Decorations that make scents

Do you want to make some dough with the kids this weekend? Put away the eggs, the flour and the butter, because this aromatic dough requires only two ingredients in very odd proportion – equal parts applesauce and cinnamon. Sound delicious?

You definitely won’t want to eat this concoction, but you can enjoy its delicious scent as cut-outs for tree ornaments, gift tags and even jewelry for holiday gifts.

Here’s what you’ll need:

•1/2 cup ground cinnamon •1/2 cup commercial applesauce

Here’s the fun:

•Mix together equal parts cinnamon and commercially made applesauce. If it gets a bit sticky, add more cinnamon. If it’s too stiff, try more applesauce.

•Scoop onto a piece of waxed paper, place another sheet on top and roll it out until it’s almost 1/2 inch thick.

•Use cookie cutters you have, or make your own templates by cutting out pieces of cardboard from a cereal box in the desired shapes. Place on top of the dough and trim away the dough around the pattern.

•Use a drinking straw to poke a hole in shapes for threading later onto ribbon or string. Use a toothpick and carve details, such as scales on a fish or a smile on a crescent moon.

•When complete, place them on a cooling rack and allow them to air-dry for about 24 hours or more until they are hard. Or, an adult may set them on a baking sheet and place in a 200-degree oven for about two hours or until hard.

•Using acrylic craft paints in squeeze bottles, create patterns of any kind on your shapes. Dry.

•Fashion a pin or brooch by gluing a clasp on the back, or make a necklace. Tie a string through the hole for ornaments.

•For gift decorations, make shapes of objects that are a clue to what is inside the package.