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Scented Cinnamon Ornaments

1 cup cinnamon
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon nutmeg
3/4 cup applesauce
Non-edible
2 tablespoons white glue
1 drinking straw
Ribbon
In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add applesauce and glue;
stir to combine. Work mixture with hands for 2- 3 minutes or until dough is sm
ooth and ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Divide dough into 4 portions. Roll
each portion to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters of desired sh
apes. Use drinking straw to make small hole in top of each ornament. Place cut
outs on a wire rack; dry at room temperature for several days. Insert ribbon th
rough hole in each ornament; tie with knot or bow.
Yields 32 (2-inch) ornaments.
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Salt Dough Ornaments
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
Non-edible
3/4 cups water
In a large bowl, mix flour with salt. Add water slowly and stir. Use your hand
s to mix dough for 10 minutes. Add more flour or water if dough is not smooth.
Roll out dough with rolling pin. Cut out shapes for decorations with cookie cu
tters. Press open paper clip into top to make hole for a hanger. Bake at 350 d
egrees for I hour; cool. Paint with acrylic paint; varnish.
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Window Dress Up
Cookie cutters
Red ribbon
Dress up a window. Tie plastic or metal cookie cutters to wide pieces of ribbon
with coordinating bows. Check thrift stores and garage sales for bargains to m
ake this holiday decoration.
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Christmas Tablecloth
Each year, have family members sign a plain tablecloth with indelible ink and da
te their drawings, signatures, etc. Embroider these and you'll have a wonderful
memory of all your Christmases together.
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Country Christmas Arrangement

Fill the bottom of a shallow wooden box or basket with Spanish moss. Then arran
ge 3 - 5 oranges inside. Cut small, shallow holes in the tip of each orange. P
lace a tea light candle in each hole. Fill in around the oranges with fresh or
artificial greenery. Add 2 - 3 small pinecones, then tie a simple raffia bow to
the side. Light the candles just before guests arrive.
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Cranberry Candle Centerpiece
Fill a clear glass vase (10 inches or taller) with fresh whole cranberries. Add
some fresh-cut greens for the smell of the holidays. Fill with water. Add a v
anilla or green votive candle on top. Tie a Christmas ribbon around the base, m
aking a pretty bow.
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Holiday Herbal Candles
Make your own holiday herbal candles. Prepare a mixture of spices such as rosem
ary, sage and thyme or cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves. Melt paraffin and di
p sage or ecru-colored pillar candles into the melted wax. Immediately roll the
m in the desired spice mixture. Using your hands, press the spices into the war
m wax. Repeat the process several times to create a nubby-textured candle. An
herbal candle looks beautiful in a wooden, yellowware or graniteware bowl with b
ay leaves and rose hips surrounding it.
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Ice Candles
Tall, narrow buckets
Cranberries
Holly leaves
Pepperberries
Evergreen sprigs
Paper cup
Pebbles
Tape
Votive or tea light candle
Fill a tall, narrow bucket with water. Add lots of fresh cranberries, holly lea
ves, pepperberries or evergreen sprigs to the water. Fill a paper cup with pebb
les and stretch 4 - 5 strips of tape from the inside of the cup to the outside o
f the bucket. Make tape strings long enough so they will secure the cup in the
middle of the bucket to keep it from sinking to the bottom. Freeze until the wa
ter is solid, slide off the bucket and remove the paper cup. You may have to te
ar the cup out a little at a time to remove it completely. Set a votive or tea
light candle in the hole created.
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Apple Wreath
2 (16-ounce) packages dried apple rings
15 inches of wire
15 inches of ribbon
Slip the apple rings onto the wire, bend into a circle and fasten ends together.
Make a bow from the ribbon and place at the top. Hang for aroma and decoratio
n.

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Wreath for Wassail
Ribbon
1 grapevine wreath to fit around punch bowl
Interweave the ribbon through the wreath. It looks nice if the ribbon coordinat
es with your tablecloth. Set holiday wassail in the grapevine wreath to serve.
This adds a festive country look to your table.
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Fresh Fruit Wreath
Nails
Straw wreath
Fresh firm fruits
Fresh evergreen
Ribbon for bow
Pound the nails through the back side of a straw wreath so the nail ends stick o
ut the front of the wreath about I - 1112 inches. If you put them in at an angl
e, they hold better. Push apples, pears, oranges or other fruits onto the nails
. Fasten evergreen in between fruit to fully cover wreath. Add a bow, hang and
enjoy.
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Spicy Potpourri
1/2 cup dried apples, cut in pieces
4 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
I whole nutmeg, broken into pieces
2 tablespoons whole allspice
1/2 cup whole cranberries, dried
2 tablespoons whole cloves
3 drops cinnamon oil (3 to 5)
Combine all ingredients. Place in a mesh bag, tie with pretty ribbon and attach
to Christmas gifts for family and friends. Place potpourri in pretty bowls and
place throughout your home.
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Holiday Fragrance
3 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup whole cloves
1/2 lemon, sliced into wedges
1/2 orange, sliced into wedges
1 quart water
In a large saucepan, place all ingredients and bring to a boil; reduce heat and
simmer as long as desired, adding more water as needed. Cool and refrigerate be
tween uses. Discard when no longer effective.

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Graham Cracker Cottage
2 egg whites
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
8 graham cracker squares
Assorted candy for decoration
Beat the egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer. When foamy, gradually
add sugar, continuing to beat constantly. Frosting should be fluffy, stiff and
very white. Assemble cottage as illustration shows below, using frosting to ho
ld together pieces. Allow house to dry. Attach candy decorations with dabs of
frosting.
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Christmas Pinecones
1/2 pound soda
1/2 pound borax
1/2 pound salt
Soak pinecones overnight in any of the above dissolved in 1/2 gallon water. Rem
ove from solution and place in mesh bags to dry thoroughly. When the pinecones
are thrown into your fireplace fire, they will burn different colors.
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Christmas Fire Starters
Colorful and handy to keep in a basket by the fire
Paraffin or candle stubs
Hot water
Medium-sized pine cones
Wicks
Red & green crayons
Melt the paraffin or candle stubs in a double boiler over hot water. Completely
dip each pine cone in the paraffin, remove and cool. Pour paraffin 1/2-inch de
ep into the cups of a muffin tin. In each cup, insert a wick about 1 1/2 inches
long so that it will stick out the side. Before the paraffin hardens, press th
e cones into the cups and allow them to harden. Loosen them from the muffin tin
by dipping the bottom of the tin into hot water. Melt a small amount of additi
onal paraffin and red or green crayons in a double boiler; cool. Dip the bottom
of the cones into the colored paraffin and dry them on wax paper. Place fire s
tarters under the kindling and light the wick.
Note: Use scented candle stubs to add a delicious aroma.