Looking for some fun Christmas crafts to work on with the kids? Salt dough ornaments are super easy and fun for adults and little ones!
You will need:
1 Cup Flour
½ Cup Table Salt
½ Cup Cold Water
Cookie Cutters (or other creative shapes to cut the dough with)
A Straw
String/Ribbon/Yarn
Decorating supplies (paint, glitter, gems/jewels, eye balls, etc)
Instructions:
- Mix your flour and salt in a bowl
- Gradually add cold water mixing with a spoon until your mixture starts to bind in chunks. The mixture should not be soggy. You may not need the entire ½ cup of water.
- When the mixture is a good consistency, use your hands to work it together and mold it into a ball. (Keep in mind that salt may dry out your hands, if you are especially sensitive, wear gloves).
- Dust your work space with flour and move your ball to the counter.
- Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth. Press the ball of dough down.
- Use a flour dusted rolling pin to roll out the dough to your desired thickness.
- Use cookie cutters or other objects to cut shapes.
- Use a straw to poke a small hole at the top of the ornament (this is where the string to hang it will go)
- Place on a non-stick cookie sheet.
- Bake for 3-4 hours at 300 degrees, flipping halfway through. Bake until the dough is completely dry. Your cook time may be more/less depending on the thickness of your shapes. If the salt dough is turning brown, you have cooked it too long.
Wait for the ornaments to cool, and you are ready to decorate!
Keep in mind that salt dough is not clay, and the shapes may not come out perfectly flat. That’s ok, it gives them character!
Be creative! Your ornaments are only limited by your creativity. You can find all kinds of cookie cutter shapes; hearts, stars, Christmas trees, Santa, stockings, etc.
As for decorating, acrylic paint works well and is very easy to clean up. Glitter, jewels, and ribbon can all be purchased very economically at stores like Dollar Tree.
*Tip* Hand prints and paw prints are really fun to make into salt dough ornaments. You simply need to find a round object large enough to accommodate the print. You can use a Mason jar ring, a cereal bowl, or a glass to create a circle in your salt dough. Then place the dough on a plate or other hard surface before pressing the print into the salt dough.
After several attempts printing our dog, Zeus (he wasn’t overly cooperative), my husband and I made this salt dough ornament last year.
Be creative and have fun!
