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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Gingerbread Ornaments

This is a post from Christmas 2008. I'm linking today with Chari @ Happy to Design for "Sunday Favorites" where we can post some of our favorites from the past. I'll be making more of these little guys tomorrow since I need a fresh batch this season

For quite a few years now I've been making gingerbread ornaments for our family room tree. They keep their scent for a couple of years and they're so easy to make!
There are only two ingredients to buy. The recipe is simple because the ratio is 1 to 1.....1 cup of cinnamon 1 cup of applesauce. Easy peasy. You can make as many or as few as you want. This year I made the recipe using 3 cups of cinnamon and 3 cups of applesauce and I wound up with 28. I found that my little guys from last year were still very fragrant and only a handful of the them were broken.....so I needed only a few for the tree this year.

Mix the two ingredients together just as you would for cookie dough . Remember, these aren't cookies......it won't hurt you obviously to eat them, but they don't taste very good because there's not enough sugar in the applesauce. Mix well. It will probably seem a little sticky to you so before you go to the next step.........and this is the fun part.............
powder your hands with cinnamon.
Turn the dough out onto a cinnamon-dusted cutting board or sheet. Pat out to about a third-inch thickness.

Using a gingerbread man cookie cutter cut out each ornament and place carefully on a sheet of waxed paper
.
When you're finished cutting them out, take a big fat pencil eraser and poke a hole in the head. This is so that when they're dry you can take a length of red or green ribbon ( about an inch and a half piece) and make a loop for them to hang from.
Here they are on my kitchen counter where they'll stay for the next 3 days to dry. Give them at least that long to dry.....here in Phoenix with our dry air it takes about that long. In other more humid climates it may take a day or two longer.
 
The finished product. These little guys are from last year. When Christmas is over I usually keep them in a tin or box cushioned with tissue paper and they will be ready for next year.
Believe me.......any room you hang these in will smell heavenly! So Christmasy!!!
 

18 comments:

Kim Lockett said...

Oh yes, I made those one time! It was a lot of fun! I'm following you through a blog hop!

http://kimberli-findingmyway.blogspot.coom

Keetha Broyles said...

Several of my children made these at school when they were little - - - I always LOVED their aroma!

Sofia's Ideas said...

That looks great & I bet my kids would get a kick out of making those! Bookmarked!

I'm now following you through the Follow Us Monday Morning Blog Hop. I hope you'll do the same! You can find me @ http://sofiasideas.com/

Sofia's Ideas

Sophie said...

I love making gingerbread!

Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

Carol E Wyer said...

Wow these are great and I love gingerbread yum! I'm a new follower who now is feeling hungry :) Lovely blog you have here. Nice to meet you.
Carol from www.facing50withhumour.blogspot.com

Julie Petty said...

I'm brand new to Follow Us Monday Morning... stop by and see me...

I love gingerbread!

Alpaca Meadows

Janice said...

I've been looking for something fun and inexpensive to put on my tree this year. These guys look just perfect! Now I can't wait to get started. :D

Cindy said...

This looks really fun!
newest follower from Monday's hop

come on over to my place
http://for-one-another.blogspot.com/

Ruth said...

Thanks for the tutorial--my 4 year old would love these!

Just popping in from FUMM & now following. Stop by when you get a chance!

living well, spending less

Suertemom said...

Hi! I'm following back. Great tree idea! Thanks!

Gina Alfani said...

Hi Elaine! What a fun idea . . . I'm gonna have to make some of these :-)

Thank you for following my blog . . . I'm following you back and look forward to checking out more of your blog.

Have an awesome week . . . Gina

http://ginasitaliankitchen.blogspot.com

Becky said...

Oh, I definitely want to try making these! They LOOK easy. Not so sure if my kitties would leave them alone for three days, while they're drying. I'll have to look around in stores for the best value on bulk cinnamon. Thanks for sharing, Elaine!

Lonna said...

I made these 2 years ago! Thanks Elaine, they are awesomeness!!! Miss you guys! Let me know when we can get together.

Grace Matthews said...

Toooo Cute!!!

Katie said...

Those are so adorable, I'll have to make them in a couple of years when the danger of my children eating them is past. Lol!

Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday for my SITS day! May your dollar store shopping be fruitful! :D

Jaime said...

I was thinking about making some of these up last week..
Thanks for stopping by and follower
Copper Llama Studio
Jaime
http://copperllamastudio.blogspot.com/

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

How fun! Personally I'd rather eat gingerbread though! :-)

Anonymous said...

We just made these for the first time a few days ago! I love them!!

I'm a new follower from a Holiday Blog Hop... hope you stop by my blog soon!

~Sabrina from www.bgamefamily.blogspot.com