Christmas Ornament Recipes

Jane Jarrell's book Holiday Hugs is chock-full of heartwarming hints for holiday hospitality -- including these recipes for homemade ornaments:

CANDY CANES

Materials:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup cold water
Paste food coloring
White acrylic paint
Paraffin

Directions:

1. Stir together flour, salt, and water.
2. Knead mixture until it forms a stiff dough.
3. To add colors, take portions of the dough and work in little dabs of paste food coloring until you reach your desired shade of red for the candy cane stripes. Color the white dough with white acrylic paint.
4. Roll equal-sized pieces of each color into ropes and twist together. Cut twisted strips to desired lengths and bend top to form a curve.
5. Dry candy canes in a 325 degree oven for 1-2 hours. Dip in paraffin to coat.
6. Tie the various-sized candy canes onto the tree with bright green ribbons.

OLD-FASHIONED SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS
(Makes 2 cups dough)

Materials:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup ground cloves, 1/4 cup ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup ground nutmeg, combined
1 cup salt + 1 cup water, mixed together

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Knead until dough is firm. If still sticky, sprinkle in some cinnamon.
3. Roll dough out on a cinnamon-sprinkled surface and cut out Christmas shapes with cookie cutters. Make a hole with a straw near the top of each cutout.
4. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
5. After these non-edible ornaments are cooled and decorated, thread a ribbon through the top hole and hang them on a tree.