How to Make Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments: A Fun Xmas Craft for Kids

I honestly have to say, I love making salt dough Christmas ornaments with my kids! There’s something satisfying about mixing and rolling the dough, then shaping it into keepsake Christmas ornaments. Being able to keep the ornaments from year to year, as well as making brilliant presents, are two of the reasons why I thought I’d share exactly how to make your own.

Recipe for Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

If you haven’t made salt dough before, then you’re in for a treat. Here is my favourite salt dough recipe:

Ingredients & Equipment:

1 cup flour
½ cup of salt
½ cup of water
Bowl
Mixing spoon
Rolling pin
Baking tray
Straw
Cookie cutters
Decorating items – paint, glitter, glue, ribbon etc

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 120 degrees.
Add the flour and salt to a bowl and mix.
Add water and mix again.
Knead the dough until it is soft; add more flour if it is sticky.
Roll out the dough until it is about ¼ inch/6mm thick.
Use the biscuit shape cutters to cut out the ornaments.
Place each shape on a lined baking tray.
Push a hole into the top of each shape with the straw.
Bake in the oven for around two to three hours, or until completely dry, turning the ornaments over halfway through the cooking time.
Leave to cool completely before decorating.

Once cool, it’s time to get decorating, and we’ve got some super amazing ideas for you!

Decorating your Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to decorating your salt dough Christmas ornaments. Some of your options can include making hand, feet and fingerprints instead of using cookie cutters. Or you could craft out little snowmen or Santa’s just like you would with playdough. Some other ideas are:

Painting the shape and sprinkling glitter over it
Putting fingerprints with paint onto a shape
Adding wool or string as ‘hair’
Add sea glass or shells either pressed into or glued onto the dough
Dip into paint halfway
Poke with a pencil to make patterns
Choose some Christmas stamps, and stamp the shapes with ink before or after baking
Colour two batches of the dough red and white, then roll and twist into candy cane shapes
Use leaves and twigs to decorate au natural

Remember to add the ribbon through the hole made before the dough was baked, so the decoration can be hung on the tree!

Another fun seasonal activity is to make a Handprint Christmas Wreath. These look super cute on the wall or front door – you could even give them as a gift from the kids to grandparents! If things look like they may get messy, our Craft Aprons provide the perfect clothing protector and a Fitted Tablecloth with protect your table top from any paint or glue spills – order yours today.

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