How do you make those handmade cinnamon ornaments stand out among the rest?
Create beautiful handmade cinnamon ornaments now so that they are ready for your Christmas decorating!
In this post, you will get an easy recipe and a few simple ideas to make them your own style, whether country, farmhouse, vintage, or primitive.
The little blue cabin cut out ornament
Here is my recipe for handmade cinnamon ornaments
Gather your ingredients
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
4 TBSP Cinnamon
3 TBSP Instant Coffee, plus 1 TBSP for later
2 Cups Boiling Water
Paint
Egg White
Before continuing, please read through all of the instructions so that you will know how to make these cinnamon ornaments look handmade and original.
In a small bowl, mix instant coffee and hot boiling water and let cool.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add 1 cup of your cooled coffee mixture If it feels too dry, add a few splashes of your coffee. If it feels too sticky, add a few teaspoons of flour.
Ollie is always watching. Do you see him?
This is what the dough should look like before kneading.
After kneading 5 minutes ~ looks good!
Knead for 5 minutes until the dough feels smooth and the texture is a little shinny. Form it into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for half an hour, but if you don’t have time to finish, you can store this in the fridge for a bit. When ready to use, let it sit out (still wrapped) on the counter for 20 minutes before using it.
Now for the fun part!
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Roll dough out on another piece of parchment 1/4″ – 1/2″. Cut using one of the options below and place shapes on your cookie sheet. Add a hole at the top with a straw or toothpick to hang the ornaments.
Place them in the preheated oven and bake until hard, about 3 hours total. After an hour, loosen up at the bottom because this will help them to dry, then continue to bake until they are pretty hard and dry.
Alternately you could take them out of the oven after the first hour and let sit on a flat surface for a day or two until completely dry.
The secret to making your cinnamon ornaments handmade and original is simple…
Cutting Ideas:
To make them unique and one-of-kind pieces of artwork, make your own pattern. On a piece of cardboard draw your shape and cut out. Place your pattern on the dough, then using a small sharp knife carefully cut through the dough along the edges of your cardboard. Alternately, this works very well with Springerle molds or a favorite cookie cutter.
Painting Ideas:
For each different style below, this is how I do it:
-
- Vintage Chalkware: Sponge on unevenly and dab off with a paper towel.
- Primitive and Country: Lightly brush on but leave some of the cookie showing around the edge.
- Farmhouse and Folky Handmade: Paint to the edge so that you can see the details of your shape.
The little blue cabin!
- Do what you love! These are just a few ideas.
So pretty on wreaths and swags.
One last tip…
The difference between stained and unstained.
Make this simple staining mixture. I usually decide on how I want the ornament to look before using this on them because it makes them a little more primitive looking. You can see my pictures for a few examples.
- 1 Egg White
- 1TBSP Instant Coffee
Lightly whisk the egg white with a tablespoon of instant coffee and mix well until dissolved.
Paint this “staining” mixture on your ornaments, if desired, and let dry.
Adorned with rusty bells and berries.
These are perfect for Christmas decorating but I have made different handmade ones for the rest of the year too!
Cinnamon Ornaments
Make them your style...Country, Farmhouse, Vintage, Primitive, Folky and Handmade
Simple and easy to create.
Materials
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Salt
- 4 TBSP Cinnamon
- 3 TBSP Instant Coffee, plus 1 TBSP for later
- 2 Cups Boiling Water
- Paint
- Egg White
Tools
- 2 Bowls: 1 large, 1 small
- Whisk
- Parchment Paper
- Rolling Pin
- Cutting Board (optional)
- x-acto knife or small sharp knife (optional)
- Cookie Cutters
- Twine and Ribbon
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix instant coffee and hot boiling water. Let dissolve and cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add 1 cup of your cool coffee mixture If it feels too dry and crumbly, add a few splashes of your coffee mixture. If it feels too sticky, add a few teaspoons more of flour.
- Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough feels smooth and the texture is a little shinny. Form it into a big ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for half an hour. You can also keep it in the fridge for a day or two. When ready to use, let it sit out (still wrapped) on the counter for about 20 minutes before using it.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll dough out on a piece of parchment 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. Cut using one of the options below and place shapes on your cookie sheet. Add a hole at the top with a toothpick if you are going to hang the ornaments.
- Place them in the preheated oven and bake until hard, about 3 hours. After an hour, loosen up at the bottom. Continue baking until they are pretty hard and dry. Let cool completely. Alternately you could take them out of the oven after the first hour and let sit on a flat surface for a day or two until completely dry.
- When dry, cut out ornaments, either by making your own pattern and cut or by using a cookie cutter or mold.
- Using acrylic paint, sponge or brush the tops of the ornaments.
- Let dry.
- Lightly whisk one egg white with a tablespoon of instant coffee and mix well until dissolved.
- Brush this "staining mixture" over your ornament, if desired, and let dry.
- Add twine or ribbon for hanging.
Notes
Tips for painting and staining to make it your style:
- Vintage Chalkware look: Sponge on unevenly and dab off with a paper towel. No stain.
- Primitive and Country: Lightly brush on color but leave some of the cookie showing around the edge. Use eggwash stain.
- Farmhouse and Folky: Paint to the edge so that you can see the details of your shape. You can decide if you want to use the stain on this style. Usually I will use it for the darker colors, but leave it off for white and lighter colors.
Have fun with it and do what you love!
MY OTHER CHRISTMAS DECORATING TUTORIALS
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