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

Company Coming for Thanksgiving? Inexpensive Memento Idea

These are simple and add a bit of sparkle to the season.

All you need is:

Borax, boiling water, pipe-cleaners, and a jar.

(oh and a pencil and scissors)

If you have company spending the night,

you could have them twist up their snowflake

of pipe-cleaners at night.

There are a ton of possibilities:

a simple asterisk, a star, or something more detailed

like the one above.

Hang the snowflakes in a jar

supported by the pencil across the top.

Boil water.

Add about 3 tablespoons of borax to each cup of boiling water.

I like peanut butter jars, because they have a wide mouth.

I let my borax solution cool for about 10 min.

so it wouldn't melt the jar.

If you are using a glass jar,

you don't have to wait.

Just pour the borax solution over the snowflakes.

Now... go to bed.

When you awake~

A couple of notes:

*You can use colored pipe-cleaners & it will add

a little tint to them.

*You can add a few drops of food coloring to the borax solution.

*Be sure that they are not touching the bottom

of the jar (they'll stick.)

*And lastly, be sure that the jar is filled to the top of

the snowflake.

Or it will turn out like this one - oops

I almost didn't show you,

but sometimes it's as helpful to know

what not to do as it is to know

what TO do.

I like this one, but the top wasn't submerged.

They are fun and sturdy for what they are.

Kids (& adults too) can take them home

with them and hang them on their tree.

Fun for the whole family.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches