“Not only is it fast, inexpensive, and fun, but it makes your home smell like a gingerbread house and you can use these ornaments for years to come.”
Nothing says the holidays like supplies you don’t have for activities that are too complicated for your kids to do anyway. With my oldest son, I set out for holiday perfection. My expectations were that we would complete exactly 25 holiday crafts one for each day leading up to December. I planned to do everything from pottery, to painting, to a tree full of handmade ornaments and he was only 3 months old. Well, we did some of them, but they really brought more chaos than holiday cheer.
When we added my second monster to the mix, the 25 days of Christmas crafts became more like 10 days that happen in December and the crafts became much less crafty. Now that my last little has completed the kiddo tribe, we are lucky if complete 5 holiday activities amongst the hustle and bustle of schedules. This mama is looking for fun and not freak outs. I’m here for crafts that don’t break the bank or my sanity.
I found this Christmas craft about 4 years ago and I must say, it is a yearly staple. Not only is it fast, inexpensive, and fun, but it makes your home smell like a gingerbread house and you can use the ornaments for years to come.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of applesauce (I use whatever is on sale, there’s literally no reason to waste money on the good stuff for this)
- 1 ¼ cups of ground cinnamon (again the store brand is a great choice, or whatever you have on hand)
This recipe will make you about one dozen 3-inch ornaments depending on the shape of your cookie cutters. With three kiddos (and usually their buddies) making ornaments, I usually triple the recipe.
Supplies:
- A mixing bowel
- Mixing spoon
- Baking sheet
- Small holiday cookie cutters
- Rolling pin
- Something to poke a hole in the top (I use a plastic straw)
- Expert advice: Use wax paper on your cookie sheet and tables to lessen the mess.
- Optional: White puffy paint
Now it’s literally as simple as it seems. Start out by measuring out your apple sauce and adding it to your mixing bowl. Then, slowly start adding your cinnamon and stirring it in as you go. Your dough should be moist but not sticky. (each brand of apple sauce is a little different so you may need to add a little more to get an easy-to-handle consistency).
Once it is all stirred together you are ready to roll it out! We roll ours out on the wax paper until it is about ¼ inch thickness.
Then, you are ready to make your shapes! We tend to go with easy shapes like stars, gingerbread men, or candy canes. When my kids were toddlers, we opted to let them roll out balls and then squish them to make circle. There are no wrong answers here! It’s going to smell great and look cute regardless!
After you form all your shapes, I recommend using the end of a plastic straw to cut a hole in the top of each ornament. A straw has always worked the best for me, but you may come up with a better idea (If you do, please email me and let me know!). Use your straw to poke a hole at the top and later you can use this hole to thread a ribbon or your ornament hangers.
After you are done forming your lovely creations, bake them on 200 degrees F for about 2 hours. I know it’s a long bake time, but It’s so worth it and your house is going to smell so good!
Once your timer dings, carefully remove your ornaments from the oven and let them cool completely. Expert tip: I put them in my garage since its usually cold out and they cool much faster. After they are cooled my kiddos like to use white puffy paint to decorate them like gingerbread. This is optional but makes for extra fun if you have big kids or if you hide away and craft once they are asleep. Shhh I won’t tell!
