Hey Happy Scrappers!
Liana here, with a new craft for a new month. Can you believe it’s December already?? Well at The Lilypad, we’re extra excited about this month because we have an incredible, ultra-fantastic super special collection of kits, alphas, fonts and templates just for documenting every day of this wonderful month. Have you checked out our Document Your December (DYD) area of the store? It’s full of everything you could possibly need for scrapping all the days this month. (Last year’s DYD collection was fantastic, too!)
Here is a terrific craft that I will definitely be including in my DYD book this year. It’s easy peasy and a wonderful activity to do with kids of all ages, especially on those days when you’re cooped up in the house with nothing to do. It makes the house smell great and the results make great gifts and decorations. Let’s make Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments!
You’ll need:
3/4 cup of applesauce
one 4.12 oz bottle (or 1 cup plus 2 tbsp) of cinnamon
cookie cutters
a drinking straw
rolling pin
plastic wrap
cookie sheet, ungreased
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Mix the applesauce and cinnamon together until a smooth dough is formed. If it’s crumbly, add a bit more applesauce.
Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll it between two sheets of plastic wrap until it’s about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick. I learned the hard way that it should not be any thinner than that, otherwise the ornaments will be thin and brittle.
Using a drinking straw, gently punch a hole at the top of each ornament for hanging. Make sure to make the hole far enough away from the edge so the string has something to hang from.
Bake for about 2.5 hours. When you take them out, gently transfer them to a wire rack and dry again overnight.
When they’re dry, insert a loop of string or ribbon through the hole and loop it around itself to make a hanger. I used festive baker’s twine for mine.
I hung mine in a sunny window because the ornaments smell especially good when the sun heats them up a bit.
One last thing: even though they’re all natural, please do not eat them or leave them in an area with children. They look a lot like gingerbread cookies and they are not considered edible.
Enjoy your month! Can’t wait to see your DYD creations.
All the best,
Liana (aka Yellowpeep)
Kristen says
Do you have any problem with ants or bugs with the sugars in the applesauce? Do you throw them out every year and then make new ones?
Kellie says
So we’re not putting up a tree this year, but your post has me wanting thinking that ornaments would look great hanging from the windows like in your picture! Thanks for the inspiration!
The Lilypad says
Hi Kristen-
This is my first year making these and I haven’t had any issues with bugs. Maybe the cinnamon throws them off. I would imagine I’m going to throw these out because I think with some practice I could make heartier ones next year. Those I might keep (in a sealed container).
Thanks, Kellie! I found these awesome little clear hangers from 3M that come right off when you’re done so they don’t leave any marks. Maybe next year I’ll hang some other ornaments, too!