As promised, I made a list of non-food projects that you can use your stash of cookie cutters to make.
10 Crafts to Make with Cookie Cutters
- Sun art. Set a cookie cutter on top of solar paper (or even very dark construction paper) and set it in bright sun for a few hours. The cookie cutter will keep the paper from changing color where it sits, and the rest of the paper will darken (for solar paper) or fade (for construction paper).
- Cinnamon air fresheners. Mix equal parts of sweetened applesauce and cinnamon. Knead and squeeze until a solid dough forms. Press it down to about ¼" thickness and cut out with a cookie cutter. Use a drinking straw to poke a hole near the top so that you can thread a ribbon through it after baking. Place the cut outs on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 until they harden. Cool completely, then string a ribbon through the hole and hang.
- Recycled crayons. Set a metal cookie cutter on a metal baking sheet. Fill the cookie cutter up with broken crayons (wrappers removed) and bake at 350 degrees. Watch it closely, the crayons will melt and form one large, shaped crayon. Allow to cool and pop the crayon out.
- Stained glass candy. Use Jolly Ranchers (or similar candy) in the same way that you use the crayons in #3 above. Heat the candy until it just melts, allow it to cool, and pop out of the cookie cutter.
- Garlands or ornaments. For a garland, tie a dozen or so cookie cutters along a velvet ribbon, tying a knot between each. For ornaments, tie 1 to 3 cookie cutters to a loop of thin ribbon. Attach to a wreath, tree, mirror, or almost anywhere. For a personalized ornament, you could attach a picture inside the cookie cutter, and tie it up in the same way. What Grandmother wouldn't want to decorate her Christmas tree with ornaments of her little cherubs?
- Stencils. Cookie cutters are perfect stencils. Use them to make coloring pages for small kids, to make shaped cards, to decorate wrapping paper, and about a thousand other things. You can even use the cookie cutters themselves to paint.
- Dough shapes. Play-Doh, salt dough, homemade Bisquick dough. If you want to play, crumple up and reuse the shapes. If you want to use the shapes to decorate, bake and harden them.
- Floating candles. I think these are really cute, and they are simple to make. The best part? You can recycle old bits o' candle that are lying around.
- Bird feeders. You can cut a piece of bread using a cookie cutter, smear it with peanut butter, and then press the peanut butter into bird seed. It's like the old pine cone bird feeder but with a piece of bread.
And in a nice, fun shape. - Carve a pumpkin. It is a little tricky, but after you scoop out the seeds of the pumpkin, you can use some sturdy cookie cutters to punch out shapes for your jack-o-lantern.
Kelly @ miskellany says
homemade crayons? best idea ever!
Kelly @ miskellany says
homemade crayons? best idea ever!
apichea says
I'll be adding this post to my ideas for school projects... thanks for sharing!
ohamanda says
You are just awesome. Really. I love this series!
Andrea says
Wow, I never knew you could do so much with a cookie cutter. I honestly can't think of anything else to add to your list.
One "semi-creative" thing I do with cookie cutters is to attach a few of them to mason jars filled with with the sand-art cookie mix.
bennettaj says
Oh my! So many good ideas! I love the pumpkin one!
Olivia says
I love to cut out shapes in whatever the kiddos are eating (peanut butter play dough, ham, etc.) We just talked about this yesterday on Of Such of the Kingdom where we're having our first birthday blog bash! We're digging up old posts and giving out tons of prizes. Come on over!
suchakingdom.blogspot.com
JessieLeigh says
Awesome ideas! Love it! We recently traced cookie cutters on paper, followed the outline with glue, then shook colored sand on to make pretty sand art. Lots of fun! 🙂
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
I got some new ideas from Twitter the other night. Wait til you see what I have in store for you! 🙂
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
I've never done that. I think the cookie cutters will have to be super sharp, but I'm really interested in trying it come October!
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
Fun!
FeelsLikeHomeBlog says
I like doing that, too. The mini cookie cutters make perfect pieces for my muffin tin lunches, too, and Grace will eat them without a fuss. She loves when things have goofy shapes.
Diane Rice says
Love these ideas!
Woodworking Project Plans says
Great ideas! Love it!
Woodworking Project Plans says
I love this series! Thanks for sharing!
buggalcrafts says
I just shared a link to this post in my series on Cookie Cutters: Not Just For Cookies Anymore! I found several ideas I haven't seen before here! I hope you will stop by and take a look at this series. Hope you find something new too!
http://buggalcrafts.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/cookie-cutters-not-just-for-cookies-anymore-post-26-more-cookie-cutter-ideas-links-found-on-the-web/
Teresa says
I'm a little confused about the cinnamon air freshener. How do you knead applesauce & cinnamon and then get it hard enough to cut with a cookie cutter. Are these the only ingredients used?
Tara Ziegmont says
Yep. When you knead them together, they will eventually become a stiff dough that you can roll out and cut with cookie cutters.
buggalcrafts says
These are superior for the scent but if u want more durable "cookies" try a recipe that uses cinnamon and wood glue.