Cinnamon Applesauce Christmas Ornaments

Christmas carols are playing in many homes and in most stores. The crowds are bustling around the malls. The calendar is filling up with holiday parties, gift exchanges, open houses and other casual get togethers. All these aspects of Christmas are wonderful, but my favorite traditions during the month of December are decorating our home, baking homemade cookies, cooking our family favorite meals and snacks, and making homemade gifts for friends and family. When the girls were young, (before Pinterest existed) we tried a new craft project each year. One that we absolutely loved was making cinnamon applesauce ornaments. They were fun and easy, inexpensive and made the house smell wonderful. So put on your favorite Christmas CD, gather these simple ingredients and have fun creating.   Ingredients

1 cup applesauce
1 ½ cups cinnamon
⅓ cup non-toxic white glue
one plastic straw
Christmas ribbon or twine

Mix all ingredients (except straw and ribbon) together and form into a large round ball. Dough will be sticky. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to overnight. Roll dough out to ¼ inch thick and cut out with any Christmas cookie cutters

Take the plastic straw and poke a hole into the top of each cinnamon dough ornament before you remove the cookie cutter. Transfer the ornament to a cookie sheet. Once the cookie sheet is full of ornaments, place into a warm oven 200 degrees for 3-4 hours. Turn the oven off and leave overnight. Dough will turn from dark to lighter brown and be very dry and firm. Tie the ribbon through the hole and make a pretty bow.These ornaments are VERY durable and last for years.

You can hang these ornaments on your tree, tie them on your packages or use them for a decoration on homemade jars of jam or plates of cookies that you give as hostess gifts.

What are some of the Christmas crafts you love to make during the Christmas season?