A cinnamon ornament shaped and decorated like a gingerbread person hangs from a evergreen tree.

Super Easy Cinnamon Dough OrnamentsHomemade Cinnamon Ornaments

Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments

I don’t know what it is about Christmas that brings out the raging craft monster in me, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’m covered head to toe in glitter and glue for the entire month of December.

There are so many craft projects that I could never “find time” for during the rest of the year that magically bubble up to the top of the priority list come Black Friday. Suddenly my brain is like, “Oh yeah, I know you have a deadline for an article, but the most important thing right now is for you to drink eggnog, listen to Christmas music, and use lots of glitter. It’s vital. The world will end if there isn’t glitter.”

One of the fun craft projects I took on this past weekend was making cinnamon ornaments. If you’ve never made cinnamon ornaments, they’re super easy, smell amazing, and last pretty much for forever.

They’re meant to look like gingerbread, but unlike the regular cookie version with sugar and butter and eggs and all that perishable stuff, these ornaments are made from only three ingredientsโ€”ground cinnamon, unsweetened applesauce, and craft glueโ€”which helps them last for ages. You mix it all together into a dough, cut it out just like regular cookies, dry, decorate, and hang. And you have a bunch of amazing smelling ornaments that will last for years and years!

Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments

Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments

Making these is a super fun project with kids (keep in mind: although the dough isn’t toxic, it also isn’t edible, and keeping little fingers from nibbling might be trickyโ€”you can leave out the craft glue if you want). Juni really got into making these this year, and it’s nice to have some fun homemade keepsakes on our tree that we can look back on and say, “Hey, remember that chilly afternoon when we brought out the puffy paints and glitter glue?”

There are a million different recipes and processes out there for how to make cinnamon ornaments, but let me show you how we did ours. Let’s get to crafting! I’m going to do a full tutorial first, but you can scroll to the bottom of the post for a printable version if you prefer.

First up, as any good crafter knows, gather your stuff. You probably have just about everything you need already in the house.

ingredients and supplies for cinnamon ornaments on a counter: cinnamon, applesauce, glue, cookie cutters, mixing bowls, paint, and glitter

You’ll need:

  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 1/2 cup ground cinnamon (look for the cheap, off-brand stuffโ€”save the good stuff for your cinnamon rolls)
  • 2 tablespoons craft glue, optional (I think this makes the ornaments a bit more sturdy, but you can do without it)
  • Mixing bowl
  • Drinking straw
  • Plastic wrap
  • Rolling pin
  • Baking racks and baking sheets
  • Cookie cutters
  • Sandpaper
  • Oven, food dehydrator, or just an out-of-the-way spot (for drying)
  • Glitter, puffy paints, rhinestones, etc. for decorating, optional
  • Ribbon or hooks for hanging

As far as decorations go, these cinnamon ornaments can really be as simple (just plain dried dough on a pretty ribbon) or over-the-top (GLITTTEERRRRR!) as you’d like. I really like the use of puffy paint, because I think it looks like big, thick, creamy frosting when dried.

Alright, onto making the dough. First step: the applesauce, cinnamon, and glue go into a mixing bowl.

Applesauce, cinnamon, and glue in a large mixing bowl

And then dig in there with your hands. This really isn’t the job for a spoonโ€“ you’re gonna need your fingers to get it all mixed in.

Hands mix together ornament ingredients in a mixing bowl

Depending on a number of factors (wetness of applesauce, humidity, etc.), you might need to add more applesauce or more cinnamon to make the dough come together. You want it to be just a touch dry (because it’ll dry faster), but you also want it to hold together enough to roll and cut.

two hands covered in cinnamon hold up a ball of dough.

When you can form it into a big ole ball, you’re done mixing. Go wash your hands.

A ball of cinnamon ornament dough in a mixing bowl

Now it’s time to roll. To keep things clean and easy, I just take a hunk of dough (maybe 1/3 of the whole ball) and place it between two sheets of plastic wrap.

Now roll. You’re looking for a thickness between 1/3″ and 1/2″. The thinner you go, the quicker it will dry and the more ornaments you can get out of a batch, but it also makes them more fragile and less likely to last from year to year. They also tend to curl the thinner they are. I prefer a thicker ornament (even though it takes longer to dryโ€”whomp).

Dough between two pieces of plastic wrap gets rolled out with a rolling pin.

Remove the top layer of plastic wrap (set it aside to use on the next batch of dough), and then go at it with your cookie cutters.

Two person-shaped cookie cutters sit on top of rolled out dough.

Before you transfer your ornaments to baking racks, take the straw and poke holes where you want them to hang from.

A hole poked in the head of a gingerbread person so that it can be hung as an ornament

Once all the ornaments are cut out, they go onto a baking rack on a cookie sheet, if you want to bake them to dry them.

Gingerbread ornaments cool on a wire rack.

There are three methods that work for drying the ornaments:

  • Baking: Pop the ornaments on a baking rack on top of a baking sheet in a 200ยฐF oven for about 2 1/2 hours, until the ornaments are dry and hard. This is the fastest method, but it also results in a little bit of curling and bubbling.
  • Food Dehydrator: Place the ornaments on the racks of a food dehydrator, and dry at the highest setting for about 6 hours.
  • Air Dry: You can just put these ornaments on baking racks and dry them in an out-of-the-way place. This method takes a few days, and obviously works best in dry climates (I wouldn’t try this method at the beach house in Florida). We can get our ornaments dry in about three days on top of the fridge.

I’m usually pretty impatient, so we almost always bake them.

Tray of gingerbread ornaments in the oven

After a glorious, snowy day nap with the scent of cinnamon wafting around, these ornaments were ready to get glammed up. Just let them cool out of the oven, and then you can start decorating. Or, if you prefer, you can just tie a pretty ribbon through the hole now and hang them.

But we glittered the heck of these guys.

Cinnamon ornaments cooling on newspaper before decorating

You might notice that the edges of the ornaments look a little rough.

A star-shaped cinnamon ornament with rough edges

Nothing a quick buff with a fine-grit sandpaper won’t cure.

A star-shaped cinnamon ornament that has been sanded to remove rough edges

Then let your creativity go wild. If you like the shimmery, snow-fallen look, I highly recommend picking up an extra fine translucent glitter to go over everything. It makes everything look like it was kissed by a sunny snowy day.

A thick layer of glitter is on top of a cinnamon ornament shaped like a star. A bottle of white glitter sits next to the ornament.

This recipe makes about 20 or so medium-sized ornaments.

Decorated cinnamon ornaments dry on a wire rack over newspaper

Because we were heavy-handed with the glitter glue and puffy paints, we let them dry out on the kitchen table overnight.

Decorated cinnamon ornaments lay on newspaper to dry

And then we strung the cinnamon ornaments with coordinating ribbon the next morning.

A hand holds up a glittery cinnamon ornament shaped like a star

And wrote the year on the back with a Sharpie. Because it’s always nice to know when something handmade was handmade. I have a handmade ornament on our tree that I made in Kindergarten, and I always get a kick out of seeing the year “1989” on the back.

A hand holds up a cinnamon ornament shaped like a star. 2013 is written on the back.

And up on the tree they all went.

Close up on a tree that is very full of ornaments

Making these was so fun and so delicious smelling that this might have to be a new yearly tradition for us. Although our 9′ tree is so packed with ornaments (as you can see), that we might have to get a second one just for a cinnamon ornaments!

Happy crafting!

 
A cinnamon ornament shaped and decorated like a gingerbread person hangs from a evergreen tree.

Super Easy Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments

Yield: 20 medium ornaments

This step-by-step tutorial how super easy it is to make cinnamon ornaments for your Christmas tree at home. They smell amazing and look beautiful!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 1/2 cup ground cinnamon (look for the cheap, off-brand stuff, you aren't gonna eat it)
  • 2 tablespoons craft glue, optional (I think this makes the ornaments a bit more sturdy, but you can do without it)
  • Mixing bowl
  • Drinking straw
  • Plastic wrap
  • Rolling pin
  • Baking racks and baking sheets
  • Cookie cutters
  • Sandpaper
  • Oven, food dehydrator, or just a spot out-of-the-way (for drying)
  • Glitter, puffy paints, rhinestones, etc. for decorating, optional
  • Ribbon or hooks for hanging

Instructions

  1. Mix the applesauce, cinnamon, and glue in a mixing bowl. You'll probably need to stir with your hands, as a spoon won't get the job gone. Add more applesauce or cinnamon if needed - you want the dough to be a touch dry, but it still needs to hold together when you roll it out. When the dough can be formed into a ball, you are done mixing. Wash your hands.
  2. Place 1/3 of the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, and use the rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4" - 1/3" thick.
  3. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and use cookie cutters to cut out ornaments. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  4. Use the straw to poke holes for hanging in each ornament.
  5. There are three methods that work for drying the ornaments:

Baking:

  1. Pop the ornaments on a baking rack on top of a baking sheet in a 200° oven for about 2-1/2 hours until the ornaments are dry and hard. This is the fastest method, but it also results in a little bit of curling and bubbling.

Food Dehydrator:

  1. Place the ornaments on the racks of a food dehydrator, and dry at the highest setting for about 6 hours.

Air Dry:

  1. You can easily just put these ornaments on baking racks and dry them in an out-of-the-way place. This method takes a few days, and obviously works best in dry climates (I wouldn't try this method at the beach house in Florida).

To Finish:

  1. When the ornaments are completely dry and cooled, buff the edges with fine-grit sandpaper (optional). Decorate however you'd like, then string the ornaments on a ribbon. Write the year on the back with a Sharpie.

Want more fun holiday activities to do with kids?

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75 Comments

  1. My kids made these last night and we let them dry over night. Can I stick them in the oven today to speed up the process? Or is it once you leave them out to dry you have continue it that way?

      1. Hi: I put a bit of corn starch in my dough. It helps keep them from being too wet. Also, I don’t like fuzzy edges, so I pat the sides of each ornament before I put it on the dehydrator tray.

    1. I did this as a preschool project and we ran out of cinnamon and it was too sticky to work with still. So I added flour and it seemed to turn out fine. The whole room still smelled good.

      1. bullshit….i went exactly by yur directions…all i had was goop in my hand…while my 2 year old waited patiently!!!!!

  2. Love this! Would the texture of this dough work for a foot or hand imprint? If not I could use paint on a flat cookie, but I just love an impression, lol!

    1. One and a half cups of cinnamon? As in 12 ounces?! I see you only have 2 containers of cinnamon in your picture.. Aren’t those about 3-4oz each? So did you use 3-4 containers?
      Also we cut the recipe down and made some tonight and it’s like death by cinnamon over here. Am I the only one? Did we do something wrong? Haha excited to decorate tomorrow if we survive ๐Ÿ˜‰

      1. One and a half cups of cinnamon most definitely does not equal 12 ounces! It’s 6 ounces. Volume and weight are different! Do not use 12 ounces of cinnamon. One cup of liquid is 8 ounces, but not solids/powders/etc. I just made this exactly as written and it turned out perfect.

  3. I’m a school volunteer, and I made these for the kindergarten teacher to give her class this holiday season. They started the year by reading “The Gingerbread Man” and touring the school. Gingerbread Man has remained the class’ mascot.

  4. Any idea how many ornaments (roughly) this recipe makes? I am looking to make about 21 gingerbread men. Thanks!

    1. My gingerbread man cookie cutter is on the smaller side (about 2 1/2″ high) and I can easily get two dozen out of the recipe. ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. I know this is a super old comment.. but I made one of these in 1st grade, I am now 30, and it STILL smells great! I just made a batch of these for my kids and I to do. I am excited theyโ€™ll be able to have some to hopefully hold on to when theyโ€™re older. Thanks for the recipe!

        1. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your story with us, Brianne! We really appreciate it. We hope you and your kids have a wonderful time making memories (and ornaments) together! =)

  5. Wow!! what a terrific idea you have. Your such a creative person.
    I really like this one and maybe I’ll try this one this holiday.
    Anyway, thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚