Making ornaments using cinnamon sticks is a classic Christmas craft; one I can even remember doing as a kid. Today we’re sharing this fun tutorial for making colorful nutcracker ornaments to hang on your tree this year.
Cinnamon Stick Christmas Ornaments
You could say I have a thing for nutcrackers. My goal is to collect enough of them to line up along the edge of my living room bay window at Christmas. But what I will remember most about making these nutcracker cinnamon stick ornaments is the sweet scent of cinnamon. It reminded me of when Jane and I crafted this lavender driftwood window wreath years ago and the fragrant lavender.
Materials Needed:
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- Cinnamon Sticks, x 1 6” long and x2 3” long
- Americana Acrylics Paint in Snow White, True Blue, Lamp Black, Warm Biege
- DecoArt Extreme Sheen in 24K Gold
- Paint brush
- Hot glue gun and clear glue sticks
- Gold ribbon, cut to 10” long
How to Make Nutcracker Cinnamon Stick Ornaments
Start by painting one third of the longest cinnamon stick in Warm Biege. Next, paint the tips of the other shorter cinnamon sticks in the same Warm Biege color.
Paint the lower half of the longest cinnamon stick in white and leave them to dry fully.
Once dry, paint the middle section of all sticks in blue (or whatever color you choose for the nutcracker).
Next, paint the both ends of the longest cinnamon stick in black and add a narrow stripe to the middle of the long stick, over top of the blue painted section.
Last but not least, paint the unfinished ends of the shorter sticks in 24K gold.
Preheat the glue gun. Glue the shorter sticks to the sides of the long cinnamon stick.
Fold the ribbon in half and glue the cut end to the top of the nutcracker.
Make as many of these nutcracker cinnamon stick ornaments as you like, changing up the colors like we did using only primary red, yellow and blue.
More Christmas Craft Ideas:
For more festive character DIYs check out this DIY snowman decoration, Gnome Christmas ornaments, light bulb Santa or this wood block snowman.
Snowman Decoration 
Gnome Ornaments 
Light Bulb Santa 
Wood Block Snowman
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Nutcracker Cinnamon Stick Ornaments
Materials
- Cinnamon Sticks 1x 6” long and 2x 3” long
- Americana Acrylics Paint in Snow White, True Blue, Lamp Black, Warm Biege (we also used Primary Red and Yellow for the additional ornaments)
- DecoArt Extreme Sheen in 24K Gold
- Paint brush
- Hot glue gun and clear glue sticks
- Gold ribbon cut to 10” long
Instructions
- Paint one third of the longest cinnamon stick in Warm Biege. Paint the tips of the other shorter cinnamon sticks in the same color.
- Paint the lower half of the longest cinnamon stick in white.
- Paint the middle section of all sticks in blue.
- Paint the both ends of the longest cinnamon stick in black and add a narrow stripe to the middle of the long stick, over top of the blue painted section.
- Paint the unfinished ends of the shorter sticks in 24K gold.
- Preheat the glue gun. Glue the shorter sticks to the sides of the long cinnamon stick.
- Fold the ribbon in half and glue the cut end to the top of the nutcracker.