If you're looking for an easy DIY Christmas ornament to do this year I'm going to put my vote in for these scented ornaments made with a dough of just equal parts applesauce and cinnamon. Not that you asked.
I'm going to talk about ornaments in a minute, but first a little backstory, because the backstory always makes the current story better.
About 3 years ago I got a cold that turned into a really bad cold. That really bad cold turned into Sinusitis. That Sinusitis turned me into an angry, angry, robot person who couldn't smell lasagna. Or other people's toots.
So there was good and bad to it all.
One of the symptoms of Sinusitis is the loss of smell and taste. I lost it all.
You have no idea how important the sense of smell is until you lose it. Sure you can't smell anyone's gut-rot-abscess breath, but you can't smell your own either. You can't smell yourself at all. I went through 14 sticks of deoderant, 18 packs of gum and 142 cases of Tic Tacs that month.
As soon as I got my sense of smell back, I started smelling everything in my path.
Now that Christmas is approaching, my nose is moving into high gear again. I expect everything I pick up to be scented. Pine cones, candles, cookies. If they aren't, I get angry.
Christmas isn't just the season of joy. It's the season of stink with the scents of Christmas (Cinnamon, Vanilla, Pine, Burning Money) wafting through the air.
So when my mother told me about something her quilting buddy told her about, I knew that I had to tell you. How's that for an elegant sentence?
So how do you make these homemade ornaments?
Cinnamon Apple Sauce scented ornaments. All it is, is equal parts cinnamon and applesauce. That's it. Roll it out, cut it with cookie cutters and let it dry.
DIY Scented Ornaments
Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 200 ° F.
Mix together equal parts applesauce and cinnamon until it forms a dough.
If you want to use other spices like nutmeg or cardamom, mix your dry ingredients first, then add them to the applesauce.
It'll look like regular cookie dough. Shockingly so, in fact.
Roll it out to around ¼ of an inch.
At this point if you want sparkles ... add sparkles.
I roll over them once with the rolling pin to make sure the sparkles are smashed in there good so they stick.
Now cut out your shapes with whatever cookie cutter you're using.
I went out and bought this Moose shaped cookie cutter for the occasion. (around $2) You can get a similar one (nicer shape actually) here. PLUS it comes with a bear shaped one too.
Carefully lift the "cookies" up and place them on a cookie sheet.
Using a straw, poke a hole in the "cookie" so you have somewhere to add a ribbon or hook later.
Place the cookie sheet in the oven at 200° F for at least 3 hours.
You can also dry them on the counter but it'll take days.
Now you can string them together like a bunting ...
... or hang them in a window or on your tree.
Easy DIY Scented Ornaments.
Just equal parts applesauce and cinnamon make these easy and fast to whip up, plus you can customize them however you want with a cookie cutter.
I've added links to some worthy cookie cutters for 2020 in the "Notes".
Ingredients
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1 cup cinnamon
- nutmeg (optional)
- cardamom (optional)
- clove (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 F.
- Mix together your dry ingredients if you're using more than just cinnamon. (you can use any mix, just make sure the total of dry equals the total of applesauce).
- Mix the dry ingredients with applesauce with a fork and then with your fingers until you have a dough.
- Roll the dough out to ¼". If you'd like to add sparkles do it now by sprinkling them over the rolled out dough. Press them in by going over them once or twice with a rolling pin.
- Cut the dough out with any cookie cutter of your choice. Using a straw, cut a hole in the shape for you to run an ornament hanger or string through. Transfer "cookies" to a baking sheet and bake at 200 F for 2 hours or until dry.
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Did you notice? The finishing touch I added. Or do I need to draw your attention to it? If you didn't notice, take a look at the above photo again.
That's right. And it too smells like apples and cinnamon. Unless you happen to have have sinusitis.
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Awe- just read it was your birthday! Happy Birthday Karen :)
I love the moose poop. Is it sparkly, too?
This is a particularly timely post here in Minnesota, where I read an article in this morning's paper about the inexplicable, exponential decline of the moose population. Perhaps we need a grass roots cinnamon moose bake sale to raise funds and awareness...
Thanks, as always, for your inspiration (and HUMOR!)
I just have to tell you that I LOVE your blog! Your sense of humor cracks me up! And I love this idea. I'm already covered in glitter nonstop from all my Christmas projects, so why not add more?
Thanks Elizabeth! Now go glitter. ~ karen!
Ooh! Is it really your birthday!? If it is:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TO YOU!
You look like a monkey, but you smell like moose pooh!
If not, that's okay. Save it for the big day :)
Hah, I just made 5 cups of cinnamon worth of these for my scouts. Guess how many I have left in my house? Yeah, about 4 1/2 cups of cinnamon worth. But my house smells wonderful! And I wish I had thought of the glitter in there. I just had the girls decorate them with glittery fabric paint.
Sinusitis sucks. BTDT.
Did you taste the unsparkled dough?
Jasmine - No. Ick. Ew. Nope. ~ karen
You are so funny! This is on my list of things to do before Christmas. It would make a nice craft to do with kids too. Thanks for sharing.
Moose poop?! Oh dear me.... You wouldn't be Karen if you didn't throw a figurative wrench in the works. I went from the whole bake-a-cookie feeling to a regurgitation feeling. I no longer feel like baking cookies... my hips thank you, but I'm a grouch. Pshtt!
Does it make your house smell amazing when they're in the oven? Maybe I'll make them while we are decorating the tree.
Amy - It does. ~ karen!
Hi Karen,
my boss gave my a couple of free days, and I thought I could use it and make preparations for xmas.
You just hit me with this great idea! And now-hophop- into my kitchen....
Thanx;o)
Happy Birthday Karen! Lucky girl on 12.12.12. Mine sadly is 13.12.12 (doesn't have the same cache!)
I too had a sinus infection which was so severe that I developed polyps and lost my sense of smell for over 5 YEARS. It actually worked for me at the time as my boys loved to fart, play hockey, stash dirty dishes in their rooms and just generally smell.
I was placed on antibiotics for an unrelated reason and suddenly I could smell again.
Weird but there was one thing that I could always smell and that was Turkey!
Have a great b-day!
Barb - Thank you!! The turkey thing is completely bizarre. (for everyone reading this, Barb was the first person brave enough to hire me to be on television many years ago by the way!) ~ karen!
shit! Now I 'have' to go out and buy a moose cookie cutter!
Will try this with my Grandkids. The thought of baking puts me over the edge unlike sista Marilyn who by the way makes punkie pie from scratch thanks to you Karen and they are really good by the way. This is simple and I don't think I will liken it to real baking. We will see. Thanks Karen.
Love this,with or without the moose poop. Do you think the irnaments themselves will be something that will still be good another year? Or would this be the 2012- only ornaments? Thanks!/
Bonnie - I have no idea. I'll let you know next year. :) They seem like they'd last for as long as you can keep them from breaking. ~ karen
no they last if you keep them in a air tight container and if they loose their scent, just add a couple drops of fragrant oils to bring it back or add a new scent to it. I've had mine for about 3 years now and they still smell cinnamony (is that a word, it is now) you can even put them in your car to make them smell all nice. I have one that I know is in there cause I can smell it, but can't find it. :)
Can you use something other than applesauce?
Karien - You need to use applesauce. You could try something with a similar consistency but I'm not sure what that would be or if it would work or not. ~ karen
This fall, I canned tons of applesauce, much too much applesauce... I don't know why, I don't even like it that much... I seem to have a recurring problem with quantities...Thank you so much for coming to the rescue. Now, at last I have a way to use part of that humongous applesauce stash! :-)
Yippeeee!!! I had forgotten all about making these, thanks for the reminder! When I used to teach school, this was a Christmas ritual for my first graders and me. I never did use glitter though...what a simple, yet amazing touch!! I know what's on tomorrow's agenda, right after I go to the dollar store and score some glitter. by the way...I notice your thrift store purchase in the window. score!!!!
You must have magical psychic powers or else you're spying on me.... Everytime I find myself wondering about something, you turn around and write a post about it! The smelly moose are wonderful, but I really have to ask about the sinusitis. I haven't been able to smell or taste since the first of November. I too had a cold, but only a small 3 day one, I feel fine and my sinuses feel clear. What in the world could a Dr. possibly do to make me smell again? Not that I'm complaining...I did loose 8 lbs over the Thanksgiving holiday after all. Only 40 more to go now!
Angie - It was a while ago so I can't rightly remember. I have a feeling I may have went on antibiotics but can't remember. It's an actual thing so go to your doctor. ~ karen!
Did you have sinus pain/stuffyness? Since I don't have any sinus pressure or stuffyness, I'm sure they'd want to run a bunch of expensive tests and what-not. If only we had Canadian Health care then I wouldn't hesitate, but I don't want to hit my deductable in December only to have it start over again in January! Thanks for answering my question, and thanks for all the really inspiring and entertaining posts! Happy Holidays.
ps. Did you ever get a new fridge?
Angie - I'm afraid I can't remember if I had pain. I had stuffiness to begin with but once it went away I still couldn't smell. ~ karen!
So deceptive! I was anticipating whole Maine moose stuffed with apples and cinnamon left to rot until Christmas.I just couldn't figure out how you would hang it on your tree.
Cute moose pie though!
Please tell me it's moose droppings and not a stick penis....
Amy - Hah! You're right. I've since Photoshopped out the stick which may have confused people. It's moose poop I made. ~ karen!
What? I missed Karen's sculptural depictions of a MOOSE PENIS? Way to go and ruin it for the rest of us, Amy!
;-)