What Are Cinnamon Sticks Used For?

Air Freshening

• Freshen the air in your home by adding cinnamon sticks to bowls of dry potpourri. Mix four or five sticks with dried apple slices and whole cloves. Add this mix to a pot of boiling water to make a wet potpourri. Tie a bundle of cinnamon sticks together with a ribbon or twine and place on top of the stove. As the stove heats, the scent will penetrate the kitchen. Get the same effect by hanging a bundle over a lampshade.
  
  

Bug Repellent

• Make natural, fresh-scented, insect repellent sachets and bundles to reduce harsh insecticide usage. Add four sticks to a sachet bag with 1/2 cup each of peppercorns and whole cloves. Tie the bag closed and hang in closets and storage areas to repel moths. Place tied bundles of cinnamon sticks near entryways to keep ants out of the house. Place a bundle in each corner of your kitchen counters and pantry shelves to help repel ants.
  
  

Cooking

• Make mulling spice bags to add to wine, tea and apple cider. To make the spice bags, use cheesecloth to make bundles of cinnamon sticks, whole allspice berries, whole cloves, cardamom pods and dried apple and orange slices. Tie the bundles and let them steep in the warm beverage. Use cinnamon sticks as skewers for fruit when you barbecue. Poke holes in strawberries, peach slices, pineapple chunks or grapes with a skewer and thread the cinnamon stick through. Use 3-inch skewers for small, individual portions and 12-inch sticks for larger quantities.
  
  

Crafts

• Fill jars with cinnamon sticks, dried acorns, pods and nuts, then tie a rusty star or strip of homespun around the lid for a decorative country look on a shelf. Weave sticks into a star shape and tie crossing sticks together with twine or raffia. Make scented ornaments for your holiday tree by tying bundles of small cinnamon sticks together with holiday colored raffia, bells and berries, then hang on branches. Decorate a plain glass votive holder by gluing 3-inch sticks around the glass and tying with berry garland or ribbon and embellishing with silk flowers.