Christmas fever!

Today was such a wonderfully relaxing day! I made some bread dough Christmas ornaments, wrapped some presents and wrote some Christmas cards. I also took a nap and watched some tv. It was great! It's funny because even though Christmas in Australia is nothing like Christmas at home, the best part is still just as exciting! What's the best part, you may ask? The prep work! Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, writing cards, making Christmas crafts, decorating, posting parcels and baking! I just love it and as an added bonus, I have the perfect excuse to start it all early! I have to be organized to get everything to Canada in time!:) Steve still stands by his no decorating until December 1st rule, which is fine, but I had to make these ornaments today for work. Really, I just had to. I'm planning to make some with the kids in a few weeks and I wanted to find a recipe that was easy, cheap to make and worked well. What I really wanted to make were these...


Cinnamon-Applesauce Craft Dough
1 ½ Cups ground Cinnamon
1 Cup Applesauce
¼ Cup White School Glue
Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Add water if the dough is too stiff, a little at a time (be careful not to overdo it). Knead mixture for five to ten minutes. Return mixture to bowl an let sit for about half an hour. Roll dough to a thickness of ¼ to 1/8 inches. Cut with cookie cutters. Make holes for hanging with a straw. Cover a wire rack with a paper towel and place ornaments on the towel to dry. Ornaments can also be dried by baking them on a rack (without the paper towel) for two hours at 200 degrees. Sand dried ornaments with fine sand paper or emery boards. Wipe sanded edges with a damp sponge to relieve discoloration.

...but I think applesauce and cinnamon might be too expensive for 130 kids! So, I tried this recipe...

Salt Bread Dough
¼ Cup Salt
½ Cup Boiling Water
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
¼ Teaspoon Vegetable Oil
Food Coloring (optional)
Pour boiling water in a bowl and add salt and food coloring (if using). Add remaining ingredients. Knead dough to desired consistency for crafting. Keep salt dough wrapped in plastic when not in use. Model dough as desired. It may be helpful to keep a bowl of water nearby while crafting to smooth dough and attach pieces. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Ornaments will puff a little when baked. Completed ornaments may be painted, or brush with beaten egg and water mixture prior to baking for a darkened, shiny appearance.
...and they turned out pretty good! I think I will still make the apple and cinnamon ones for me a bit closer to Christmas though...they just smell SO good!


And just so you know, I just bought this little Christmas tree this past week. I figure it'll be easy to squish in my suitcase and then set up in our camper van when we're bumming around Tasmania at Christmas! For now, it holds my dough ornaments well!