December 10, 2013

Scent is one of the biggest memory triggers for humans; when we smell certain scents they automatically trigger emotions that correspond with things that have happened in our past. Some of the strongest triggers for the holidays usually include the scent of pine trees and cinnamon. Today, I’ve put together 3 DIY cinnamon stick projects to enhance the smell of your environment while adding value to the decorations! All of these projects are quick and easy enough to do with a child.

We have a bundle of spice, cinnamon star, and cinnamon wrapped candles!

small cinnamon DIY banner

Crafty items we will use today:

  • Cinnamon Sticks
  • Glue Dots (you can use a hot glue gun, but glue dots are easier to use and easier to clean up)
  • Ribbon
  • Decorative String
  • Rosemary twigs
  • pine twigs (fake or real)
  • seasonal flowers (fake or real)
  • pine cones (fake or real)
  • pillar candles (height to correspond with your cinnamon sticks)

Do-it-yourself Spice Bundles!

These little charmers smell amazing, and if you make enough of them you can put them all over a Christmas tree to give it an added scent boost! Additionally, they make great little trinkets to have on any decorative surface throughout the home, like on a bar tray, or part of a centerpiece. You could even place a few on the mantel of your fireplace. The nicest thing about these is that while they can be used as a tree ornament, they are non-denominational so you could also just use them as a wintry decorative object that boosts the clarity of the air in your home.

1.) Assemble ingredients: a piece of tape (I have holiday tape, but some clear tape works just fine), glue dots, cinnamon sticks, a few rosemary sprigs, a short length of ribbon, and decorative string if you plan on hanging it as a tree ornament.

Note:  I love the smell of rosemary. You could easily use some sage leaves or thyme; it’s whatever makes your nose tingle! Mistletoe would work too, and then you could hang it above a door!

Spice Bundles - 1

2.) Take a few cinnamon sticks and bundle them together using a strip of tape. I have some cute holiday themed tape, but you can easily use regular old scotch tape for this step, as nobody will see the tape. This will help secure your cinnamon sticks together.

Spice Bundles - 2

3.) Wrap the ribbon that you have chosen around the cinnamon sticks along the line of the tape. Trim the ribbon so that about a 1/4″ of it overlaps at the ends.

4.) Place a glue dot on the end of your ribbon and affix it to the cinnamon sticks. Wrap the ribbon around and place another glue dot between the two ribbon ends so that it sticks together and encloses the cinnamon sticks.

Spice Bundles - 3

5.) Use another glue dot to affix your chosen herb to the top of the ribbon where the seam is, covering the ribbon seam. Using a fourth glue dot (or fifth if you’re messy), attach a seasonal element like a flower or the fake berries I used to top it off.

Spice Bundles - Final (2)

6.) Tie some decorative string over the whole thing, and hang wherever you would like! I used just a double knot to tie it off, and trimmed off the excess.

Spice Bundles - Final (3)

Spice Bundles - Final

 

Cinnamon Stars!

This is a great project for any little hands around the table to help out with. It makes a great door hangar, refrigerator decoration, or tree ornament.  The one thing that may need a little extra love is if you would help a child organize the cinnamon sticks so that the corners all touch!

1.) Assemble ingredients: glue dots, some pretty ribbon, extra long cinnamon sticks, and some holiday flair like the fake pine twigs, pinecones, and fake berries that I use.

Note: You can find extra long cinnamon sticks at most craft stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michael’s. I found mine in the potpourri and candle aisle of Walmart. Additionally, you can use any type of holiday flair that you have around the house or enjoy, whether it be real or fake. Always buy more cinnamon sticks than you think you need! If you have too many, you can make some spiced cider out of it (recipe coming later…!)

CinnaStars - 1

2.) Lay out the cinnamon sticks in the layout of a star so that you can get the corners to touch. Sometimes this takes a little finagling, as the cinnamon sticks are not all completely straight.

CinnaStars - 2

3.) Use glue dots to stick the corners of the star together, then stick an additional glue dot where they cross in the middle of each stick. That way, the star won’t wiggle when you hang it.

CinnaStars - 3

4.) Take a long length of pretty ribbon and tie a bow wherever you would like; make sure you leave a lot of extra room for the ends of the bow because you will use this to hang the ornament. Tie the loose ends of the bow together at the end.

CinnaStars - 4CinnaStars - 5

5.) Using glue dots, attach your holiday flair at any intersection of the cinnamon sticks. I recommend using a few glue dots and finding a couple of contact points. This ensures that your flair won’t fall off at any point.

CinnaStars - 6CinnaStars - 7

6.) Hang it up and enjoy!

 

final

Cinnamon Wrapped Candles!

This adaptation of cinnamon sticks may easily be my favorite. If you do a few, you can combine them in to a gorgeous winter centerpiece. I definitely suggest investing in a few LED candles, as these could be a fire hazard if you try to burn them; they are meant to be decorative rather than functional candles. A real candle could certainly be substituted for an LED one and give a great glowing effect! They make GREAT hostess gifts or presents for people that are difficult to get gifts for. They’re generic enough that all sorts of people like them, but the fact that they are handmade gives them an awesome boost in cool points. Only takes about 20 minutes!

1.) Assemble ingredients: Pillar candles to match the height of your cinnamon sticks, long or short cinnamon sticks, hot glue gun or glue dots, a piece of ribbon that can wrap around the width of your candle +1″, and some decorative flair.

Note: You can find extra long cinnamon sticks at most craft stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michael’s. I found mine in the potpourri and candle aisle of Walmart. Additionally, you can use any type of holiday flair that you have around the house or enjoy, whether it be real or fake. Always buy more cinnamon sticks than you think you need! If you have too many, you can make some spiced cider out of it (recipe coming later…!)

Cinn Candles - 1

2.) Attach one cinnamon stick using 1-2 glue dots to your candle in a vertical fashion. Because the cinnamon sticks are not completely straight you may have to rotate the stick a few times to get it to fit flush against the candle. Wherever it is flush against the candle is where you should apply the glue dot. In this scenario, it may be easier to use a hot glue gun than a glue dot; use your own discretion.

3.) Continue attaching cinnamon sticks in the same manner, as close to each other as possible, until you encircle the candle.

4.) Wrap your decorative ribbon around the candle and decide where you wish to place it; I think it looks nice right in the middle. Use a glue dot on the end of your ribbon to stick it to the cinnamon. Use a second glue dot to affix the ends of the ribbon together like a sandwich, so that they overlap. (This process is very similar to the spice bundles)

Cinn Candles - 2

5.) Use additional glue dots to affix your holiday flair choice. I used a few pine twigs first, with about 3 glue dots to secure. Then, I affixed a fake pine cone with another glue dot, and a final glue dot was used to affix my fake gold berries behind the pine cone at the stem.

Cinn Candles - Single Final Cinn Candles - Single Final 2 Cinn Candles - Final sm

 

See Yesterday’s Post about how to create a Tomato Cage Christmas Tree! 

 

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Published December 10, 2013 | By