Cinnamon Pomander

I don't take you into my kitchen very often...well ever.  And for good reason.  I usually don't know what the heck I'm doing in there.  But today, you are invited, only because we're going to craft in there instead of in the studio.  There will be no eating today.  Well, I guess you could eat this craft but I don't think it would be very tasty.

We're going to use lots of cinnamon.  Cinnamon is a scent that I can sometimes find overpowering but, I enjoy it in the fall.  It's warm and inviting.  I love these pomanders that we're going to make because they can literally last for years and years, and still give off a nice subtle aroma.

Here's what you need:

That's apple sauce and cinnamon.
Don't worry about the brand, you're not going to eat it~

I had this cookie mold from ages ago but if you don't have a mold you could just roll out your dough and just use regular old cookie cutter shapes.

Steps:
1) Measure 1 cup of cinnamon and pour into a mixing bowl.

2) Add about 1/2 cup of apple sauce.

Your dough should be dry and crumbly.

3) Slowly spoon in a bit more apple sauce until your dough is like clay. Make sure to not let it get too wet and sticky.

4) Dust your mold with a bit of cinnamon.

 5) Scoop out a large egg sized shape of dough and gently knead into your mold.

6) Level off the back with a sharp knife.

7) Gently tap your mold until the dough comes out and place on a cookie sheet.

Repeat until you've used up all your dough.

8) Before you put into the oven to bake, don't forget to make a little hole at the top of your shape so that you have something to hang your pomander by when you're all done.

9) Now you can put into the oven for one hour at 150 degrees.

After one hour, take the pomanders off your baking sheet and place right on the rack in the oven for another hour, still at 150 degrees.  This will allow the dough to thoroughly dry out.

Let them cool off, and now comes the fun part.  Decorate your pomanders with ribbon, flowers, buttons, anything you want!

Hang in your kitchen or a hallway and every time you pass by you'll get a lovely poof of cinnamon air.

Pin It

If, after awhile you can't smell it anymore, just rub the back of your pomander down a bit.  It will freshen it up and the cinnamon scent will come alive again.

What do you think?  What's your favourite fall smell?  As I was making this I was wondering if I could try different spices for different smells and colours.  I'm thinking about recycling this craft and making some nice tree ornaments for Christmas.  Use your imagination and see what you come up with!

I'll be linking up all week but don't forget to come back here on Monday for the Make it Great Linky Party!

Have a crafty week!

Inspiration Shot: Nature Walk II

Last week I showed you a cute little moss heart I came across while walking in the woods.  Here's another great shot I got:

Please do not leave any comments telling me all about the disgusting insects that made this beautiful log.  I prefer to envision little leprachaun's dancing around in clogs all night with their elf friends and tearing up the dancefloor~

Show and Tell: Statement Rings

Did you guys see these great rings over at Craft Envy last week?

As soon as I saw them I knew I had to make some.

I bought some flat marbles to make magnets ages ago, but I still haven't painted my magnetic chalk board.  So, on a mission to start using the supplies I have at hand, I set to work on a couple of fun statement rings.   I call them statement rings because they're a little on the HUGE side.

Pin It

I have petite hands, but they really aren't that small....I just used really big marbles~

Even though they're abnormally big I think they're pretty cute, and soooo easy to make.  Just use some mod podge and paste some paper or fabric to the back of the marble and then just glue the marble to a ringy thingy.  Couldn't be easier.

What do you think?  Diamonds aside...can a ring be too big?

Make it Great Monday Feature

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Thanks to everyone who decided to start the week out with some creativity and linked up at yesterday's party.  I don't know about you, but I unfortunately, had quite a few headaches with the linky tool.  Hopefully next week all the kinks will be worked out.

Even with the linky problems it was great to see all of your wonderful projects.  You're all soooooo creative!

The most clicked link was these great Pom Pom Flowers from Rachel over at Lines Across My Face .

Make sure to go visit to check out her great no sew tutorial and then start dreaming about all of the fun ways you can use these cute little flowers!

Make it Great Monday

Yahooo!!  It's time to kick the week off in style.  Link up your family friendly tutorials, recipes, or DIY's below.  (Please no shops or giveaways).

You don't have to be an Etcetorize follower but it sure would be nice.  And here's my party button to post at your site so that others will come check out all of the great projects you've all been working on:





<center><a href="http://www.etcetorize.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k554/Etcetorize/linkypartybutton.jpg"/></a></center>

(Note: Linky tools seems to be acting up a bit tonight. You might have to download your project pic from a file on your computer instead of from your webpage. Just hit the first button on step 4 of the linky page instead of the middle one.)

Ribbon Holder

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's buying crafting supplies.  The one thing I'm bad at is keeping track of what I've bought.  Sometimes I end up buying double because everything gets tucked away somewhere so I don't even realize what I have.

So....a ribbon holder is born!  This is very similar to the Nail Polish Holder project I showed you a couple of weeks ago.  I just took something that everyone uses in the kitchen, and transformed it into something anyone can use in the craft room.

Here's what I started with...

It's supposed to hold saran wrap and tin foil and stuff like that.

As you can see in the background I was on a bit of a priming rampage.  Anyway, this was sitting in my porch screaming at me to do this project already!  So after I taped the little cutter edges, it got  primed and painted white like everything else within my reach that day.

I took out one of the big rolly holders and replaced it with some small dowling I had left over from my Sunglass Holder project.  This was perfect for the ribbons on spools.

Now all (Ok, most) of my ribbon and trim is out where I can see it.  I think it stands a better chance of being used this way instead of sitting in little bags inside of my notions hat box.

In fact, I like this so much I'm going to try to keep an eye out for another one to use for elastic and lace!

What do you think?  How do you store your ribbons?  The great thing about this holder is that it's already fitted out for hanging on a wall.  I have a feeling it'll end up inside my craft closet on the wall so everything's super handy.

I'll be posting at the linky parties all week but don't forget to come back here on Sunday night to add your projects to my new linky party (Make it Great Monday) !

Have a crafty weekend everyone!