Homemade Ornaments

Christmas is approaching which only means it's time to whip out those boxes of decorations. One of the frustrations on doing so is finding out you don't have enough ornaments. Whether you bought a bigger tree or some of them went MIA, you are going to need some ornaments. Before you run out to buy some, consider making the ornaments and  save yourself some money. These will be good Christmas activities for the kids to get involved.
                    
   Bird Feeder Ornaments

        ½ cup water

        3 tbsp. Corn syrup
        1 envelope of Knox  
            unflavored Gelatin

        ¾ cup flour

        3 cups of birdseed

        cookie cutters

             yarn or twine

         On low heat, dissolve gelatin and corn syrup
          in water, until dissolved, do not boil. Remove
          from the  heat and whisk in flour until it 
          forms a thick mixture without lumps. Add
          in Birdseed and mix until fully covered by
          the flour mixture. If you wish, you can 
          substitute ½ cup of bird seed for a ½ cup of 
          dried berries. Place cookie cutters on a cookie
         sheet that has been lined with wax paper. Fill 
         each cookie cutter halfway with the bird seed 
         mixture, packing tightly as you go with the 
         back of a spoon or butter knife. Take a piece
         of yarn or twine, tie the ends and place it in
         the cookie cutter, in the area you think will 
         look good as a hanger. Fill the cookie cutters 
         the rest of the way, again packing the 
         birdseed as you go. Wait for 4 hours before 
         removing the ornaments from the cookie 
         cutters. Wait for a total 24 hours before
         hanging. After Christmas hang the ornaments
         outside to give winter birds a little treat

                           

                     Apple Cinnamon Ornaments
       
                          1 cup ground cinnamon
                          1 cup thick apple sauce
                               1/4 tsp. cloves
                              1/4 tsp. nutmeg
   

      

        preheat oven to 200*. Combine the dry 
        ingredients. Using your hands, mix in 
        applesauce until the dough resembles a stiff 
        cookie dough. Working with 1/3 of the 
        dough at a time, roll the dough out to a 
        thickness of about 1/3 inch. Use a 3 to 4 inch
        cookie cutter to cut out your shapes. With a 
        small drinking straw, make a hole to which to 
        hang the ornaments when dried. Gently 
        transfer the ornaments to a nonstick cookie 
        sheet and bake for 3 hours. Once cooled add a
        ribbon or hook and you're ready to go. These
        ornaments not only look pretty on the tree 
        but also make the whole house smell 
        wonderful. 


You can find these two crafts and others in my eBook "Having a Very Merry Christmas on a Budget" available on Kindle and Kindle apps. You can find the link to the book in the advertisement on the right of this blog. ~ Thanks 

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