The Yuletide is just around the corner… and for those of us in the Northern Tradition, this is one of our most sacred holy tides of the year. Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, many of us are gearing up to Deck the Halls and Hearth.

As a child, I recall helping my mother make all sorts of 100% natural decorations. One of the staples were applesauce & cinnamon ornaments. They are deceptively easy to make, and can be used for anything from decorating the tree, used in a wreath or garland, or used as a decorative accessory or embellishment on a gift. These ornaments smell divine, and will make it smell like grandma’s hot apple pie all through the holiday season. :)

And while there’s a potential to make a mess, this is a project that does not involve toxic materials, nor does it require use of an oven, stove, or microwave to make. So it’s a great project for the kiddos to do.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 3 cups applesauce
• 3 cups ground cinnamon

Other Things you’ll need:

• cookie cutters
• wax paper
• a toothpick or straw
• ribbon
• optional – acrylic paint or markers, glue & glitter, other crafty embellishments

How to Make:

• Slowly combine applesauce & cinnamon together in a bowl, and mix well.
• Take the mixture, and work it with your hands to spread it out on a flat surface until you have a fairly uniform thickness (about 1/4 of an inch). If it’s too thin the ornaments may crack while drying, and too thick you may have difficulties getting it to dry thoroughly. You can try to use a rolling pin instead, but do not use flour to coat the pin or the surface you’re working on.
• Use your desired cookie cutters and cut out your shapes, place the shapes on the wax paper which should be laying on a flat surface.
• Use either a toothpick or a straw to create holes large enough to accomodate the ribbon you plan to use later. At this step you can if desired, also use a toothpick to carefully etch in an additional design on the ornaments. If the shapes are a little ragged, you can use a spoon on the outer edges to help smooth them out.
• Once done, it will take about 3-4 days to dry (varying on your altitude and humidity). After the first day you’ll want to turn the ornaments, and keep turning them once a day until they are completely dry.
• OPTIONAL: Once dry, you can embellish the ornmanets further using acrylic paint, glue or glitter or other crafts and embellishments.
• Thread the ribbon in the pre-made holes, and voila!

To keep to use next year, place ornaments in airtight container and store at room temperature. If necessary to help refresh the smell next year, apply a drop of essential cinnamon oil to the ornament.