Lay the ornaments on a cookie sheet, and make a hole in the top of each piece.  I have found using a coffee stirrer is the perfect size.  Poke the stirrer in the ornament, and give it several twists.  The stirrer picks up the dough, and leaves a perfect hole.   Bake at 200 degrees for 2 -21/2 hours.

You can also let them air dry for 2 days.  I did have a few ornaments that wouldn't fit in the oven, and I didn't have time to bake another batch.  I will say that the cooked ornaments have a richer color than the ones left to dry naturally. 

I  made a double batch, because I wanted to make a lot of the larger ornaments this time.

These ornaments can be used in so many way!

The reason I made the larger ornaments this year was because I wanted to use them on a small Christmas tree in my kitchen.  I plan on adding the ornaments, the cookie cutters, and colorful ribbon.  

The ornaments make adorable gift tags.  I used scrapbooking appliques to add initials, but you could can also use paint pens or puffy fabric paint.  

They make cute decorations in cloches or mini cupcake holders, or just tie them to the lid with pretty ribbon for a little extra Christmas cheer.  

I used white pens and puffy fabric paint on the ornaments above.  

                                              
                                           Other fun ways to use the ornaments:

                                              *Make a wreath using the ornaments and cookie cutters

                                              *Put in a drawer or car 

                                              *Glue on card for a name card on the table

                                              *Use in a centerpiece

                                              *Attach to a napkin ring 

This is such a fun and easy project to do with your children and make special Christmas memories that will last for many years to come.   Thank you so much for visiting!  

                                                           Kathy