Easy Christmas Ornaments

 

Make these easy Christmas ornaments from 3 ingredients!

I am NOT a crafty person but even I can make these super cute, easy Christmas ornaments! You just need 3 ingredients and a few of my tips and tricks to make this a great, successful ornament craft with toddlers and preschoolers.

Before we get too crazy here, this is NOT my recipe. This is a “Beauty and the Beast” type recipe (you know, a tale as old as time). My husband made these same ornaments in kindergarten 30-something years ago. Cinnamon ornaments predate even Pinterest.

These are great ornaments to make as gifts!

Over the years of making these with almost 200 elementary students back when I was a teacher, I’ve got this down pat. Here’s my science/process on how to make cinnamon ornaments in the easiest, simplest, and most effective way possible.

Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links)

• 1 small bottle (2.45 oz) cinnamon
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 T Elmer’s glue
• Holiday cookie cutters

Take all three ingredients and mix them by hand with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. It’s helpful to have your child be a part of this process because seeing the glue go in really takes away any appetizing feeling they may have about this “smells so yummy!” dough.

A few tips to make things successful:

Chill the dough after you make it. Leave it in the bowl, stick it in the fridge and let it sit for 30 minutes. It can sit for up to 8 hours and still be used.

Next, roll out your dough.

Instead of using flour, sprinkle some extra cinnamon on your rolling space.

Roll them out about 1/4 inch thick.

Roll out your dough onto a cookie sheet and begin cutting them with your favorite cookie cutters.

This isn’t the easiest dough to transfer from place to place so my biggest tip: don’t move them. Cut them out right on the cookie sheet.

Drying the ornaments

Before you leave them to dry, make sure to poke a hole in each ornament so they can hang on the tree. I use a straw.

If you don’t have an oven handy – these will dry in about 24 hours.

At home, I had an oven free so I slow baked them at 200 degrees for 3 hours. Both ways work perfectly.

** Here’s a photo of my ornaments getting their straw holes**

Time to decorate the ornaments

The last step is the best step: paint and decorate.

We used washable tempura paint (affiliate link to my favorite kind) and only painted one side of the ornament.

This makes them plain and cinnamon smelling on one side and toddler art fabulous on the other side. Oh and of course we added a little glitter on top of the paint because it’s the holidays!

I can’t stress how easy these are to make. My toddler (2.5) and I had the best time picking which ornament shape would be for who. It was a magical activity for the holidays! And they made a great gift for him to give his grandparents.

Hanging on our tree, they are the perfect keepsake for this Christmas. They’re easy to make, cheap to put together, and even my non-crafty butt can handle these guys.

These 3 ingredient ornaments are my favorite craft for the holidays!

Will you try these easy Christmas ornaments with your kids?