Dare to DIY... Give Handmade!

I am all about Christmas this year. I couldn't wait to get my tree up! And start shopping! (Nearly done, too!) And do crafts! And bake!

I combined those last two things for a mini gift for a few family members: cinnamon ornaments that I'll be using as dual-purpose gift tags!

I combined 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, about 1/4 cup of cinnamon, and 1 cup of water. Mix well (it's a little tough to combine) and roll out to desired thickness. I went with about 1/8 inch.

I cut a variety of shapes. The larger circles above will (hopefully!) have hand prints of my nephew on them, if we can get him to cooperate. We'll see. I used a straw to cut out a hole on each shape for the string/yarn/wire/whatever I find to attach them.

Bake at 350*F for 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness of dough and the size of the cut outs). Flip them over and bake for another 15-25 minutes until they are nice and hard.

Then the fun part... decorating!! I used basic acrylic craft paints on the gift tags/ornaments. You can seal them with ModPodge if you like, but I like the matte rustic look so I opted not to.

A few of the final pieces (I still have more to go!):

The hardest part was getting the monogram letters to look how I wanted. The "C" was the hardest one!

Another handmade gift, that is actually overdue but will end up being a Christmas gift, are these knit hand warmers. I am so tempted to keep them for myself!! (I have a pair of red ones that I wear all the time!)

I've linked up at Kim's Dare to DIY: Give Handmade... head over there to check out other handmade gift projects!