12.16.2009

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

Looking for an easy, cheap gift or decoration for the Christmas tree? Straight from the kitchen come salt dough ornaments!
My friend Shana and I made and baked these last week, then painted them yesterday while our kids played. They came out great! You can really make anything you'd like, but we just stuck to cookie cutters and poking designs in circles using a toothpick. Shana made a cute one with her daughter's handprint in the center.
I got the recipe from Emma Hardy's lovely book, Green Crafts for Children.
The book has a lot of salt dough ideas, like jewelry and even a sweet little tea set that looks easy to make. Here's one of the beaded jewelry projects from the book:
The recipe is simple, just a cup of flour, a cup of salt, 1/2 cup of hot water, and a tablespoon of oil. You could add food coloring or powdered Kool-Aid for color, if you'd like.

To make, just dissolve the salt in the hot water, then mix into the flour with the oil. Shape it into whatever designs you and the kids like, making sure to poke a hole at the top for hanging if you're making ornaments. Then bake at 200 degrees for an hour. They look like cookies when they come out. After they cool off, paint them and then hang them on the tree.


12 comments:

TheEclecticElement said...

Those are always fun to make :)
Plus, they are great projects if you have little kids around!

Whimsical Creations said...

Those turned out fantastic!! I started making ornaments out of salt dough with my mom as a kid...now I make them out of polymer clay & sell them. =)

FYI...If you varnish them they will keep for a really long time. I have the ones I made 30yrs ago.

Muthering Heights said...

Those are SO beautiful!! I think I'll give these a try with my girls! :D

Happy said...

I am pretty sure I've made these before as a kid and forgotten all about them! Such a great reminder that there are crafts even I might be capable of doing!

CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) said...

Those turned out great! You could use salt dough to make toy cookies, eh? Maybe paint on chocolate chips?

Mayhem and Moxie said...

Now I am convinced you have some sort of craft super power. I actually tried to make something like this last week with my boy. (Don't laugh. I know it was a stretch.) In any event, let's just say that my ornaments didn't turn out *anything* like yours.

Do you offer tutoring sessions for those of us who are craft-challenged? :)

xoxo

angie said...

I've made salt ornaments before and they didn't look like yours. Sigh. :)

•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Erin.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• said...

Oh those turned out great! I love the little owl too :) So cute. I like the bead idea too.

Anonymous said...

What kind of paint did you use? My daughter and I made some the other day and painted them and the paint is chipping off.

Kathleen W. said...

I just used acrylic paint. I haven't had any problems with chipping off (yet), though I didn't paint it on too thickly--more of a wash than paint.

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