christmas decorations

Naomi likes to do a project just about every day.
She loves to cut magazines, glue things, color, play with play-doh you name it.
Sometimes I have to be creative and whip a project out of thin air.
Like I did yesterday.
I took the extra green paper from the advent wreath and told her to glue it to the plate.
She did.
Then I added the bow and berries and we called it a wreath.

We also made some cinnamon ornaments for gifts.
I have big plans for these.
Some will go to family.
Some with go to the staff at church
and some will go to the shut-ins of our church.
So, if you're on that list,
please act surprised when you get your awesome smelling ornament!

I've got my work cut out for me (pun intended)!Here's the recipe I used for the ornaments:
Ingredients:
1.5 cups applesauce
2.5 cups cinnamon (4 2.37oz bottles)
1 Tablespoon ground cloves (optional)
1/4 cup white glue

Mix the ingredients together to form a dough. If the dough is too stiff, add a bit of water. Place the dough on a flat surface and knead it a few times. Return the dough to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it sit for 45 minutes (we let it sit then put it in a plastic bag because we made the dough two days before we had time to finish the ornaments).

Place the dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll. (Put a little cinnamon on the wax paper first. Our dough was a little wet so it made the wax paper stick to the dough but the cinnamon helped). Make them at least 1/4 inch thick so they don't crack. Cut the dough using cookie cutters, then use a straw to make a hole near the top for hanging.

Place the shapes on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 200 for 2-3 hours turning over half way through baking time. (To air-dry, transfer shapes onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and dry for 3-5 days. Turn them over every day.) You could decorate them with fabric paints. When the paint is dry, thread a piece of ribbon through the hole and hang. They will look and smell amazing!

I know there are other recipes out there for these ornaments. I have made these ornaments in the past using a different recipe but they never really kept the cinnamon smell. I'm pretty sure these will...our whole house smells like cinnamon! This recipe was from "Turtle" magazing for preschoolers.