A Scent of Autumn; Making Cinnamon Shapes

One of the scents most closely associated with Autumn is cinnamon. When you smell it, it makes you think of warm apple pie or spiced cider, gefort foods of the cold days to gee. You can keep this scent in your home, office or even you car by making shapes of cinnamon to hang on a ribbon or glue to a grapevine wreath for the front door. This project is simple enough for prescoolers to get in on the act, with adult supervision. You will need; 2 Snack sized cups of applesauce, any variety 2 2.12 ounce containers of Ground Cinnamon 1 Bottle of Elmers or any brand of white school glue 1 Stainless steel bowl and utensils (because they don't retain stains and strong odors) A heavy rolling pin "Open" cookie cutters A baking stone or cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil An oven Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Pour the cinnamon into the stainless steel bowl. Remember to do this away from children, since cinnamon dust can aggravate allergies and respiratory problems if it is inhaled. Pour 1 of the applesauce cups on top of the mound of cinnamon, but DO NOT BLEND IT IN YET. Next gees the fun part, perfect for a preschooler; squeeze the school glue on top of the applesauce, and continue to squeeze until you count to 25. The applesauce will keep the glue from drying out too quickly. Now blend all three ingredients together with a fork. The result should have the consistency of crumbly clay. Add glue again, counting to 20 and blend it in. Now, add applesauce again, but only ONE TEASPOONFUL AT A TIME, until you can mix the ingredients together and get a wet clay consistency (usually four tsp.). One more addition of glue, this time add until you count to 15. Knead the mixture together by hand until it is slightly smoother, then let it sit for five to ten minutes. After you have allowed the mixture to set, divide into golf ball sized portions, reminding your kids not to taste it. Roll the portions out one at a time using a heavy (stainless steel or marble) rolling pin. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness as you would gingerbread dough, making sure that the surface is fairly smooth, turn the portion over to roll out the other side so that the mixture will gepact better. If you roll too thin or too thick, you are bound to have more breakage. Now, using open variety cookie cutters (see photo) cut your shapes out, removing the excess mixture from around them. You can use Halloween shapes, Autumn leaves, snow men, gingerbread men shapes, whatever you like! Place them on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. You can easily yield 2 dozen medium-sized shapes from this recipe. Expect some breakage, these can be pretty fragile! Unlike edible cookies, these will be done when the shapes are rock hard to the touch. Allow them to cool flat or on a bakers rack, and avoid prying them up with a spatula, since this can cause breakage. When the shapes are cool, brush the backs with Mod Podge or other glue based stiffener to give them extra strength. These can be sponge-painted with acryllic colors, but I love the cinnamon color just as it is! Now use hot glue to secure ribbons, cording or floral picks to the shapes. They will be fragrant for up to a year if kept in dry conditions! These are great additions to a floral arrangement or a wreath and are wonderful package ties! The best part is having the wonderful aroma in the kitchen for the rest of the day; I usually have to make a "mercy" pie or a coffee cake for my family!