Spicy-Scented Christmas Ornaments

That sounds much better than

"This year I want a smelly tree."

In addition to Strung Popcorn, our tree is going to don a variety

of natural fragrant ornaments including dried orange slices,

and these yummy smelling ornaments.

(This recipe is from 'Taste of Home Magazine' about 20 years ago.)

First thing's first:

gather items needed~

3/4 c. applesauce

1 c. cinnamon

1 Tbl. ground nutmeg

1 Tbl. ground cloves

2 Tbl. white glue

(I used homemade pearsauce, because that's what I had.)
In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients.  It will be a little 'glumpy' at first.

Don't worry, just mix it together like you would cookie or pie dough.

It will smooth out.

Then roll it out to about 1/4" thick using cinnamon as you usually would flour.

Choose cookie cutter of your choice.

I'm not sure why, but I thought the little squirrel would go well

with the star and rocking horse.

Maybe I just thought it belonged in a tree.

Mine ended up a little thinner than 1/4".

I'm not too concerned.

Continue to rework your dough, roll out, and cut until there is not enough

for another ornament.

I set the remainder in a tin can with a little water on the wood stove.

Once they are all cut out,

use a straw to make a hole for a ribbon, or

I used a toothpick to poke a small hole 

since I will be using wire ornament hangers.

Be sure the hole goes all the way through.
These are pretty small ornaments.

If you are using a larger cookie-cutter, you might go ahead with the straw.

You can then set them in the oven on warm and

turn them over occasionally.

I'm not sure how long that would take, because

I cheated and set them on the dehydrator :)

It took about 1.5-2ish hours.
I can't begin to tell you just how good the house smelled.

You can use craft paint to embellish them, but

I will be keeping these natural.

After the holidays, 
you can do as mentioned above and crumble in a tin can
with some water on the stove as air freshener.
If you have munchkins in your home, please
remind them these are not for munching on.

Enjoy~

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches