| ily schedules bursting at the seams, decorating | | | | ornaments will be tinged with a wonderful |
| your home for the holidays can seem like just | | | | cinnamon scent! |
| another chore on your to-do list. Although it may | | | | If your dough mixture feels too sticky, add more |
| seem quicker and easier to buy your ornaments | | | | flour. Knead the dough until it is smooth and stiff. |
| at your local discount store, consider clearing | | | | Use a roller pin to flatten out the dough. Once the |
| some time in your schedule to make your own | | | | texture is smooth and consistent, use cookie |
| holiday ornaments. | | | | cutters to cut out different shapes. You can also |
| You’ll find that the time spent creating | | | | shape the dough into a design of your own. |
| your unique holiday creations will be well spent. | | | | If you used food coloring to create batches of |
| Here’s a recipe for making your very own | | | | different-colored dough, now’s the time to |
| Dough Ornaments. It’s simple, fast, and | | | | get creative. For example, if you’ve mixed |
| very expensive. More importantly, they are fun to | | | | up a small batch of red dough and another batch |
| make with family, and you will love the sight of | | | | of regular-colored dough, you can create candy |
| them hanging from your Christmas tree! | | | | cane decorations. Simply create one batch of red |
| Homemade Dough Ornaments | | | | colored dough, and leave aside a portion of regular |
| For the dough mixture, you will need: | | | | dough. Then flatten out the dough and cut out |
| 4 cups of flour | | | | two long strips from each batch. Intertwine the |
| 1 cup of water | | | | two strips to create candy cane decorations! |
| ½ cup of salt | | | | Once all the dough has been shaped, use the tip |
| Food Coloring bottles (optional) | | | | of a pen or straw to make a small hole at the |
| Cookie Cutters (optional) | | | | top of each of your ornaments. Then place them |
| 2 cups ground cinnamon (optional) | | | | on a baking sheet, and bake them in the oven at |
| For decorating your ornaments: | | | | a low setting for about an hour. |
| Ribbon | | | | After your ornaments have baked, remove them |
| Acrylic paints and brushes | | | | from the oven and allow them to cool. Once they |
| Glitter, Stickers, Stamps, Etc. | | | | are cool to touch, the fun part really begins. Pull |
| Clear protective paint sealant | | | | out the paints, felt-tip markers, stickers, glitter, |
| Mix the dry ingredients together, and then add | | | | and anything else you can think of, and begin to |
| water. If you’d like, you can add food | | | | decorate. Be creative. |
| coloring to your dough mixture. You may want to | | | | When you’re finished decorating, let the |
| mix up several batches of different-colored | | | | paint dry for several hours, and then seal your |
| dough, or you can plan on decorating your | | | | work with a coat of clear protective sealant. |
| ornaments later with acrylic paints. | | | | When the ornaments have dried, string a ribbon |
| For an extra special treat, mix two cups of | | | | through the top and tie into a knot. You can also |
| ground cinnamon into your dough mixture. Your | | | | use metal hangers. |