salt dough ornaments

Salt dough is a fun craft to do with the kids! Mix up a batch of our salt dough recipe for making Christmas ornaments, keepsake handprints, or other salt dough crafts.

Salt Dough Recipe for Ornaments, Handprints, and Crafting

all-purpose flour

table salt

water

Glitter, paint, and ribbon,

Polyurethane spray, for preservation

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour...

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Slowly stream in the water while stirring until it comes together. Finish mixing together with hands. Knead until dough is soft, about five minutes.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place half of the...

Preheat oven to 300°F. Place half of the dough between two large pieces of parchment paper. Roll out until 1/8" thick. Remove the top sheet of parchment.

Using cookie cutters, cut shapes (leaving them on...

Using cookie cutters, cut shapes (leaving them on the parchment). Peel away the excess dough. Transfer the parchment with shapes to a baking sheet.

Using a straw or toothpick, poke a hole...

Using a straw or toothpick, poke a hole for ribbon or an ornament hanger. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until hard.

Once cooled, decorate using glitter and paint. To...

Once cooled, decorate using glitter and paint. To make sure the ornaments last a long time (I have one from 30 years ago!), spray with a light coat of polyurethane spray. Thread on a ribbon and hang on tree.

These take a few hours to bake and cool, so plan to do the rolling and painting in two separate sessions either morning and afternoon or on two different days. You can make these as ornaments with holes, or just as shapes for the kids to decorate. Skip the holes if you don't plan to hang them.

The Best Easy Salt Dough

flour

Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. When it becomes too stiff to stir, use clean hands to bring the dough together.

NOTE: If the dough is too wet and sticky, knead in a little more flour, about 1 tablespoon at a time. If it's too stiff, add a little more water, about 1 tablespoon at a time. There is a big range in the way different flours absorb liquid, so there is a normal range of variation here. It should be easy to work with—soft and not too stiff and not excessively sticky.

Knead a few times until the dough is uniform and soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 or 4 sections and roll out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper. This will help prevent sticking.

Cut out with cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Repeat rolling and cutting out shapes to use up the dough.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Do a 4-5-inch circle and press in a child's handprint if desired.

Use a paper lollipop stick or a skewer to make a hole to hang as an ornament.

If making ornaments, bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours; if baking handprints, bake for 2-3 hours. Continue baking both ornaments and handprints as needed until they are until just firm to the touch, checking every 20 minutes. (It's not a problem if yours take longer than the initial baking time—it varies based on thickness and size...which will likely vary if you are baking these with kids!) They do not need to be rock hard, but should not feel squishy. Handprints will likely take longer than smaller ornaments and may take closer to 4 hours.

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Salt Dough Recipe for Ornaments, Ha...

The Best Easy Salt Dough

Top 2 salt dough ornaments recipes from across the web

The most viewed salt dough ornaments recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Salt Dough Recipe for Ornaments, Ha...

The Best Easy Salt Dough

The most viewed salt dough ornaments recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine