It seems like the kids and I have been making these ornaments forever. The first time we made them my son was only two years old. If you have little ones, these make great teacher gifts. We use slick/shiny craft paint to simulate white frosting.
We used to cut the dough into gingerbread people, string them together for garland and hang them in the front windows for decoration.
I would use a dehydrator to dry these ornaments; you can bake them at 200°F for two hours. If you have the time you can allow to air dry, but this does take several days. Our house would smell like apple cinnamon for days when we made these. I would try to make these when my husband had to stand duty since he can’t stand the smell of cinnamon.
Ingredients:
½ cup of applesauce
1 cup of ground cinnamon
¼ cup of white glue
1 drinking straw from a fast food restaurant
Jute or ribbon or fishing line.
Cookie cutters
Directions:
Mix applesauce, cinnamon, and glue together in a bowl. Turn out on to a cutting surface and knead until well blended. The dough will feel like clay.
Roll out dough to half an inch thick and cut with cookie cutters. Use drinking straw to make hole for hanging. On the gingerbread people we would poke holes in their hands then string them together with Jute to make garland.
If you are using the oven drying method, place on parchment paper and allow to dry on a pan.
Once dry you can leave them as they are or decorate with anyway you wish. We have used paint, glitter, buttons, and fabric to decorate ours.
At the end of the season, we wrap the ornaments in tissue paper and store them like any other fragile ornament. I personally would not suggest spraying them with a sealer, because you will not be able to enjoy the smell.
