A couple of months ago my two oldest daughters and I made some spice ornaments to go along with our history lessons. We were learning about new world explorers and how Europeans needed to find alternative trade routes in order to get exotic spices from the Orient due to the land routes becoming more and more treacherous and dangerous.
To touch on and remember the importance of spices to the Europeans, one of our lesson projects from the New World Explorers Time Traveler series was to make spice ornaments.
I modified the recipe in the lesson plans a bit and I think our ornaments turned out great. Not only was the end product lovely, but the process was fun and the whole house smelled amazing for days!
Here is how you can make some homemade spice ornaments of your own – perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree or giving as a gift.
Supplies:
1 cup ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. ground allspice
2 Tbsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup applesauce
2 Tbsp. white glue
drinking straw
ribbon or twine
cookie cutters
rolling pin
wax paper
magnets (optional)
Directions:
1. Combine cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, applesauce, and glue until well blended. The mixture will become stiff.
2. Form dough into a ball and place on a sheet of wax paper. Roll out to a 1/4″ thick. Sprinkle rolling pin with cinnamon if needed to prevent sticking.
3. Using cookie cutters, cut out dough into desired shapes – we made hearts and stars.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with left over dough until you have used up as much dough as you can.
5. For ornaments, use the drinking straw to make a hole at the top of your ornament to thread the ribbon or string for hanging. If you would like to make magnet, skip this step.
6. Place ornaments on a flat surface to air dry; a cookie cooling rack works nicely. Let them dry for 48-72 hours, turning them over half way through the drying period.
7. Once they are dry, thread the ribbon or twine through the hole and tie in a knot. If you choose to make magnets, place a self-adhesive madnet to the back (additional glue is recommended to reinforce adhesion).
8. Hang on the Christmas tree or give as a gift.
