Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments

I remember making salt dough ornaments as a child – well vaguely I remember had to confirm with my mom! So when I saw a great post about the ornaments on Fly Through our Window the other day I figured what a fun idea. So I gathered together supplies.

I was able to use my bread hook attachment for my favorite pink kitchen-aide (first time!)

And put my pretty marble rolling pin to good use.

I ended up buying a random sack of cookie cutters for a $1 at the grocery store as realized I didn’t have any. Ooops.


But they worked out great and the ornaments turned out exactly how I was hoping.

I am using most of mine as gift tags. Figure for once I could be creative with my wrapping. And they smell delicious!


Here is the recipe I used in case you want to try this at home. It really was pretty simple:

Salt Dough Ornaments
3 cups flour
1 cup cinnamon
1 cup nutmeg
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water

Preheat oven to 200. Yields 30 to 40 small/medium size ornaments.
Wisk together flour, spices, and salt in mixing bowl {stand mixer if you have one} until well incorporated. Add bread hook* and gradually add warm water until dough ball collects. Using half of the dough at once, roll out on a floured surface until flat and very even {they do not rise at all so try get the rolled out dough as even as you can}. Using your favorite cookie cutters {dipped in flour} cut out shapes. The dough is fairly dense/heavy so a small to medium cutter is probably best. Using a straw add a “hole” at the top of each ornament so it can hang. Transfer to cookie sheets {I lined with parchment, I don’t think you have to though} and bake at 200° for 2 hours, turn off oven and let sit for another hour. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks. Using a basting brush dust off excess flour. Now you can paint your ornaments if desired or not. Finish them by spraying them with a clear polyurethane {outside or in a well-ventilated garage} or a glossy Mod Podge, or if desired, you can leave them all natural like I did!

*If you don’t have a stand mixer you can mix by hand and knead until the dough is well incorporated and all pulled together in a dough ball.

Thanks Darby for the idea! I say this like we are friends - when really I have never met her just stalk her blog and precious children.

It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!!

Thank goodness as it’s Christmas in just a few short days. I feel so happy every day when I walk in my home now that it’s decorated. Amazing how it can alter ones mood and put you in the Christmas spirit.





My decorations this year are almost the same as last year viewable here. Since I have a fancier camera this year I figured I would zoom in and focus on detail.










And the few things I did different as didn’t have my staff of elves helping this round.



I had to include these precious photos of the naughty kitty caught in the act of eating the decorations.


Next year I will definitely decorate right after Thanksgiving, use a real tree. and real greenery. Very excited for Christmas day to arrive so I can host my family for Christmas breakfast and dinner.

*Christmas quilt was sewn by my grandmother for me, and the awesome stockings were crocheted by my mother! I love handmade goodies.

O Christmas Tree

I finally have a tree up and decorated. Nothing like procrastination. Sadly said procrastination led to the use a fake tree this year instead of a live one. All the tree vendors were closed or only had a few scraggly trees left as of last week - lesson learned.




It is so fun to come home each night to a living room lit by Christmas lights. Makes everything prettier and festive.



I thought this photo was funny as I can see myself snapping a photo in the ornament’s reflection.

Happy Holidays!

Farewell to Germany

Our final day/night was Frankfurt due to proximity to the airport. Sadly our hotel was an epic fail and required us walking almost an hour to the train station. Ooops. Pretty scenery along the way but awfully darn cold! Luckily once we found the Frankfurt Christmas Markets all was smiles again.


Had dinner with a very fun and lively couple from Stockholm, Sweden. And then enjoyed a final glass (or two) of Gluhwein before calling it a night to try to cram all our newly purchased goodies into our suitcases.


I would definitely encourage everyone to visit the Christmas Markets in Germany – so much fun and foresee a repeat visit sometime in our future. Now time to focus on Christmas right here at home!

More German Christmas Cheer – Nuremberg

After Munich we ventured via train to Nuremberg. My mom and I loved this city! We lucked out with an amazing hotel room, that even though quite dated, was very fun as two levels with a room for each of us and several balconies.



Fun right? The bathroom reminded me of those in Kuwait as had a huge tub and a bidet…

It was fun to spread out for a few nights. But of course most of our time was spent soaking in the and local architecture.





and of course the Christmas Markets.










We actually enjoyed these markets a little more than Munich even though we didn’t purchase as much. Of course we had to find fun pubs to pop into and warm ourselves from the cold. We lucked upon a few great ones.



This was our favorite.

They served the best Nuremberg style sausages – which other than Bratwurst are my favorite choice for Germany (well along with sauerkraut, potatoes, German beer, dessert….)


One of the days it was snowing big gorgeous snowflakes.


So pretty yet so very cold! So we decided to warm up with a ride on a Bavarian Horse drawn carriage.



So fun and a great way to see a little more of the city.

Another wonderful few days in Germany with my mom. Oh yeah and those big gorgeous snowflakes turned these streets from this:




to this overnight:





Very pretty since I didn't have to drive but a little hard to aneuver the luggage!