Easy, Handmade Ornaments

I have some more super easy ornaments for you....
The first one is a Cinnamon Stick Santa. You can make a whole bunch of these in a short amount of time. 
I made these soooo long ago, so I don't have step-by-step pictures, but they are pretty easy to figure out.

Things you will need:
cinnamon sticks
twine
red and peach craft paint
black craft paint or my preference - a sharpie!
craft snow
hot glue or other craft glue

Instructions:
1.  Paint the top portion of the cinnamon stick red.  I only painted the front half, because the back doesn't snow anyway. You decide how big or little you want the hat to be.
2.  Paint just underneath that peach - I went longer on this part than the red. Let these dry.
3.  Glob on the craft snow to make Santa's hat, hair & beard. (yes, that's my technical term - glob - seems to fit don't you think?) I went just under the hat, down both sides and made a little moustache in the middle. Oh, and don't forget a little dab on the top of his hat.
4.  Let that sit and dry really well.
5.  Make 2 black dots for his eyes.
6.  Cut a little piece of twine and got glue it onto the top of the cinnamon stick.

Here is a better picture of them together:

I hope that I explained these good enough for you.  I made a couple dozen and they are such cute fillers for my tree.  You could also hang them on packages - super cute!

Here is a picture of the kind of craft snow I used:

The next ornament I have for you is another one I made forever ago.  I'm sure you've seen these around, but they are such classics - I think they look sooo good on any tree, or as gift tags:

Cinnamon Cookie Cutter Ornaments.

I LOVE these! I still have these after probably 15 years - and they STILL smell yummy - seriously!

Warning!! Do NOT eat these - for decoration only.  Not that you would, they have glue in them, but just to make sure... ;)


Here is the recipe:

1 cup cinnamon
3/4 cup applesauce
3 TBS white glue (Elmer's)

Mix all ingredients together and knead until you get a soft consistancy. (kind of a "furry" look)

Roll the dough out making sure you keep an even thickness - I made mine pretty thick because I didn't want them to break.

Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter. 

Make sure to poke out your holes while the dough is still wet.  A straw is the easiest way to do this.

Let them sit somewhere undisturbed to dry. It takes about 3 days.  (I know, it's a long time, but it's really worth it.)

Hang with ribbons.

You can store these with your decorations to use year after year!

Well - I hope you like these ornaments as much as I do!