Christmas ornaments

My friend, Raegan, gave me a great idea for a craft idea for kids. Guess what?! The ingredients are all natural and can be entirely organic. I would say they are non-toxic but I suppose if you ingested several of them, a cup of cinnamon could be toxic. I did not buy organic cinnamon and organic applesauce, but there was no funky “Crayola” or “Playdough” smell. My friend did give me a really good safety tip. Start slow with the cinnamon. Her daughter apparently had a sensitivity to cinnamon and Kai’s hands were a bit red in places where the dough had been sitting in his skin for awhile. Cinnamon is an herb with potent uses so it would be prudent to either test it in a small spot or wash hands quickly.

Here’s the idea:

Mix 1 cup applesauce with 1 cup cinnamon. Mix into a paste and roll out to desired thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut ornament shapes. Use a straw to poke holes in each ornament for stringing. Bake at 225 degrees for 1 hour or let air dry for 3-4 days.

It was a little tricky transferring the “dough” to a cookie sheet. I finally discovered that it worked best to press down on the cookie cutter while sliding a spatula under it, and then sliding the cookie cutter off the spatula onto the cookie sheet. I also forgot to spray the aluminum foil so I was very carefully peeling it off the back of the ornaments. The ornaments were still a little soft after 1 hour of baking but I did not want to over do it so I flipped them over on my stove to finish air drying. One or two were too thin and cracked but the rest of them look beautiful and smell amazing!! I also added some nutmeg and clove powder to the mix. This was a perfect activity for little hands!!