TiNY Club: Cinnamon Decorations

“Don’t worry, Omu. We are not here to ask…we are here to give.”

At the end of Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora, Omu finds herself with an empty pot of stew. The next thing she knows, all of her neighbors are there with gifts! Salad, delicious desserts, even a roast chicken. Soon her kitchen is full once more.

As we enter the holiday season, many of us are thinking about gifts. The best part about gifts isn’t asking for gifts – it’s giving them! Below is a recipe for cinnamon dough that can be used to make delicious-smelling gifts for friends and family.

Ingredients:

1 cup cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
A drying rack
Optional: cookie cutters, ribbon, and a straw

Recipe:

1. Mix the cinnamon and applesauce together in a bowl until it looks like dough. You may need to use your hands to mix in all the cinnamon!

2. Use your hands to form shapes out of the dough. You can make hearts, stars, cats, dogs – anything you’d like! Flatten them out with your hand so that they dry all the way through. If you’d like, you can use cookie cutters to create shapes.

3. If you want to make a garland out of your shapes, use a straw to punch a hole through the top of each shape. After they have dried, you can tie them into a garland with ribbon.

4. Place your shapes on a drying rack. They will need several days to dry.