Family Traditions: Cinnamon Ornaments

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Growing up in New England, the holidays were everything.  When I think of the month of December, I think of snow on the ground and bundling up in the car to go on drives to see Christmas lights.  Now, living in South Carolina, life is a little different.  I was still in shorts last week, and we take our golf cart out to see the lights around our neighborhood.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love where I live, but nothing beats heading "home" to see family.

This is why I'm so excited about Publix's Home for the Holidays Sweepstakes.  Visit Publix this holiday season and shop for Coca-Cola® to find the code to text and enter to win airfare for two, anywhere in the continental United States to travel home for the holidays.  Five winners will be chosen and the sweepstakes ends 12/30/17.  If I won the sweepstakes, Mike and I would use the money to make our annual trip back to Rhode Island and Connecticut for the holidays.  Mike has so much family in Connecticut that we would not be able to see everyone if we didn't travel there.  Plus, my parents dress my childhood home up so nicely each year with their tree and Christmas village that it's always a highlight for me.

Because we only spend a few days home with family this time of year, we've begun incorporating some of our families' traditions into the holidays at our own home.  From filling our stockings the same way Mike's mom did each year (complete with an orange at the bottom) to opening each door of our advent calendar with excitement (which is still filled at Thanksgiving by my mom), we are all about traditions.  Each of the last few years, I have made cinnamon ornaments for our home, and they smell so much like my childhood.  Growing up, my mom and I would roll out the dough on the kitchen table each year, and cut them into holiday shapes to hang on the tree.

Last time I was at Publix, I grabbed the apple sauce and cinnamon I needed, along with a 6-pack of holiday-themed Coca-Cola® for a fun afternoon of crafting.

What you'll need: 
- 1 cup apple sauce
- 1 1/3 cups ground cinnamon (plus a little more to keep dough from sticking)
- 2 tablespoons school glue
- rolling pin
- wax paper
- cookie cutters
- straw
- cookie sheet
- ribbon

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Combine apple sauce, cinnamon, and glue in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
3. Lay one piece of wax paper on a flat surface, and place the dough ball on top.
4. Cover the dough with a second slice of wax paper, and roll out the dough until it's just thinner than the diameter of the straw.
5. Uncover the dough and cut out shapes using the cookie cutters.
6. Place another piece of wax paper on the cookie sheet, and lay each ornament on the covered cookie sheet.
7. Use the straw opening to cut out one hole on each ornament (for the ribbon).
8. Bake in the oven for 1 hour on the wax paper.
9. Take the ornaments out of the oven, remove the wax paper, and place the ornaments back on the sheet (same side up) to cook for an additional half hour.
10. You will know they're done when they are no long doughy on the bottom.
11. Let the ornaments cool on the cookie sheet and when cool, tie with a piece of ribbon for hanging.

What are your favorite holiday traditions?
Where would you travel if you won the Publix Home for the Holidays Sweepstakes?