Halloween DIY: Cinnamon Bat Ornaments

• 1 cup cinnamon
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 3 Tablespoons white glue (I used Modge Podge, but Elmers is also fine)*
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)
• Black acrylic paint

In a large bowl, combine your applesauce, cinnamon, pie spice and glue*. (There are lots of variations on this recipe that do not include glue.  I like adding glue to give my ornaments a little more structural integrity, but it’s totally up to you.  If you skip the glue, just adjust your applesauce/cinnamon ratio until you end up with dough.)

Drizzle in your black paint until you achieve the color you are happy with.

Knead your dough with your hands.  It will start out very sticky, but as you work with it, should tighten up.  If you want to hurry this process along, you can add more cinnamon.  If your dough is too dry and starting to crack, add more applesauce.

This recipe is a lot like life, it’s all about balance.

Roll out your dough to approximately 1/4″ thickness and use your cookie cutters to cut out your bats.

Don’t forget to add a hole at the top of your bat if you plan on hanging it from a ribbon!

Transfer your cut bats to a drying rack. You can dry your bats at room temperature for 1-3 days (flipping occasionally to ensure even drying) or, if you’re in a hurry, transfer them to a parchment lined cookie sheet and pop them into a 200F/93C oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Your bats will shrink a bit as they dry so if making holes in the top to thread ribbon through, keep that in mind.

Thread a bit of ribbon or string through the top of your bats and hang them wherever you like!  I tied a few to the branches of our tree, used some on packages I gave away, and kept one that sits in my office by my window because it’s just so cute (and smells so yummy!).