Easy Cinnamon Ornaments {only 2 ingredients!}

In today’s post: These 2-ingredient cinnamon ornaments are fun and easy for kids to make, and you’ll love the way they make your house smell!

Ok people, this here isn’t a new idea – cinnamon ornaments have been around for years – but if you haven’t tried making them yet you should. They’re easy to make and fairly inexpensive, so you can make new ones whenever you want, but they will also last from year to year. The best part is that they smell absolutely heavenly.

Or leave them plain! The pretty cinnamon color doesn’t really need embellishing…but if your kids are anything like mine they’ll be anxious to go to town with the glitter glue 😉

Cinnamon Ornament Supplies

You’ll need equal parts cinnamon and applesauce for these ornaments. I used about 1 and 1/4 cup of each and we made 18 ornaments using standard size cookie cutters. When you’re buying cinnamon, look for larger containers of the cheap generic brands – no need to pay more for the name brand. If you happen to live near a WINCO you can get cinnamon in bulk extremely inexpensively. Generic applesauce works great as well!

VIDEO

Here’s a quick video that shows the whole process, and written instructions follow:

Recipe source: McCormick

Mix Cinnamon and Applesauce

Mix the cinnamon and applesauce together in a large bowl. You will need to use your hands to get them fully incorporated. When completely mixed the dough should have a stiff cookie dough consistency – you want to be able to form it into a ball that holds together quite easily without it being too sticky to work with. Add more cinnamon or applesauce if needed to get that consistency.

Roll and Cut Dough

Next, use a rolling pin to roll out a third of the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap to a 1/4 inch thickness. Don’t go thinner than 1/4 inch or the cinnamon ornaments will be too difficult to handle and easy to break. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.

Add Holes for Ribbon

Move ornaments to a cookie sheet that is lined with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. If you don’t have either of those, place a cooling rack on top of your cookie sheet and place ornaments on that. Using a straw, poke a hole at the top of each ornament. If you’ve made smaller ornaments, you could also use a skewer or toothpick to poke a hole, ensuring it’s big enough that you’ll be able to thread twine through it.

Bake the Ornaments

Bake the ornaments in your oven at 200 degrees for about two and a half hours, until they feel dry and hard. This is when your house is going to really smell fantastic!

Decorate + Hang

Once the ornaments are cool, you can start to decorate. We used puffy paint, glue and glitter, sticky backed gems, and a few other items from my craft stash.

Thread twine or ribbon through the hole at the top of each ornament and tie twine in a loop. Hang the ornaments on your Christmas tree and enjoy the cinnamon smell!

You can store ornaments and re-use them year to year. It’s best to store them tightly sealed in a plastic food storage container with a lid. This will keep them dry and protected so they should last year after year.

We made a bunch of ornaments, but this little snowman was everyone’s favorite:

My kids LOVED making these, and every time I walk past the tree I can smell the cinnamon. Since they are completely dried, it’s ok to pack these up at the end of the season with the other Christmas decorations until next year. They’re pretty sturdy (although if you try to snap one in half you’ll be able to) and should last for years.

Looking for more Christmas fun? Check out these posts:

35 pretty DIY Christmas ornaments

20 fun Christmas treats to make with your kids

Free paper snowflake templates and folding instructions

25 handmade Christmas gifts people actually want