The Workshop..or I should have been an elf!

Last year about this time, my sweet artist friend, Natalie, painted some cinnamon ornaments to look like birds.  She did a fantastic job on these things! I was impressed at the beauty of the birds and thought perhaps I would try my hand at making a few.  My daughter, Elizabeth, had made the cutest little Gingerbread Boys by the same method so she helped me mix up my first batch.  I confess..I am horrible!  I never painted those birds!  It takes a good while for the things to air dry so they sort of got "lost" in the craft room and there they stayed until this week.  Aha!  A craft project just begging to be completed!  I pulled out the cinnamon ornaments fully expecting them to smell a bit more musty than cinnamon-like but I was wrong!  Those things still smelled delightful!  I set to work.

Well, I finished the birds that Elizabeth and I made and needed more!  This was indeed fun!  Although my birds will never compare with those that Natalie painted, I was satisfied with their appearance.  I must make more birds!  Son was kind enough to knead the lovely "dough".  This is a mixture of cinnamon, applesauce and glue.  We added a bit of ground cloves and some ground allspice just for good measure.  After working the stuff into a lovely mix, I rolled it out and used some cookie cutters that Elizabeth bought just for this purpose.  My cookie sheet was soon filled with birds but I did not want to wait for days for them to dry.  My dehydrator was put to use.  Within a matter of hours, the birds were dry and ready for painting.  (Warning..if you do use a dehydrator to dry the cookies, watch them!  They will need to be turned about every ten minutes or otherwise you will wind up with curly birds!)

Now my living room resembles Santa's Workshop!  The birds are being painted on one table and ceramic plaques are primed and ready to paint on another.  Three gourds are hanging as the paint dries on them and snippets of ribbons and fabrics are waiting to become rag dolls.  Between all of these projects and a bit of crocheting, I will be quite busy (and the room will be strewn with projects!)  Oh, what fun it is to craft Christmas!  I think I should have been an elf!

All in a Row..

The sky dripped most of the day making it the perfect time to attend some last minute gifts. Darling Daughter, Elizabeth, had made some adorable little gingerbread boy ornaments for me last year and I wanted to use this idea as a "under-a-dollar" gift. Sweet Sister and I have taken to exchanging homemade or under-a-dollar gifts for the past few years. This challenge was one that I conjured to try and curb some of the massive expense of the holidays and also limit the "what-do-I-do-with-it-now" gift overload. The stress of gifting and the overspending at least cut a bit. This year, I made her some goodies but also wanted to give her some unique ornaments...so, Susan, if you are reading this, you know what your gift is!..Sorry!



Elizabeth had helped me with the "recipe" and we stirred up a batch. After rolling out the "dough" we cut out the cute gingerbread boys and girls. These were set aside to air dry. She informed me that it would take a couple of days to dry...she obviously was not taking our foggy, misty, drippy, December days in account. This is typical December weather for here on the Bayou but it does make it difficult to dry anything! Here it is more than a week and my gingerbread boys and girls are still not dry! And..at this point, I should clarify that these are not truly "gingerbread"..more like "cinnamon-stuck-together" boys and girls! This recipe calls for two main ingredients...cinnamon and glue. They are air dried not baked so you can see my predicament with the foggy, drippy days and nights. They are not drying well! Today, however, I did try to paint some of the little tykes. After attempting the first one, I conceded that I would never make the cute little designs like my daughter. Mine are more ..emmm...errr ...rustic! Yeah! That's it! They are rustic! My ornaments are a lot darker but Son assures me that is just because they are still wet..hmmmm..maybe.



For any who would like to try this, the recipe is as follows....


Cinnamon Ornaments

1 cup cinnamon
1 bottle white glue
water

Pour the one cup of cinnamon in a bowl. Thin the white glue by mixing a tablespoon of water to every half cup of glue. Start adding the glue/water mix a little at a time to the cinnamon and stir like crazy. Once this gets too thick to stir, get your hands in it and knead it until it is doughy. You might have to add a bit more glue/water mix to make it the right consistency..just judge it to make a ball of dough. Once thoroughly mixed, roll the dough out with a rolling pin. Flatten it until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters and cut a hole for hanging using a drinking straw. Let these air dry, flipping them every few hours so they do not curl. Once dry, add details with acrylic paints.

This recipe does not use the usual applesauce. It is just the cinnamon and glue with maybe a touch of water. Also..since they are not meant for eating..use the cheapest cinnamon and glue you can find! The ornaments last for years! The cinnamon aroma will stay potent if you store them in a airtight container each year.