Apple Cinnamon Ornaments (non-food post)

My mom had a box of Christmas ornaments that always made their way onto the tree no matter what (and I would give my right arm to have them today) but the one ornament that I remember the most is the little Gingerbread man ornament that my sister made when she was in Kindergarten, he was a little cinnamon scented guy with pink and white trim. Even after 14 years of hanging on the Christmas tree he never lost that scent.

I came across this recipe a few years ago when I wanted to make these ornaments with The Kid but for some reason I never got around to making them.. at least, not until now.

Makes 10 -14 decorations

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon fragrance oil (apple, cinnamon,range or your own choice)
• 2 tablespoons white craft glue

Directions:

1. Mix in a bowl the cinnamon and cloves.
2. Add to this applesauce, oil and the glue.
3. Knead this mixture for a few minutes til you have a firm but pliable dough.
4. Too wet, add more cinnamon--too dry, add more applesauce.
5. Roll the dough out on a surface dusted with cinnamon, 1/4 inch thick.
6. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters [x-mas tree, hearts, stars, etc].
7. Make a hole in the top with a wooden or metal skewer, this must be large enough for ribbon if you want them for hanging.
8. Air dry them for several days on paper kitchen towel, turning them over several times so they don't warp.

Impatient, try the quick dry method:

1. A low oven [200°F] for a few hours will also do the trick, don't forget to turn them over.
2. When dry, decorate with a ribbon.
3. You can also use shallow plaster, cookie and candy molds, press the dough in the cavity, smooth with a rolling pin, ease out of the mold and cut away the excess dough.
4. Or roll out the dough, place a piece of decorative lace on the top, using the rolling pin go over it until it has left an impression of the lace, then cut out using the cookie cutters.
5. You also get a nice result using cookie stamps.